Despite wrestling true freshmen at 141 and 149, Nebraska earned the Top-10 win on the road
The 6th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team elected to wrestle two true freshmen in this Top-10 showdown against #9 Minnesota and still pulled off the 21-12 win to improve to 9-3 on the year.
Nebraska lost three of the first four matches, but returning NCAA Champion Antrell Taylor pulled off some late heroics to turn the tide of the dual.
The Huskers then won four of the final five weight classes after the intermission, cementing the dual win.
Weight-By-Weight Recap
125 pounds
Nebraska sophomore Alan Koehler took the mat here against Minnesota’s #6 Jore Volk.
Late in the first period, Volk took Koehler down with a nice head snap, but Koehler cut the deficit to 3-1 with a second-period escape.
In the third period, Volk earned an escape and held off a late Koehler surge, downing the Husker 4-1. Koehler is now 10-10 on the year.
133 pounds
Facing Minnesota’s Brandon Morvari, Nebraska’s #8 Jacob Van Dee used sound defense for a close decision win.
After a scoreless first period, Van Dee earned a fast escape to start the second. Morvari chose neutral in the third and was unable to get through Van Dee’s defense, giving the Husker junior the 1-0 win via decision.
With the win, Van Dee is now 12-1 on the year — he’s given up just one takedown all season. He’ll need that defense with his next three matches coming against #11 Drake Ayala of Iowa, #2 Ben Davino of Ohio State, and #6 Marcus Blaze of Penn State.
141 pounds
With the dual tied at 3-3, Nebraska sent out true freshman Jake Hockaday, a four-time Indiana state champion in high school who saw his first dual action after returning from off-season knee surgery. Hockaday showed a lot of promise in his dual debut against #10 Vance Vombaur, an All-American and Big Ten finalist.
Vombaur scored two takedowns against Hockaday on the way to the 7-2 win, but the Husker freshman showed a lot of promise with a near reversal in the second period and a near takedown in the third. An experience like this will go a long way for the young Husker as he develops and works himself into a future starter.
The Huskers will need Hockaday next year at 141, so I expect him to spell #3 Brock Hardy a few more times this season in Big Ten duals.
149 pounds
With #12 Chance Lamer not in there, Nebraska went with another true freshman in Nikade Zinkin — the two-time California state champion made his sixth dual start of the season against some really good competition in Minnesota’s #27 Drew Roberts.
Much like Hockaday, this should be a learning opportunity for Zinkin who dropped the match 6-3 — Roberts scored a first-period takedowns and a late reversal for the decision win.
Also much like Hockaday, Zinkin will be relied upon next season here at 149. This season, he’s 8-8 overall and 2-4 in duals.
157 pounds
With his team down 9-3 and needing a spark, Nebraska’s #5 Antrell Taylor delivered just that — it just took awhile.
After a scoreless first period against Minnesota’s #20 Charlie Millard, Taylor struck first with a second-period escape before giving up an escape in the third. Midway through the period, Millard shot in on a double-leg and drove through for the takedown, going up 4-1.
Taylor immediately rolled for a reversal before cutting Millard for the escape. Taylor then shot in late, but things got messy in a scramble with Taylor eventually whipping Millard over for the takedown and the win via pinfall with just two seconds left. It was one of the most memorable endings to a match that I can remember, especially considering it tied up the dual at 9-9 going into the intermission.
With the win, Taylor is now 13-2 on the year and 9-2 in duals — both of his Big Ten dual matches have ended with pinfall wins.
165 pounds
Looking to end a three-match skid, Nebraska’s #8 LJ Araujo took on Minnesota’s #16 Andrew Sparks, a four-time NCAA qualifier.
After a scoreless first period, Araujo scored an escape to start the second before scoring on a re-attack to go up 4-0. Araujo then gave up a late reversal before scoring an escape before the end of the period.
In the third, Sparks chose neutral to avoid Araujo’s top game and was unable to get in on Araujo. The Husker redshirt freshman won the match 6-2 with the riding-time point.
Araujo improves to 10-4 on the year with the impressive win.
174 pounds
In another ranked matchup, Nebraska’s #6 Christopher Minto picked up his seventh ranked win over #23 Ethan Riddle of Minnesota.
Minto scored a takedown in all three periods while adding a riding-time point for the 11-4 decision win, narrowly missing out on another bonus-point win.
Minto continues his impressive season, improving to 13-2 on the year. He’s scored 41 takedowns on the year and given up just three, showing his defensive prowess.
184 pounds
After losing via major decision last season to Minnesota’s #3 Max McEnelly, Nebraska’s #9 Silas Allred wrestled a really smart match this time around but fell in the end.
After wrestling to a 1-1 tie after regulation, the two went to sudden victory where McEnelly hit an early duck-under for the takedown and the 4-1 win over Allred.
With the loss, Allred is now 11-4 on the year with all four of his losses coming to guys ranked in the top-8 nationally.
197 pounds
Needing a win for his team, Nebraska’s #15 Camden McDanel took care of business against Minnesota’s #25 Gavin Nelson.
After a scoreless first period, McDanel scored takedowns in the second and third period for the 7-2 decision win, putting Nebraska up 18-12 going into heavyweight.
With the win, McDanel improves to 12-4 on the year.
285 pounds
Despite his legal trouble over the past week, Nebraska’s #4 AJ Ferrari took the mat for Nebraska here against #9 Koy Hopke of Minnesota.
After a scoreless first period, Ferrari scored a quick second-period escape to go up 1-0.
In the third, Ferrari started on top and put on a hard ride, accumulating nearly two minutes of riding time before conceding the escape with eight seconds left in the match. Ferrari withstood a late barrage for the 2-1 decision win with the riding-time point.
It was a tough, gritty win for Ferrari who is still acclimating himself to the heavyweight class.
Category: General Sports
