No. 3 Huskers Face Golden Opponents

Dual Four: No. 3 Nebraska vs. Kent State
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Dual Five: No. 3 Nebraska vs. No. 7 Minnesota
Date: Sunday, Dec. 21
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Video: Huskers.com

Lincoln - After having last weekend off, the No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team returns to action with two duals this weekend against ranked foes. The Huskers (3-0) square off against the Kent State Golden Flashes (3-1) at 2 p.m. on Saturday and face the No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Both contests will be held in the NU Coliseum.

Nebraska is coming off its best performance of the season, a first-place showing at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. The Huskers easily outdistanced the 44-team field with 124.5 points thanks to two individual titles and four placers. NU’s Craig Brester posted five bonus-point victories to earn the crown at 197 pounds, while Jordan Burroughs took first at 157 with wins over two All-Americans, including the defending NCAA champion.

The Huskers now return home for a four-dual homestand, and face their first ranked foes of the season this weekend. Saturday’s matchup will be just the fourth between two programs that have wrestled for more than 80 years each. Kent State has been victorious in all three previous meetings, but this will be the Golden Flashes first visit to Lincoln. KSU will look to key off Jermail Porter and Dustin Kilgore, who are ranked in the top 10 at heavyweight and 184, respectively. Likewise, Minnesota may hold an advantage in the lower weights on Sunday. The Golden Gophers’ first three wrestlers are all ranked in the top seven in the nation, including two-time All-American and 2007 national champion Jayson Ness at 133 pounds. UM is the last team to beat Nebraska in Lincoln, handing the Huskers a 32-6 defeat on Feb. 11, 2007. NU has won seven home duals since then, but the Golden Gophers will rely on some young talent like redshirt freshman Zach Sanders (125) and sophomore Mike Thorn (141) to craft another upset.

Both duals this weekend will be Hometown Husker Days, as Nebraska salutes Papillion native Matt Vacanti. Special rates are available for Papillion residents who order 25 or more tickets. In conjuction, both duals will be Team Days. Group-rate tickets are available for either contest. For more information, call the Nebraska athletic marketing office at (402) 472-0775.

Live stats for both contests will be available on Huskers.com, while Sunday’s contest will also have live video. Tickets to both events can be purchased by calling (800) 8-BIGRED or online at Huskers.com.

Scouting Kent State (3-1)
The Golden Flashes look to be on the verge of a breakout season in head coach Jim Andrassy’s sixth year. Kent State went 15-4 in duals in 2007-08 and finished the season ranked No. 21 in the NWCA’s final dual rankings. KSU qualified five wrestlers for the NCAA Championships and finished tied for 46th, but the Golden Flashes return nine starters and four of their five NCAA qualifiers this season.

Kent State’s strength is in the lower weights, as Nic Bedelyon (125), Danny Mitcheff (133) and Drew Lashaway (141) all made the NCAA tournament last season. Bedelyon won the MAC championships as a true freshman to earn an automatic bid and is off to a 7-4 start this season. Mitcheff, a junior from Elyria, Ohio, is a two-time NCAA qualifier and is No. 12 in the latest NWCA rankings, while Lashaway, a senior from Bowling Green, Ohio, posted a 30-11 record to qualify at 141 last season and is 9-2 so far in 2008-09. Senior Jermail Porter, a tall and agile heavyweight, rounds out KSU’s NCAA qualifiers. He posted a 3-2 mark at last year’s tournament and is No. 10 in the rankings with a 10-1 start. Redshirt freshman Dustin Kilgore has amassed a 10-2 record to climb to No. 6 in the NWCA poll.

As a team, Kent State has started the dual season 3-1. The Golden Flashes finished fourth at the Oklahoma Gold Tournament on Nov. 8, and then went 2-1 at the Boilermaker Challenge on Nov. 15. KSU posted 32-10 and 30-12 wins over Chattanooga and Campbellsville, respectively, but No. 11 Northwestern put a 21-8 loss on the Golden Flashes. In its most recent action, Kent State earned a 22-13 victory over Clarion at home on Dec. 14. KSU trailed 15-13 headed into the 184-pound match, but Kilgore, Eric Chine (197) and Porter all won their matches to earn the come-from-behind victory.

Kent State enters Saturday’s dual with three ranked wrestlers, as two matches will feature ranked wrestlers from both squads. Kilgore, ranked sixth at 184 pounds, will face No. 13 Vince Jones, while the most anticipated match pits 10th-ranked Porter against No. 12 Tucker Lane at heavyweight.

Husker History Versus Kent State
Even though both programs have been wrestling since the 1920s, the Huskers and Golden Flashes have dualed just three times, with Kent State coming out on top each time.

In their first meeting, KSU edged out Nebraska 13.5-12.5 in Kent, Ohio on March 1, 1937. Four seasons later, the Golden Flashes blanked the Huskers 26-0 at home again, and claimed their most recent victory over NU with a 26-10 win at the Huskie Dual Tournament in Dekalb, Ill., on Dec. 22, 1979. Saturday’s meeting is the first between in the two in 29 years and the first in Lincoln.

Scouting Minnesota (3-0)
Head Coach J. Robinson has seen his fair share of success in 23 years at the helm for Minnesota. The 2007 national champions with five All-Americans, the Golden Gophers stumbled last year to finish 10th at the NCAA Championships. UM posted a 14-7 record in duals, and finished No. 8 in the final dual rankings. Minnesota returns just four starters from last year’s squad, but three are NCAA qualifiers and two are All-Americans. UM has found several talented young starters to fill in and is currently ranked No. 7 in the nation.

The Gophers are led by two-time NCAA finalist Jayson Ness. The junior from Bloomington, Minn., won the title as a redshirt freshman in 2007 and finished second to Indiana’s Angel Escobedo last season. Ness moved up from 125 to 133 pounds this season, and is currently ranked No. 6 after a 14-1 start. UM’s other returning All-American is senior Dustin Schlatter, who also moves up a weight class this season, from 149 to 157 pounds. Schlatter won the title as a freshman and placed third as a sophomore, but injuries have hampered him the last two seasons. A nagging hamstring injury slowed him to a seventh-place finish at last year’s NCAA tournament, and injuries have kept him out of a majority of matches this season. Minnesota also returns NCAA qualifier Ben Berhow, who made the tournament last year as a redshirt freshman.

Overall, the Golden Gophers are a young squad that features just one senior starter. UM has a 3-0 record to start the dual season and also placed third at the Las Vegas Invitational. Minnesota hosted the Northern Quad in Rochester, Minn., on Nov. 29 and swept three its three duals that day. UM claimed a 54-0 shutout over Portland State before notching 42-4 and 36-6 victories over Northern Colorado and North Dakota State, respectively. The Golden Gophers had five placers at Vegas, including a second-place showing by redshirt freshman Zach Sanders at 125 pounds, to claim third behind Nebraska and Cornell.

Minnesota has five wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the latest NWCA poll, including three Gophers in the top seven. Like Kent State, Minnesota’s strength is in the lower weights, as UM has ranked wrestlers in four of the first five weight classes. Matches with two ranked wrestlers will be contested at 157 and 165. No. 2 Burroughs has already posted two victories against No. 19 Tyler Safratowich, while No. 7 Dwyer picked up a win against No. 18 Scott Glasser at the Kaufman-Brand Open in November.

Husker History Versus Minnesota
Minnesota has a storied wrestling program, but that has never disuaded the Huskers from facing the Gophers. The rivarly is one of the oldest in NU history, with the first meeting between the two teams coming in 1922 (Nebraska won). The Huskers trail in the series history 18-46-0, but recent run-ins have seen Nebraska wrestle more competitively. Minnesota squeaked out a 17-16 win at home on Jan. 1, 2004, but NU returned the favor with a 21-12 victory in Lincoln on Jan. 4, 2005. The Golden Gophers claimed dual wins in next two seasons, but the Huskers split their two duals with UM last season. Minnesota topped NU 25-13 in Minneapolis in early December, while Nebraska got revenge at National Duals.

The last meeting between the two programs saw Vince Jones pin Minnesota’s Roger Kish with four seconds left in the match to rally No. 10 Nebraska past No. 6 Golden Gophers, 24-13, in the semifinals of the National Duals. Jones, ranked No. 10 at 184 pounds, trailed No. 2 Kish most of the match. Kish scored a takedown late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead, while Jones notched an escape in the second round to cut the lead to one. Kish chose the neutral position in the final round and looked to seal the win as he clearly was tiring. Jones’ final chance came with both wrestlers in the neutral position with eight second left. Jones executed a near-perfect takedown and pinned Kish with four seconds left to give the Huskers their first lead of the match at 17-13.

The Golden Gophers grabbed the early lead by winning the four of the first five matches and took a 13-5 advantage. Paul Donahoe lost his first match of the year as Minnesota’s Jayson Ness scored a takedown in overtime to win 6-4 at 125, while Kenny Jordan lost 8-4 to Mack Reiter at 133. Mike Rowe was defeated 10-6 at 141 as Minnesota shot out to a 9-0 edge. Jordan Burroughs earned a 24-9 technical fall over Luke Mellmer at 149 pounds to earn the Huskers first points, but NU was still down 9-5. C.P. Schlatter defeated NU’s Chris Oliver at 157, but it would be the last match the Golden Gophers won in the dual. The Huskers won the final five matches to earn the come-from-behind victory.

Stephen Dwyer and Brandon Browne earned decisions at 165 and 174 before Jones had his pin. Dwyer topped Tyler Safratowich 4-1, while Browne beat No. 10 Gabe Dretsch 3-2. Craig Brester returned to his winning ways with a 14-3 major decision over Justin Bronson. Jon May capped the win with a 5-1 decision over Yura Malamura.

Last Time Out: Two Huskers Earn Titles as Nebraska Wins Vegas Invite
Jordan Burroughs and Craig Brester finished first in their respective weight class to lead the No. 6 Nebraska wrestling team to a first-place team finish at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6. Burroughs earned Outstanding-Wrestler-of-the-Tournament honors to help propel NU past No. 4 Cornell, who finished second with 91 points. Eighth-ranked Minnesota claimed third (89), while Pittsburgh (85) and Purdue (83) rounded out the top five teams. Four other Huskers placed, including three in the top four, as Nebraska won the tournament for the second time.

Burroughs posted two impressive decisions at 157 pounds on Dec. 6. He started with a 3-2 victory over All-American and fifth-ranked J.P. O’Conner of Harvard in the semifinals and earned a 10-8 win over defending NCAA champion and sixth-ranked Jordan Leen of Cornell in the final. Burroughs moved to a perfect 11-0 on the season.

Fellow junior Brester posted an equally outstanding weekend. He racked up major decisions in the semifinals and final on Dec. 6, after earning a pin, technical fall and major decision on Dec. 5. He advanced to the final with a 13-3 win over No. 11 Logan Brown of Purdue and took the title with a 10-2 victory against No. 13 Richard Starks. Brester is 12-0 on the season.

Brandon Browne took second at 174 with a loss in the final to top-ranked Steve Luke of Michigan. Browne advanced with a 5-1 decision over West Virginia’s Kurt Brenner in the semifinals and battled Luke to overtime, but came up short. Browne has lost to Luke 3-1 in overtime in both of his two career meetings with the Wolverine.

Stephen Dwyer finished third at 165 after losing his quarterfinal match with Ohio State’s Colt Sponseller, 2-0. Dwyer, a junior ranked fourth in the nation, rebounded with an 11-2 major decision over Wisconsin’s Andrew Howe and notched a 4-0 decision against No. 6 Luke Manuel of Purdue in the consolation finals.

Redshirt freshman Tucker Lane lost in the consolation final to place fourth at heavyweight. He posted three straight decisions after losing in the quarterfinals. He lost his final match, 3-2, to No. 3 Kyle Massey of Wisconsin, but defeated two ranked foes in the consolation bracket.

Sophomore Matt Vacanti finished with a 6-3 record at the tournament to place eighth at 133 pounds. He opened the second day of competition with a 3-1 sudden victory over Wyoming’s Cory VomBaur, but lost an 8-2 decision to No. 17 T.J. Dillashaw of Cal State Fullerton before ending with a 7-5 sudden loss to Cal State Bakersfield’s Thomas Kimbrell.

Double Down in Vegas
The second time around was just as nice for the Huskers in Vegas, as Nebraska won the Las Vegas Invitational last weekend for the second time in NU history.

Nebraska’s other first-place finish came in 2003, when the Huskers piled up 139.5 points en route to the crown. NU claimed three individual titles, while four other Huskers placed in the top eight. Top-ranked Jason Powell of Nebraska knocked off ninth-ranked Mark Moos of Michigan, 4-2, in the finals at 125 pounds, while No. 7 Travis Shufelt pinned Missouri’s Jeremy Spates in the third period at 149 to also finish first. Travis Pascoe rounded out the Huskers’ title winners at 184 pounds.

Tickets on Sale for Big 12 Wrestling Championships
The University of Nebraska has announced that tickets are now on sale for the general public for the 2009 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, which will be held at the NU Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb., on March 7. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the Nebraska Ticket Office at (800) 8-BIGRED or online at Huskers.com.

All-session tickets are $20 for reserved seating (north and south stands) and $15 for general admission (east and west balcony). Individual-session tickets will be available on March 7 for $8 reserved and $7 general admission. The first session begins at 11 a.m., while the second sessions commences at 4 p.m. Finals are contested at 7 p.m.

The Huskers host the conference tournament for the third time since the inception of the Big 12. Nebraska finished fourth when it hosted the event in 2000 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and third at the Qwest Center in Omaha in 2005. This year’s tournament will be contested at the NU Coliseum, which holds more than 4,030 fans. The Coliseum is located in the heart of NU’s campus next to Memorial Stadium and has provided a thrilling match-day environment for fans, including hosting the National Duals from 1993 to 1997.

Burroughs Earns Second-Straight Big 12 Honor
The Huskers’ Jordan Burroughs was named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the conference announced on Dec. 8. A native of Sicklerville, N.J., he earns the honor after being named the Big 12’s Wrestler of the Month on Dec. 1.

Burroughs won the individual title at 157 pounds to lead No. 6 Nebraska to the team crown at the 2008 Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. Burroughs, who was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, posted a perfect 5-0 record over the weekend to improve his mark to 11-0 on the season.

The junior opened the tournament with two major decisions over Michigan’s Aaron Hynes (16-7) and North Dakota State’s Andrey Patselov (18-5) before wrapping up Friday’s competition with a 5-2 decision over Minnesota’s Tyler Safratowich. Burroughs was just as impressive on Saturday, posting decisions over two All-Americans. He earned a 3-2 victory over No. 5 J.P. O’Conner of Harvard in the semifinals, then moved on to claim a 10-8 win against the defending national champion and sixth-ranked Jordan Leen of Cornell in the finals.

Running up the Rankings
The Huskers jumped into a tie for third in the NWCA rankings after having last weekend off. Previously, NU moved up to fourth after winning the Las Vegas Inviational. Nebraska started the season ranked sixth in the nation and has been ranked in the top 25 ever since the NWCA and InterMat polls combined in 2004, including 14 straight polls in the top 10.

The Wrestler Formerly Known as Jordan
Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs is quickly earning a new nickname - OW. The junior from Winslow Township, N.J. has claimed three Oustanding Wrestler honors at three tournaments. He posted a technical fall and major decision en route to being named the Outstanding Wrestler at last year’s Big 12 Championships, while also earning the title at last month’s Kaufman-Brand Open with a 5-0 record on the day and a defeat of former NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Burroughs picked up his third OW honor earlier this month at the Las Vegas Invitational when he posted another five wins, including two over All-Americans and another against a former NCAA champion in Cornell’s Jorden Leen.

Bonus-Point Brester
Craig Brester has been a bonus-point machine for the Huskers this season. A junior from Howells, Neb., Brester has posted a perfect 12-0 record so far, including 3-0 in duals. Eleven of his 12 wins have come by bonus-points, including six pins, one technical fall and four major decisions. Brester notched five pins in his first six matches, and has rolled from there. Earlier this month he went 5-0 at the Las Vegas Invitational to claim the title at 197 pounds. He started the tournament with a fall, posted his first technicall fall of the season in the second round, and finished with three straight major decisions.

Quickest Pin
The award for quickest pin so far this season goes to freshman Josh Ihnen at 184 pounds. Ihnen notched a 28 second fall of Morningside’s Joe Lockett at the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13 to earn the honor. Ihnen has three pins on the year, while the Huskers as a whole have notched 58 so far.

Perfect So Far
Three Husker wrestlers remain in the ranks of the undefeated. Of NU’s 29 wrestlers that have competed, Jordan Burroughs (157), Craig Brester (197) and Ridge Kiley (125) still have unblemished records. Nebraska has 23 wrestlers with winning records in 2008-09.

Brester is 12-0 after earning two tournament titles at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22 and the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5-6. He has also picked up three dual victories. Likewise, Burroughs has won two tournaments, but only has two dual wins for an 11-0 mark. Kiley is 8-0 after finishing first in the amateur division at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22 and competing in the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13.

Judging Jordan
Jordan Burroughs earned All-America honors with his third-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championships, but his proudest accomplishment may be setting Nebraska’s single-season dual takedown mark with 98 last season.

Judging by his performance in his first two duals this season, he may be well on his way to breaking the record again. He notched seven takedowns in a 17-7 major decision over Chattanooga’s Joey Knox on Nov. 20 and followed with eight more in an 18-7 major decision against Oregon State’s Jon Brascetta for 15 on the season. With at least 17 duals left, and maybe more because of National Duals, Burroughs would have to average 4.9 takedowns per match to break the record. He would also have to appear in all of NU’s duals, a feat he accomplish last season when he averaged 5.8 takedowns per dual.

The Pin King
Vince Jones, Nebraska’s resident pin king, is back at it again this season. He led the Huskers in falls with 12 in 2005-06 and accomplished the feat again with 10 in 2007-08. The senior is well on his way again this season with eight pins already in 17 matches, including three straight to start the year.

Jones has some competition this season from junior Craig Brester, the Huskers’ 197-pounder. Brester is 12-0 on the year with six pins and one technical fall and four major decisions. All of Brester’s falls have come in the first period, including one against No. 14 Andrew Anderson of Northern Iowa at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 22.

Ranking the Returning
Nebraska welcomes back four All-Americans this season from the contingent of five Huskers that earned the honor last season. Jordan Burroughs, Craig Brester and Stephen Dwyer return for their junior seasons at 157, 197 and 165 pounds, respectively, while Brandon Browne wrestles his senior season at 174 pounds. NU’s four returning All-Americans are the most for Nebraska since 1995-96, when the Huskers welcomed back Brad Canoyer (118), Temoer Terry (150), Ryan Tobin (190) and Tolly Thompson (Hwt.).

Cowboy Larry Lane’s Son
Redshirt freshman Tucker Lane is almost following in his father’s footsteps. Tucker, like his dad Larry, is wrestling collegiately. He enters his second season in the Nebraska program as the projected starter at heavyweight, after being named NU’s 2008 Redshirt of the Year. Larry spent his college years wrestling for the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., and was also on the All-Army wrestling team. Tucker has yet to follow in one footstep though. Larry went on to wrestle professionally from 1973 to 1983 as "Red Dog Lane" and "Cowboy Larry Lane".

Non-Varsity Notes
With a two-week break for the varsity wrestlers after the Las Vegas Invitational, the non-varsity squad has been busy competing in the Fort Hays State Open on Dec. 6 and the UNK Loper Open on Dec. 13. Four Huskers placed in Fort Hays, including three titles, while NU racked up nine top-eight finishes in Kearney.

Freshman Jon Burns was impressive both weekends, capturing first at FHSU and second at UNK at 141 pounds. Burns went a combined 9-1 at the two tournaments with four pins and two major decisions. He is now 13-2 on the season with five pins and three major decisions.

Several other Huskers grabbed titles, including freshman Josh Ihnen and sophomore Cameron Browne. Wrestling at 184 pounds, Ihnen also posted a 9-1 record en route to first place at FHSU and third at UNK. He has a 14-4 record this season with three pins, two technical falls and two major decisions. Likewise, Browne took home first and third, respectively. He posted a 10-1 mark while notching his first technical fall and major decision of the season.

Freshman Ridge Kiley went 3-0 before defaulting out of the Loper Open with a minjor injury. Kiley moved his record to a perfect 8-0 on the season with two pins and one major decision. Senior Vince Jones took first at UNK to claim his third tournament title of the season.

NU’s non-varsity wrestlers are off for the holidays, but return to action at the Dana Open in Blair, Neb., on Jan. 3.

Next up: Huskers Kick Off New Year With Two
Nebraska returns from the holiday break with two duals on Jan. 4. The Huskers face Northern Colorado for the third consecutive year, beginning at noon, and battle No. 15 Michigan at 4 p.m. The Bears and Wolverines square off at 2 p.m. All three contests promise to be exciting, with ranked wrestlers from all three squads wrestling in numerous bouts. Tickets can be purchased by calling (800) 8-BIGRED or online at Huskers.com.