Nebraska Defends Vegas Championship

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No.  <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>3/2/4Nebraska at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Cashman Center?Friday, Dec. 3-Saturday, Dec. 4?10 a.m. (both days)

Website: www.cklvwrestle.com

Number of Teams:  46

Last NU Appearance: 2003-1st place

 

Nebraska Defends Vegas Championship

The No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team makes its first out-of-state trip this weekend to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Inviational.  At that event last year, the Huskers won their first team title since the 1999 Billy Sheridan Invitational.  Nebraska out-paced second place Michigan, who also returns to the event, 155.5 to 133.The field includes 11 teams on NU’s 2004-05 schedule, including Big 12 Conference foe and No. 14 Missouri. 

    

Also in the field is Oregon State and Boise State, two of the three teams the Huskers will wrestle against next weekend.

 

Last Dual: #3 Nebraska 20, #10 West Virginia 15

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.

 

Harwood, wrestling in the first varsity dual of his career and recovering from an elbow injury, clinched a 5-3 overtime win over Ryan Wilman of the Mountaineers :30 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.

 

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 a 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.

 

Scouting the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Field

The field for the 23rd Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational features eight ranked teams, led by No. 3 Nebraska.  Michigan is the only other team ranked in the top ten of all three national polls.  The Wolverines enter the Cliff Keen Invitational ranked sixth in two of the polls, and seventh in the Amater Wrestling News Poll.

By weight class, the field is strongest at 133 pounds.  Five of the top six and 10 of the nation’s top 16 wrestlers according to the latest ranking by A.W.N. will wrestle at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, headlined by consensus No. 1 Travis Lee of Cornell. 

The field is also especially tough at 197 pounds, where 12 wrestlers are ranked, including seven of the top 11 in the A.W.N. rankings.  Another tough test lies in the 184-pound weight class.  Eight of the top 13 wreslters at 184 pounds, including defending national champion and consensus No. 1 Greg Jones of West Virginia, are wrestling this weekend at Las Vegas. 

 

The Last Time We Were Here: Dec. 5-6, 2003:Nebraska-1st-155.5 pts

The Huskers traveled to Las Vegas, Nev., for the 22nd Cliff Keen Invitationa, and recorded their first team title since the 1999 Sheridan Invitational as they were led by five wrestlers who finished in the top-three of their respective weight classes. The Huskers finished six points ahead of runner-up Michigan.   
Jason Powell, Travis Shufelt and Travis Pascoe all claimed individual titles, while Matt Murray and B.J. Padden finished second and third, respectively. Powell defeated Mark Moos of Michigan, 4-2, while Shufelt pinned Big 12 rival Jeremy Spates in a time of 5:29. Pascoe scored a 13-5 major decision over Blake Kaplan of Ohio State at 184 pounds. Murray's run to the title fell short as he dropped a 6-3 decision to Robert Becker of George Mason, while Padden’s bid to repeat as champion came up one match short as he lost to Emmett Wilson of Montana State Northern, 6-5.  Padden defeated Matt Monteiro of Cal State Bakersfield, 4-2 for third place.          
Other Husker placewinners included senior Nathan McClain and Matt Keller, who both finished seventh in their respective weight classes.  

 

Wright Has Right Stuff for Huskers

For the second week in a row, a victory by 157-pound senior B.J. Wright gave the Huskers a lead they would not relinquish on Saturday against No. 10 West Virginia.

With the crowd still shaken after the injury to Travis Shufelt, Wright faced a big challenge in No. 6 Matt Lebe.  After a scoreless first period, Wright recorded an escape sixteen seconds into the second frame to take the lead.  He’d add a bonus point for an advantage of 1:43 in riding time at the conclusion of the match to beat Masa, 2-0.  The victory broke a three-match string of Mountaineer victories and gave the Huskers the lead in the dual.  NU would pick up wins from Jacob Klein and Marc Harwood to clinch the win.

That came a week after Wright had to follow up a big win by Shufelt, over then-No. 5 Jon Masa of Hofstra.  The Huskers were still down, 17-15, with two matches left in the dual.  Wright gave Nebraska the lead for good in a spectacular third period which earned Wright an 8-2 win over Hofstra’s James Strouse.

Strouse and Wright were tied at 2-2 entering the third period.  Wright chose down, then scored an escape 19 seconds into the period to take a 3-2 lead.  Then, in the match’s last 10 seconds, Wright scored a takedown and a two-point near fall.  With the riding time bonus point, Wright won 8-2.

 

Shufelt Likely Done for 2004-05 Season

After suffering a serious injury to his right elbow 32 seconds into his match with West Virginia’s Mike Torriero Saturday at the NU Coliseum, 149-pound senior wrestler Travis Shufelt is likely out for the rest of the 2004-05 season.  Shufelt will undergo surgery to repair the elbow later this month.  Because the injury occured in only the second dual of the 2004-05 season, Shufelt may apply for a medical redshirt year, allowing him to come back for the 2005-06 campaign.                            

Huskers Climb in Rankings

Nebraska climbed in two of the three nationally-recognized polls after their 20-15 victory over No. 10 West Virginia.  With their second dual win against a ranked opponent, the Huskers vaulted to second in the latest Wrestling International Newsmagazine rankings.  NU also climbed two spots to No. 4 in the NWCA/Intermat poll, while holding steady at No. 3 in the Amateur Wrestling News Poll.

 

Murray Sheds Redshirt, Will Wrestle at Vegas

Senior 141-wrestler Matt Murray, who was considering a redshirt year for the 2004-05 season, has decided to wrestle this season for the varsity team.  Murray was one of two Huskers to wrestle at 141 pounds at the Kaufman-Brand Open. 

Murray entered the season ranked No. 1 by all three major polls at 141 pounds after his runner-up finish at the 2004 NCAA Championships. 

 

Ruiz Takes Second at 2004 Henri Deglane Challenge

Former NU 197-pound All-American Justin Ruiz finished second in the 96-kg weight class in Greco-Roman wrestling for the U.S. National Team at the 2004 Henri Deglane Challenge, held in Nice, France Nov. 26-27.  Ruiz finished behind Michail Nikolev of the Ukraine. 

 

Non-Varsity Notes

The Huskers’ non-varsity wrestlers are also in action this weekend at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday, Dec. 4.  That will be the third of seven non-varsity competitions for NU’s wrestlers.

The next comes a week later in Kearney, Neb. at the UNK Open.

After Christmas break, Nebraska’s non-varsity will go to Blair, Neb. for the Dana College Open on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005.  The following Saturday, the non-varsity will compete in the Glen Brand Open at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.  Nebraska’s non-varsity schedule will conclude with the Great Plains Open in Lincoln on Saturday, Jan. 29.

At the Harold Nichols Open at Fort Dodge, Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 13, Paul Donahoe and Chad Sportelli shared the championship at 125 pounds.  David Ingalls was defeated in the finals at 157 pounds by Iowa State’s Trent Paulson, 3-1 in overtime, to earn second.  At heavyweight, Jon May finished fourth after losing the third-place match to Blake Gillis of Wartburg, 7-1.

The non-varsity competed along with the varsity at the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha, Neb. on Nov. 20.  In the open division, Jon May took fourth at heavyweight.  Chad Sportelli finished sixth at 125 after losing 5-0 to Derrick Fleenor of Oklahoma State. 

In the 20-and-under division, Paul Donahoe took the 125-pound championship, defeating Hofstra’s Dave Tomasette 4-3 in the final.  Joe Morrison earned runner-up at 133 pounds, while Chris Oliver took third at 157 pounds with a 13-2 major decision over Ben Henderson of Dana College.  A pair of Huskers placed at 174 pounds, with Matt Farrell earning third and Cody Foust taking sixth.

 

Nebraska Signs Five in Class of 2005

Nebraska recently signed five wrestlers during the fall signing period, all of whom are expected to make an impact.

In the first day of signing, the Husker coaching staff inked three.

The in-state member of that trio is Aurora native Levi Wofford.  Projected to wrestle either in the 184-pound or 197-pound weight class, Wofford has won two class B state championships under his father, Bill, who is Aurora’s head coach.

Also signing in the first day was Vince Jones, the fifth-ranked high school wrestler in the nation at 189 pounds according to Wrestling International Newsmagazine.  A native of Sickerville, N.J., Jones has won two state championships for Winslow Township High School.  At the 2004 Junior National Tournament, Jones finished fourth.  He is projected to wrestle at 184 pounds in college.

The third high school wrestler to sign with NU is Mike Rowe from DeMatha, Md.  Wrestling at the alma mater of former Husker and All-American Todd Beckerman, Rowe has won three state championships for DeMatha High School.  Rowe, the second-best high school wrestler in the nation in his weight class according to WIN, won the Cadet National Championship and is a two-time placewinner at Junior Nationals.  He is likely to wrestle at either 133 or 141 pounds.

The Huskers went to Chicago for their fourth signing--Kenny Jordan from Mount Carmel High School.  Jordan, the seventh-ranked prospect in his weight class, will wrestle at 141 pounds for Nebraska.

Rounding out the recruiting class was Brady LaMar from Silver Lake, Kan.  A three-time state placewinner, LaMar will wrestle at 149 pounds at NU.   

 

Huskers, Cowboys Set for National Television Appearance

College Sports Television announced that it will broadcast Nebraska’s Feb. 10 home dual against defending national champion Oklahoma State on CSTV live starting at 7 p.m. from the NU Coliseum.  It will be simulcast locally on NETV.  One of twelve national wrestling broadcasts by CSTV, the Feb. 10 broadcast will be the only one that features a pair of Big 12 Conference teams.  Missouri’s away dual against Lehigh on Jan. 11 is the only other national broadcast featuring a Big 12 team.

 

Up Next

The Huskers will wrestle three duals in two days next weekend.  The road trip will start with a 3 p.m. dual in Corvallis, Ore. against Oregon State on Saturday, Dec. 11.  Nebraska will then travel to Eugene to take on the Ducks at 9 p.m.  The weekend’s competition will conclude on Sunday, Dec. 12 with a 3 p.m. dual at Boise State.  The next home varsity action will be the following weekend, Saturday, Dec. 18, as the Huskers entertain Dana College, Wyoming, Findlay and Iowa State for the 2004 Nebraska Duals.