State College, Pa.---The Nebraska wrestling team finished its competition at the 1999 NCAA Championships Saturday with three athletes garnering All-America awards.

In front of a sellout 14,055-member crowd at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center, sophomore Brad Vering and freshman Bryan Snyder each earned fourth-place finishes and senior Jose DeAnda notched an eighth-place finish to pace the Huskers, who completed all their matches at the national championships in 15th place with 37 points. Vering, Snyder and DeAnda each earned the first All-America honors of their careers.

After losing to No. 1 seeds in the semifinals Friday evening, Snyder and Vering advanced to the consolation finals, where they suffered two tough losses to higher-seeded opponents.

Snyder, who became the second-highest finishing freshman in school history at the national championships and the third freshman in school history to earn All-America honors, was defeated by fourth-seeded Larry Quisel (34-3) of Boise State, 8-2, in the consolation final Saturday afternoon to finish fourth at his inaugural national championship meet. Quisel lost to Wisconsin's Cory Wallman 4-3, in the first round, but came back to win his next eight matches, including an upset pin of Minnesota's Chad Kraft, to finish third.

Quisel held a slim 2-1 advantage after one period, but picked up five points at the end of the second period with a takedown and three-point near fall on a cradle hold. Snyder was nearly pinned as the period ran out. Snyder was held scoreless by Quisel in the third period despite numerous shooting attempts. Quisel added an escape to make the final 8-2.

To get to the third-place match in the 157-pound weight bracket, the fifth-seeded Snyder posted a come-from-behind win against 11th-seeded Chris Ayres of Lehigh, 4-3