No. 5 Huskers Rally Past No. 11 Illinois, 28-11

After falling behind 11-0 through the first two bouts, the No. 5 Nebraska wrestling team (11-6, 4-3 Big Ten) won eight straight bouts to defeat No. 11 Illinois (11-5, 4-3 Big Ten), 28-11, Friday night in Champaign. 

Illinois opened the dual with wins at 125 and 133 to take an early 11-0 lead. No. 16 Spencer Moore pinned Kael Lauridsen before No. 1 Lucas Byrd recorded a 17-2 tech. fall over Alan Koehler. 

At 141, No. 4 Brock Hardy sparked the Husker comeback against Will Baysingar. Hardy opened with a takedown and built a 6-1 first-period lead. The senior added two takedowns in the second, along with an escape and a stall call, before finishing with two more takedowns to secure a 20-4 tech. fall and put NU on the board. 

At 149, No. 20 Chance Lamer scored a late first-period takedown against No. 30 Michael Gioffre. An escape in the second extended the lead to 4-0 before Gioffre recorded a reversal in the third. Lamer answered with an escape and held on for the 5-2 decision. 

A top-10 matchup followed at 157, where No. 3 Antrell Taylor faced No. 9 Kannon Webster. After a scoreless first period, Webster took the 1-0 lead with an escape in the second. Taylor tied it with an escape early in the third but fell behind 2-1 on a stall call. With 10 seconds remaining, the Omaha native secured a clutch takedown to claim a 4-2 decision and his 12th straight dual win. 

With the team score tied 11-11 at intermission, No. 7 LJ Araujo faced No. 8 Braeden Scoles in another top-10 matchup. After missing last weekend while competing for a spot on Team Brazil, the redshirt freshman opened with a takedown before Scoles answered with a reversal. Araujo added an escape and a second-period reversal to regain control. Despite a late reversal by Scoles, Araujo secured an escape and riding time to earn the 8-5 decision.

At 174, No. 4 Christopher Minto defeated No. 25 Colin Kelly, 4-1. The pair were scoreless through the first period before Minto recorded an escape in the second. Kelly tied it up in the third, but Minto captured a takedown with 20 seconds remaining for his 40th career victory. 

Leading 17-11, No. 6 Silas Allred took on No. 18 Chris Moore at 184. Allred grabbed a late first-period takedown and added an escape in the second. Moore scored an escape, but Allred countered with another takedown to win by decision, 7-1. 

At 197, No. 9 Camden McDanel clinched the team victory with a 15-4 major decision over Cade Lautt. McDanel recorded takedowns in the first two periods and controlled the third to seal the win. 

In the final bout, No. 4 AJ Ferrari defeated No. 13 Luke Luffman, 11-4, by major decision. Ferrari scored a last-second takedown in the first, Nebraska’s fifth takedown in the final 15 seconds of a period, before adding an escape in the second. Luffman managed an escape, but Ferrari closed with two more takedowns and riding time to claim the 28-11 team victory. 

Up Next
The Huskers travel to Bloomington to face No. 20 Indiana on Sunday, Feb. 15. The final conference dual is set for 11 a.m. (CT) and will be televised on BTN, with live stats available on Trackwrestling.

No. 5 Nebraska 28, No. 11 Illinois 11
125: #16 Spencer Moore pinned Kael Lauridsen 3:57 (ILL 6, NEB 0)
133: #1 Lucas Byrd tech. fall Alan Koehler 17-2 (5:59) (ILL 11, NEB 0)
141: #4 Brock Hardy tech. fall Will Baysingar 20-4 (6:31) (ILL 11, NEB 5)
149: #20 Chance Lamer dec. #30 Michael Gioffre 5-2 (ILL 11, NEB 8)
157: #3 Antrell Taylor dec. #9 Kannon Webster 4-2 (NEB 11, ILL 11)
165: #7 LJ Araujo dec. #8 Braeden Scoles 8-5 (NEB 14, ILL 11)
174: #4 Christopher Minto dec. #25 Colin Kelly 4-1 (NEB 17, ILL 11)
184: #6 Silas Allred dec. #18 Chris Moore 7-1 (NEB 20, ILL 11)
197: #9 Camden McDanel major dec. Cade Lautt 15-4 (NEB 24, ILL 11)
HWT: #4 AJ Ferrari major dec. #13 Luke Luffman 11-4 (NEB 28, ILL 11)