Two Huskers Reach Semifinals

St. Louis, Mo.---Travis Pascoe and B.J. Padden moved onto the semifinals of the 2005 NCAA Championships for the fourth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team Friday afternoon at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo. Jacob Klein and Travis Shufelt remain in the race for All-America honors in the consolation bracket. Nebraska is in 12th place in the team race after Friday's first session.

Pascoe moved into tonight's semifinals and clinched his first All-America award with a 17-10 win over Oklahoma's Justin Dyer. After Dyer scored a takedown 31 seconds into the 184-pound match, Pascoe ran off six unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead into the second period. Dyer scored an escape and a takedown in the second to draw within one, but Pascoe scored two takedowns, two escapes and two near-falls to earn the win. Pascoe will take on Tyler Baier of Cornell in the semifinals.

At 197 pounds, Padden also advanced to the semifinals and clinched All-America honors with an 8-7 win over Daren Burns of UNC-Greensboro. Padden led for most of the match, until Burns notched a takedown with 1:20 to go in the match to take a 7-6 lead. But after a locked-hands call on Burns gave Padden a penalty point, Padden escaped soon thereafter to retake the lead at 8-7. Padden faces top-seeded Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State tonight in the semifinals, in a rematch of the Big 12 finals March 5. That day, Padden beat Rosholt, 6-2, to earn Nebraska's first individual Big 12 championship since 2002.

Jacob Klein fell into the consolation bracket with an 8-0 major decision loss to Michigan's Ryan Churella. Klein will have to win his match against Matt Palmer of Columbia tonight in order to earn All-America honors for a second straight year.

Travis Shufelt also stayed alive in the consolation bracket with a 7-6 win over Jeff Harrison of Northern Iowa. Shufelt trailed 6-3 entering the third period, but Shufelt escaped seven seconds into the frame to cut the deficit to two. A pair of stall warning on Harrison yielded a point for Shufelt, bringing him to within one. Shufelt took the lead with 22 seconds left in the match with a takedown.

Earlier in the session, Shufelt won his second consolation match. The 149-pound senior continued his drive toward his second career All-America award with an 8-2 win over Anthony Baza of Cal-State Bakersfield. Shufelt faces Jon Masa of Hofstra tonight in a third-round consolation match. In the first dual of the season, Shufelt beat Masa 10-8.

Matt Keller's second career trip to nationals ended with an 11-6 loss to Robbie Preston of Harvard. Keller held a 4-2 lead halfway through the second period of the consolation match at 125 pounds, but Preston gained control of the match after escaping with just over a minute to go. Preston scored a takedown of Keller with 35 seconds to go in the second period, then added a three-point near fall 11 seconds later. Keller ends his sophomore season with a 19-8 record.

Dominick Moyer also saw his season end during the morning session. Moyer was beaten by major decision by Ryan McClester of The Citadel, 11-2 in a consolation match at 133 pounds. Moyer entered the third period only down 1-0 and starting in the down position before a strong third frame clinched the win for McClester. Moyer ends his sophomore season with a 15-15 record.

Senior 141-pound wrestler Matt Murray had to withdraw from the NCAA Championships due to medical reasons.

The semifinals, which will be shown live on ESPNU (channel 609 on DirecTV) and in Omaha, Neb., on Cox Cable, will begin at 6 p.m.

Quarterfinals

165-Ryan Churella (Mich.) by major dec. over Jacob Klein (NU), 8-0

184-Travis Pascoe (NU) by dec. over Justin Dyer (OU), 17-10

197-B.J. Padden (NU) by dec. over Daren Burns (UNC-G), 8-4

Consolation

125-Robbie Preston (Harvard) by dec. over Matt Keller (NU), 11-6

133-Ryan McClester (Citadel) by major dec. over Dominick Moyer (NU), 11-2

141-Jordan Leen (Cornell) by inj. def. over Matt Murray (NU)

149-Travis Shufelt (NU) by dec. over Anthony Baza (CS-B), 8-2

149-Travis Shufelt (NU) by dec. over Jeff Harrison (UNI), 7-6