Nebraska Ends Regular Season with Two Home Duals

Dual #21:

No.  6/6 Nebraska (17-2-1) vs. Air Force (5-4)

Devaney Center Track?Lincoln, Neb.?Friday, Feb. 18?4 p.m.

Series Record: Nebraska leads, 7-4-1

Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 42-3, on Jan. 16, 2004, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

 

Dual #22:

No.  6/6 Nebraska (17-2-1) vs. No. 2/2 IowaState (16-1)

NU Coliseum?Lincoln, Neb.?Saturday, Feb. 19?6 p.m.

Series Record: Iowa State leads, 70-12-2

Last Meeting: Iowa State won, 22-9, on Feb. 26, 2004, Ames, Iowa

 

Nebraska Ends Season with Two Home Duals

After a thrilling week which saw Nebraska nearly upset top-ranked OklahomaState and narrowly defeat Oklahoma on the road, the sixth-ranked Huskers return to the mat to close out the season with a pair of home duals.  On Friday, Nebraska takes on Air Force at 4 p.m. at the Devaney Center Track.  On Saturday, the Huskers take on second-ranked IowaState at 6 p.m. in a match moved to the NU Coliseum.

 

Location Changes for Nebraska Dual vs. IowaState

In a change in location from the original schedule, the sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team will take on second-ranked IowaState at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the NU Coliseum. The dual was moved from the DevaneyCenter track because the facility could not accommodate the expected large crowd for the Nebraska-IowaState dual. Nebraska’s dual with OklahomaState on Thursday, Feb. 11 drew 3,442.

 

Last Week: #1 Oklahoma St. 19, #6 NU 18/#6 NU 16, #8 Oklahoma 15

     The sixth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team proved its mettle among the best in the Big 12 with a pair of duals last week.  On Thursday, the Huskers narrowly lost to top-ranked OklahomaState, 19-18.  The Huskers had a 15-8 lead with four matches left, but picked up only one win over the final four matches, and the Huskers’ bid to beat the Cowboys for just the second time in 80 years fell just short.  On Saturday, NU faced a difficult task in defeating eighth-ranked Oklahoma.  The Huskers won four of the first five matches, and held on to beat OU, 16-15.  Both teams won five matches, but it was the first, a 12-0 major decision win by Dominick Moyer at 133 pounds, that gave NU the winning margin.  Three matches in the dual went to overtime, including Matt Murray’s upset of Teyon Ware at 141 pounds.

 

Scouting Air Force

Air Force comes to Lincoln with a 5-4 record after defeating Colorado School of Mines, 37-12 last Friday at Cadet East Gym on the campus of AirForceAcademy.  The Falcons won the first five matches and eight of nine contested matches overall to earn the victory.  Air Force finished second in a field of ninety teams at the All-Academy Classic in Charleston, S.C., and has won their last five duals after struggling at the Lone Star Duals Jan. 8 in Grand Prairie, Texas.  The Falcons return both NCAA qualifiers from last year’s team.

 

Scouting IowaState

Iowa State enters Saturday’s dual with a 16-1 record and No. 2 ranking after their 18-15 win over Missouri Saturday in Columbia, Mo.  ISU clinched the win on the strength of an 11-2 major decision victory by top-five 184-pound wrester Kurt Backes over 12th-ranked Matt Pell to close the dual.  Backes is one of four Cyclone wrestlers who ranks among the top five in his repsectice weight class.  Nate Gallick is the top-ranked 141-pound wrestler, while 157-pound wrestler Trent Paulson and 165-pound wrestler Travis Paulson also among the top five at their respective weights.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part I): Jan. 16, 2004: #2 NU 43, Air Force 3

Nebraska won the first five matches and never looked back en route to a 43-3 victory over Air Force Jan. 16, 2004, on the Air Force campus.  After a setback at 174 pounds, Nebraska ran off three straight wins by fall and finished the win with a 6-4 upset by Chad Sportelli of 19th-ranked Heath McKim in the final match of the dual.  In all, five Huskers won by fall and six were bonus-point wins.

 

The Last Time We Met (Part II): Feb. 26, 2004: #4 Iowa St. 22, #2 NU 9

    The Huskers closed the 2003-04 dual season with a 22-9 setback at IowaState on Feb. 26, 2004.  The Cyclones won the first four matches before B.J. Padden recorded a 13-7 win over Trevor Smith at 197 pounds.  Jason Powell upheld his No. 1 ranking with a 10-4 victory over Grant Nakamura at 125 pounds.  The only other Husker to win was Travis Shufelt, who stormed back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat sixth-ranked Travis Paulson, 8-6.

 

Murray Named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week

Senior 141-pound wrestler Matt Murray was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Feb. 15 for his two wins over ranked opposition last week.  Murray defeated 18th-ranked Daniel Frishkorn of OklahomaState, 9-4, on Thursday night against OklahomaState.  He followed that with an upset of second-ranked Teyon Ware of Oklahoma in overtime, 3-1.  Murray, who began the season considering a redshirt year, has a 22-2 record on the year. 

 

Pascoe Looks Build from Strong Start to Season

With his 11-4 win over Clay Kehrer of OKlahomaState Thursday at the NU Coliseum, senior 184-pound senior Travis Pascoe earned his 21st-straight win.  This marks the second year in a row Pascoe has had a win string of 20 or more.  He started the 2003-04 season on a 23-match winning streak.  Pascoe enters this week’s competition with a 22-2 record on the season.  Pascoe earned a 7-4 victory over Matt Pell to start Nebraska’s dual against Missouri on Jan. 29,  stretching his winning streak to 20 matches.  Though Pascoe lost in overtime to 16th-ranked Justin Dyer of Oklahoma, 13-11, Pascoe looks to continue his excellent 2004-05 season against AIr Force and IowaState.

  Pascoe’s win over Pell comes after a pair of wins on Jan. 22 in the state of North Carolina.  Pascoe was the first of three straight Huskers to win by fall to close NU’s 35-12 win over North CarolinaState.  The senior from Rathdrum, Idaho pinned Jeremy Colbert with 11 seconds to go in the first period.  Earlier in the day, he defeated Justin Dobies of North Carolina, 14-7.

In North Carolina, Pascoe built on the dominance he showed at the Virginia Duals,where he earned three major decision victories and one win by technical fall. He capped his trip to Hampton, Va., with a 19-9 major decision win over 17th-ranked Andy Rios of Indiana.

 

Wright Has Right Stuff for NU This Season

With his 11-5 win over Kody Hamrah of North Carolina State Jan. 22, B.J. Wright gave the Huskers a lead in the dual that they would not give up for the fourth time this season.  Wright’s win gave the Huskers an 11-9 lead. 

Wright gave Husker fans a glimpse into his future heroics in the first dual of the season Nov. 19 against Hofstra. After Travis Shufelt defeated nationally-ranked Jon Masa at 149 pounds, the Huskers were still down to Hofstra, 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.

In NU’s second dual, a 20-15 win over then-No. 10 West Virginia, Wright, then the ninth-ranked 157-pound wrestler, knocked off No. 6 Matt Lebe. An escape 16 seconds into the second period gave Wright the lead, and he rode Lebe for the duation of the third period.

On Jan. 4 against Minnesota, after Nebraska and the Gophers split the first two matches of the dual, Wright pinned Minnesota’s Nik Lentz with 59 seconds left in the first period. NU would win four of the next seven matches to defeat the Gophers for the first time since Jan. 9, 1996.

        Wright also nearly sparked the Huskers to an upset of No. 1 Oklahoma State with his pin of Kevin Ward, which gave a NU a 12-8 lead in the dual.  That lead held until the final match, when OklahomaState took a 19-18 lead after Steve Mocco’s major decision win at heavyweight.

 

Nebraska Tough to Beat in Lincoln

Nebraska suffered its first home loss since Jan. 7, 2003 on Thursday night against OklahomaState.  Still, the Huskers are tough to beat in Lincoln.  NU has won 19 of its last 20 matches in the StarCity, dating back to a  27-12 defeat at the hands of third-ranked Minnesota on Jan. 7, 2003.  The Huskers have beaten eight ranked opponents at home during that time.

 

Non-Varsity Notes

Nebraska’s non-varsity wrestlers finished their schedule Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln, Neb.  Eleven Huskers placed, including individual champions Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds, Todd Meneely at 141 pounds, Brandon Browne at 165 pounds, Ryan Goodman at 197 pounds and Jon May at heavyweight.  Derek Pirner (133), Robert Sanders (149) and Chris Oliver (157) were all runners-up in their respective weight classes, while 149-pound wrestler Gregg Romano, 165-pound wrestler Cody Faust and 174-pound wrestler Matt Farrell all took third.

 Six Huskers placed at the Brand Open Jan. 15 in OmahaNeb., including three individual champions. At 125 pounds, Donahoe won his fourth individual title of the year.  Browne stretched his winning streak to nine in winning his second straight individual championship of the season at 165 pounds. Meneely, making his debut at NU, won the 141 pound-championship. Ben Johnson (184) and Oliver (157) were runners-up in their respective weight classes, while Sanders was fourth at 149 pounds.

Seven Huskers were placewinners at the Beamen Open in Blair, Neb., on Jan. 8. They were led by five individual champions, including Donahoe at 125 pounds, Oliver at 157 pounds, Browne at 165 pounds, Farrell at 174 pounds and Goodman at 197 pounds. At 149 pounds, Romano took third, one spot ahead of Sanders.

The non-varsity finished 2004 at the UNK Runza Loper Open on Dec. 11. Five Huskers were placewinners, led by 174-pound champion Farrell. Joe Morrison finished second at 133 pounds. At 165 pounds, Browne finished third.  Sanders earned fifth at 149 pounds, while Johnson took sixth.

At the Harold Nichols Open at Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Saturday, Nov. 13, Donahoe and Chad Sportelli shared the championship at 125 pounds. David Ingalls was defeated in the finals at 157 pounds by IowaState’s Trent Paulson, 3-1 in overtime, to earn second. At heavyweight, May finished fourth after losing the third-place match 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, May took fourth at heavyweight. Sportelli finished sixth at 125 after losing 5-0 to Derrick Fleenor of OklahomaState. In the 20-and-under division, Donahoe took the 125-pound championship, defeating Hofstra’s Dave Tomasette 4-3 in the final. Morrison earned runner-up at 133 pounds, while Oliver took third at 157 pounds with a 13-2 major decision over Ben Henderson of DanaCollege. A pair of Huskers placed at 174 pounds, with Farrell earning third and Foust taking sixth. Heavyweight May took second as NU’s only placewinner at the UNI Open in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Dec. 4.

 

Scherr Named Head Coach of 2005 Women’s World Team

Bill Scherr, a national champion at 190 pounds for Nebraska in 1984, was named a coach of the 2005 Women’s World wrestling team earlier this month.

Noted for his five straight medals including the 1985 world championship and the 1988 bronze medal in international freestyle competition, Scherr was a three-time All-American at Nebraska. He finished fourth at 190 pounds in 1982 and third at 190 pounds in 1983. He currently serves as a volunteer assistant coach for NorthwesternUniversity. Before coaching at Northwestern, he was an assistant at Indiana. The world championships are Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Budapest, Hungary.

 

Up Next

Nebraska will take the next week of from competition in preparation for the Big 12 Championships, which NU will host at Qwest Center Omaha on Saturday, March 5.  The first matches take place at 11 a.m., with action continuing throughout the day.  The finals are set for 7 p.m., and tickets are available at 1-402-997-9378.  Media requesting credentials should contact Nate Rohr in the NU SID office by calling 1(402) 520-0088 or by sending him an e-mail at nrohr@huskers.com.