<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln, Neb.---Behind three straight wins capped by Marc Harwood’s thrilling 5-3 overtime victory, the No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team defeated No. 10 West Virginia 20-15 Saturday night at the NU Coliseum in front of 771 fans.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
“Harwood did a good job,” said coach Mark Manning. “He struggled with an injury last year. It’s been tough for him to get his confidence back since the injury happened, so this win should give him a huge boost of confidence.”
Harwood, wrestling in his first varsity dual of his career and recovering from an elbow injury, clinched a 5-3 overtime win over Ryan Wilman of the Mountaineers thirty seconds into the overtime period of the 174-pound match.
Harwood’s win clinched Nebraska’s 16th straight home dual victory, dating back to NU’s Jan. 7, 2003 loss to Minnesota, 27-12. It also finished off an amazing run of resiliency by the Huskers, who had to come back from a 12-11 deficit after the 149-pound match. Senior Travis Shufelt sustained a serious right elbow injury 32 seconds into his match with Mike Torriero, giving Torriero the victory by injury default and the Mountaineers the six team points.
“We’re going to find out more about Shufelt’s injury tonight,” Manning said. “How quickly he comes back is an unknown right now. It’s tough to see him have an injury like that. I was really proud our guys kept their focus and kept wrestling hard.”
After the injury, Nebraska stormed back with three straight wins. The first was a 2-0 win by No. 9 B.J. Wright at 157 pounds. After scoring an escape with 47 seconds left in the second period of his match with No. 6 Matt Lebe, Wright closed out Lebe by riding him for the duration of the third period. He earned a bonus point for his 1:43 advantage in riding time. For the second straight week, Wright’s victory gave Nebraska the lead in the dual for good.
At 165 pounds, No. 4 Jacob Klein defeated No. 15 Zac Fryling, 4-2. Klein led 1-0 heading into the third period, but an illegal hold call on Klein evened the score at one, before Fryling registered an escape with one minute left in the match to take a 2-1 lead. Klein answered with a takedown with 28 seconds to go to retake the lead. Klein’s 1:20 advantage in riding time gave him the two-point margin. Harwood followed Klein with his 5-3 overtime victory.
Nebraska started the dual with a 17-8 major decision victory at 197 pounds by No. 9 B.J. Padden over West Virginia’s Jared Villers.
At heavyweight, Mitch Manstedt went on a 7-1 run, and then held on to defeat Jeff Courtney, 7-5.
No. 12 Matt Keller earned the Huskers their second bonus-point victory of the night with an 11-1 major decision win over Nathan Kendjorsky, springing Nebraska to an 11-0 lead after three matches.
The Mountaineers answered with three wins of their own, starting with a 7-1 at 133 pounds over No. 15 Seth Lisa over Dusty Spaulding.
At 141 pounds, No. 11 Brandon Lauer scored six unanswered points to start the match and defeated NU’s Chris Nedens, 8-3. West Virginia’s three match win streak ended with the win by injury default by Torriero over Shufelt.
With the match already in hand after the Huskers’ three straight wins, No. 1 Greg Jones defeated No. 7 Travis Pascoe, 6-3, to end the match.
The Huskers next are in action to defend their Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship Dec. 3-4.
No. 3 Nebraska (2-0) 20, No. 10 West Virginia (0-1) 15
197: #9 B.J. Padden (NU) by maj. dec. over Jared Villers (WVU) , 17-8
HWT: Mitch Manstedt (NU) by dec. over Jeff Courtney (WVU), 7-5
125: #12 Matt Keller (NU) by maj. dec. over Nathan Kendjorsky (WVU), 11-1
133: #15 Seth Lisa (WVU) by dec. over Dusty Spaulding (NU), 7-1
141: #11 Brandon Lauer (WVU) by dec. over Chris Nedens (NU), 8-3
149: Mike Torriero (WVU) by injury default over #4 Travis Shufelt (NU), :32
157: #9 B.J. Padden (NU) by dec. over #6 Matt Lebe (WVU), 2-0
165: #4 Jacob Klein (NU) by dec. over #15 Zac Fryling (WVU), 4-2
174: Marc Harwood (NU) by dec. over Ryan Wilman (WVU), 5-3 (OT)
184: #1 Greg Jones (WVU) by dec. over #7 Travis Pascoe (NU), 6-3
Attendance: 771