Huskers Prepare to Tackle Busy Weekend

Dual 10: No. 4 Nebraska vs. Penn
Date: Friday, Jan. 23
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Video: Huskers.com

Dual 11: No. 4 Nebraska vs. Virginia Tech
Date: Sunday, Jan. 25
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Rose Arena, Mount, Pleasant, Mich.

Dual 12: No. 4 Nebraska vs. No. 6 Central Michigan
Date: Sunday, Jan. 25
Time: Noon
Location: Rose Arena, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Live Video: Cmuchippewas.com

Lincoln - The fourth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team faces another difficult weekend, as the Huskers (10-2) host Penn (6-4) in the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Friday before making a quick turnaround to face Virginia Tech (12-0) and No. 6 Central Michigan (11-1) in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Sunday. NU squares off against the Hokies at 10 a.m. and takes on the Chippewas at noon in Rose Arena.

The Huskers posted two more dual victories last Sunday at the NU Coliseum, earning a 43-3 win over South Dakota State before claiming a 26-13 contest over Maryland. The wins moved NU to 10-2 on the season, with its two losses coming to the top two ranked teams in the nation (Iowa and Iowa State). Senior Brandon Browne posted two pins, including one in 48 seconds, to lead five Huskers with 2-0 records on the day. Junior Craig Brester was the only Husker to defeat a ranked opponent, knocking off No. 11 Hudson Taylor of Maryland with a 7-4 decision.

This weekend Nebraska faces their final tuneups before the start of the Big 12 season. With a Jan. 31 matchup at Missouri looming, the Huskers face three quality opponents in Penn, Virginia Tech and Central Michigan. The Quakers come to Lincoln on Friday after dropping out of the NWCA team rankings for the first time this season. Penn has three wrestlers currently ranked in the individual standings, including No. 10 Cesar Grajales at 149 pounds. Sunday’s two contests pit Nebraska against an undefeated Tech squad and sixth-ranked CMU. The Huskers have won 21-straight dual against ACC opponents, but the Hokies are off to the best start in program history under third-year head coach Kevin Dresser. The Chippewas have climbed to No. 6 in the latest NWCA poll with six ranked wrestlers after a first-place finish at the Virginia Duals.

Fans should keep an eye on the 157-pound match versus Penn, which pits No. 18 Matt Dragon against No. 3 Jordan Burroughs of NU. The Huskers’ dual with CMU features two matchups with both wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Fifth-ranked Stephen Dwyer faces No. 10 Trevor Stewart at 165, while No. 2 Brandon Browne wrestles seventh-ranked Mike Miller at 174.

Friday’s contest will feature live stats and video on Huskers.com, while Nebraska’s Sunday dual with Central Michigan will also have live video.

Last Time Out: Browne Sticks Huskers Past Jackrabbits and Terps
Senior Brandon Browne posted two pins on Jan. 18 to propel No. 4 Nebraska to dual wins over South Dakota State (43-3) and Maryland (26-13) in the NU Coliseum. Browne, Vince Jones, Craig Brester, Matt Vacanti and Robert Sanders notched 2-0 records on the day to help the Huskers move to 10-2 in dual competition this season..

In the marquee dual of the day, NU claimed seven of the nine contested matches to top Maryland. After a slim 3-2 victory by junior Stephen Dwyer at 165 pounds to start the contest, the Huskers started to roll behind a 48-second pin by Browne at 174. Browne took down UM’s Patrick Klenkel with 2:17 left in the first period and ended it shortly thereafter to notch his third fall of the season.

Jones continued the momentum with an 11-0 major decision over Maryland’s Ryan Gray at 184. The senior nearly accomplished the same feat as Browne, notching a three-point nearfall 1:44 into the match. Jones couldn’t seal the pin, but did come away with his team-leading 21st victory of the season.

Brester won the only matchup of two ranked wrestlers with a 7-4 decision over No. 11 Hudson Taylor. Brester, ranked second at 197 pounds, used two takedowns and two reversals to gain a measure of revenge against Taylor, who beat him in the consolation finals at last season’s NCAA Championships.

An upset at heavyweight, a forfeit at 125, and a win at 141 brought the Terps within six (19-13) with two matches left, but Robert Sanders closed the door with a 10-3 decision over Steve Fehnel at 149 pounds. Sophomore Matt Vacanti (133) picked up NU’s other victory, and junior Jordan Burroughs (157) closed the dual with a 22-9 major decision.

In NU’s first dual of the day, the Huskers sprinted to a 22-0 lead against South Dakota State with four bonus-point wins to start the dual, including three pins. Sophomore Alex Ward opened with an 11-0 major decision at 165 pounds, but Browne once again got the Huskers rolling with a pin of SDSU’s Justin Retallic in 4:56. Browne was well on his way to another victory, posting four takedowns in the second period, before earning the fall. Jones followed with a pin of his own, falling Zach Blindert in 3:25, and Brester made it three in a row by downing Jeremy Swier in 3:25. The trio of Browne, Jones and Brester have combined for 21 pins this season.

Redshirt freshmen Tucker Lane and Andy Pokorny earned decisions at heavyweight and 125 pounds, before the Jackrabbits forfeited 133 to Vacanti. Sophomore Curtis Salazar claimed a 6-5 victory at 141 and Sanders pinned his SDSU opponent in 4:13 to round out Nebraska’s victories. NU’s 43 dual points are the second time the Huskers have topped the 40-point mark this season.

Scouting Penn (6-4)
The Quakers return eight NCAA qualifiers from a squad that went 13-5 a year ago, but first-year head coach Rob Eiter has posted a 6-4 dual record this season.

Penn climbed to as high as 20th in the rankings after a 4-1 start to the season, opening with a loss to No. 9 Michigan (22-15) on Nov. 22, but blanking conference foe Princeton (47-0) later in the day. The Quakers placed three wrestlers at the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 and sent several wrestlers to the Midlands Championships to end 2008.

After opening the new year with three dual wins at the Penn Duals, the Quakers traveled to the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10. PU entered the tournament seeded fifth and dispatched North Dakota State (33-3) in the first round, but lost a second-round dual to No. 15 Edinboro (30-12). Penn started the second day with a victory over Liberty (35-9), but ended with losses to No. 24 Kent State (19-15) and Navy (21-13) to finish eighth. The performance dropped the Quakers out of the NWCA rankings for first time this season.

Individually, the Quakers enter Friday with three wrestlers ranked in the Jan. 20 NWCA poll. Senior Cesar Grajales is the top ranked Penn wrestler, entering the weekend at No. 10 at 149 pounds. Grajales is a two-time NCAA qualifier who lost to NU’s Jordan Burroughs in the first round at last year’s national championships. He is 16-5 this season, including 8-1 in duals. Junior Rollie Peterkin is 12th at 125 punds after a 12-3 start to the year, while senior Matt Dragon is No. 18 with a 19-3 record.

The 157-pound weight class will be the only matchup of two ranked wrestlers, featuring Dragon against No. 3 Burroughs.

Husker History Versus Penn
With the Quakers in their 103rd season of wrestling and the Huskers competing for nearly as long, the two programs have surprisingly met just once. Nebraska wrapped up the 2006-07 with an East Coast trip to face Lehigh on Feb. 16 and Drexel and Penn the next day.

Wrestling in The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa., the 19th-ranked Nebraska squad tied No. 20 Penn at 17 apiece. The Quakers took an early 10-0 lead on NU after winning the first three matches. Craig Brester stopped the Penn winning streak with his 14-5 major decision win over Jack Sullivan at 197 pounds. A loss at heavyweight built Penn’s lead to 13-4 halfway through the dual. Paul Donahoe earned an 8-2 win over Matt Eveleth at 125 pounds. At 133 pounds, top-ranked Matt Valenti earned a major decision win to give Penn a 17-7 lead with three matches remaining.

However, Nebraska got three consecutive wins to end the dual, starting with Dominick Moyer at 141 pounds. Moyer defeated Brett McCurdy, 5-2, to break the Quakers’ winning streak. Jordan Burroughs followed at 149 with a 19-7 major decision win over Rob Hitschler. Chris Oliver tied the dual for the Huskers with a 4-1 win over Matt Dragon at 157 pounds.

Scouting Virginia Tech (12-0)
A former national champion for Iowa, Kevin Dresser is in his third year as head coach for the Hokies. Virginia Tech is still a young program, after several wrestlers transferred to Iowa with former VT coach Tom Brands after the 2006 season. For the second year in a row, the Hokies have no seniors on the squad and 18 of Tech’s 23 wrestlers this season are sophomores or younger.

Dresser and the Hokies endured two losing seasons, but are 12-0 for the best start in program history this year. Virginia Tech picked up three dual wins to start the season, including a shutout at Chattanooga (37-0), before placing ninth at the Las Vegas Invitational in their first big test of the season. Tech posted wins over Brown (36-9), Central Oklahoma (34-9) and Cal Poly (34-9) to start the year with a 3-0 performance at the Lone Star Duals. VT followed with three more dual wins over Gardner-Webb (39-3), The Citadel (28-9) and Davidson (34-11) at the Bulldog duals on Jan. 10. In their latest action, the Hokies won their home opener against Rutgers (24-21) last Sunday. Tech will face Binghamton and No. 17 Michigan on Saturday in Ann Arbor, their first ranked foes of the season.

The Hokies enter the weekend with one ranked wrestler, Jarrod Garnett at 125 pounds. A true freshman, Garnett has climbed to No. 13 in the rankings after a 26-4 start. After winning his first 15 collegiate matches, Garnett placed fourth at Las Vegas. Tech will also look for leadership from sophomore Matt Epperly at 165 pounds. Epperly is the lone returning NCAA qualifier for VT. He was the 2008 ACC champion, but went 0-2 at the NCAA Championships. He is 17-8 this season.

Husker History Versus Virginia Tech
Both meetings between the Hokies and Huskers have come in the last three seasons, with Nebraska winning both contests decisively. NU posted a 41-3 victory over VT in the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Jan. 7, 2006, and notched a 34-9 road win on Nov. 24, 2006.

In their last clash, 184-pounder Levi Wofford notched two last-minute takedowns, including one at the final horn, to upset ninth-ranked Steve Borja and spark No. 18 Nebraska to a six-match winning streak to defeat Virginia, 34-9, at the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

The win marked the 11th-straight year the Huskers won their season-opening dual, and it was keyed by a pair of freshmen in their first career dual matches earning victories for NU. After Wofford’s win over Borja, Nick Schaefer notched a pair of takedowns to defeat Tim Miller, 5-3.

Then, Nebraska built its lead with a pair of wins by fall by returning starters. The first was by heavyweight Jon May, who pinned Jim Powers 1:25 into the second period. That was followed by 125-pounder Paul Donahoe’s win by fall over Sheridan Moran in 1:33 to give the Huskers an 18-point lead four matches into the dual.

In his varsity debut at 133 pounds, Mike Rowe defeated Matt Rosen, 8-3, while Dominick Moyer clinched the dual for Nebraska with a 14-2 major decision victory at 141 pounds. After an overtime setback at 149 pounds, Chris Oliver earned his fifth win of the year by fall with his pin of Derek Gallagher with eight seconds remaining in the first period at 157 pounds. At 165, Marc Harwood won his first match of the year with a 3-1 sudden-victory triumph over Eric Decker to give NU a 34-3 lead with one match to go. With the dual decided, Steve Ratley won by fall for Virginia Tech at 174 pounds.

Scouting Central Michigan (11-1)
Legendary head coach Tom Borrelli is in his 18th year at the helm for the Chippewas, holding an impressive 215-88-6 dual record during his time in Mount Pleasant, Mich. He coached Central Michigan to a seventh-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championships with four Chippewas earning All-America honors. However, Borelli lost all four to graduation and returned just four starters to this year’s squad. CMU started the season ranked 17th, but the Chippewas have exceeded expectations with an 11-1 dual record, and sit No. 6 entering this weekend.

CMU started the season with a 3-1 performance at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 29, with its only loss coming to top-ranked Iowa (27-6). The Chippewas visited Ann Arbor next to pick up a 19-12 upset of 10th-ranked rival Michigan, before placing sixth at the highly-competitive Midlands Championships on Dec. 30. Central Michigan opened 2009 with another road victory over Michigan State (29-6), and placed first at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 10 with wins over Liberty (27-15), No. 23 Old Dominion (24-12), No. 13 Oklahoma State (17-14) and No. 8 Lehigh (21-12). In their most recent action, the Chippewas defeated Bloomsburg (24-8) and No. 24 Pittsburgh (28-6) last weekend. CMU battles Eastern Michigan tonight in its first home dual of the season.

Individually, the Chippewas have six wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the nation, including three in the top eight of their respective weight class. CMU is led by sophomore Mike Miller at 174 pounds. Miller earned All-America honors with an eighth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships, but took an Olympic redshirt last season. He is ranked seventh in the country with a 16-5 record. Junior Steven Brown and true freshman Scotti Sentes are No. 8 at 149 and 125 pounds, respectively. Brown was MAC champion at 157 last season, but drops down one weight class this season. He is currently 14-4. Sentes was a four-time high school champion in Florida, and has translated that success to a 17-3 record this season for CMU. Senior Trevor Stewart is ranked 10th after falling one victory shy of becoming an All-American last season. He has a 17-5 mark this year at 165 pounds. Juniors Conor Beebe (133) and Tony D’Alie (141) are ranked 20th in the latest NWCA poll.

Sunday’s dual will feature two matchups of two ranked wrestlers. Stewart faces No. 5 Dwyer at 165 pounds, while Miller squares off against No. 2 Browne at 174.

Husker History Versus Central Michigan
The Chippewas are another storied program that Nebraska has met few times, with the Huskers leading the all-time series 2-0. NU earned a 26-7 victory over CMU on Feb. 9, 1997, in Michigan and posted a 21-10 win against the Chippewas in the consolation final of the 2006 National Duals.

In their last meeting, No. 14 Nebraska put the dual away early by winning seven of the first eight matches en route to a 21-10 victory over No. 7 Central Michigan. Paul Donahoe picked up a 4-3 victory over Luke Smith at 125 pounds, Patrick Aleksanyan followed with another narrow victory at 133, a 6-4 sudden-victory triumph over Jason Borrelli, and Dominick Moyer earned Nebraska’s third straight victory with a 2-1 win over Eric Kruger at 141 to give the Huskers a 9-0 lead after the first three matches.

NU continued its winning ways with four straight victories after a setback at 149 pounds. Chris Oliver got NU back on the winning track with a 3-2 win over Zach Strunk at 157 pounds. At 165, Marc Harwood defeated Justin Petrone, 5-1. Jacob Klein earned his fourth win of the weekend with a 6-0 triumph over Brandon Sinnott. At 184 pounds, Vince Jones followed with his fourth straight victory in his first weekend of dual wrestling with a 9-4 win over Christian Sinnott. With the outcome of the dual decided, Central Michigan earned wins at 197 pounds and at heavyweight.

Meandering Back to Michigan
Several former Chippewas will make a return visit to Mount Pleasant when the Huskers visit Central Michigan on Sunday. NU staff members Mike Greenfield and Jason Mester both wrestled for Central Michigan under head coach Tom Borrelli.

Greenfield was a two-time All-American for CMU, finishing eighth at the 1998 NCAA Championships at 177 pounds and seventh in 1999 at 184 pounds. He was a three-time Mid-American Conference champion and owned a career record of 108-30. At the time of his graduation, Greenfield ranked seventh all-time in Chippewa history with his 108 wins and his career winning-percentage of .735 placed him 11th in school history. The top assistant at Nebraska, Greenfield is in his seventh season with the program.

Mester was also a two-time All-American for the Chippewas, posting a fifth-place finish at 141 in 2003 and claiming fourth in 2004. He notched three Mid-American Conference championships, finishing with a 104-27 all-time record. At the time of his graduation, Mester ranked third all-time on CMU’s charts with a .815 career-winning percentage.

Totalling 20
Six Nebraska wrestlers moved above the 20-win mark last weekend, including Vince Jones (184) and Robert Sanders (149) who lead the team with 21 victories each. Jordan Burroughs (157) and Brandon Browne (174) should reach 20 wins, as each has 19 at this time, while Stephen Dwyer (165), Ross Grand (149) and Cameron Browne (197) all 18.

Last season, eight Huskers eclipsed the 20-win mark, including three (Burroughs, Dwyer and Browne) that topped 30 wins on the season.

Lane Garners Big 12 Honor
Nebraska heavyweight Tucker Lane was selected as the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the conference announced on Jan. 13. Lane, a redshirt freshman from Redvale, Colo., shared the weekly honor with Iowa State’s Jake Varner.

Lane was a key component in the Huskers fourth-place finish at the NWCA National Duals, finishing with a 3-1 record at the tournament. He posted an 8-5 decision over Ben Kuhar to give the Huskers a 19-18 victory over No. 20 Northwestern in the opening round, and followed with a 4-2 decision over Cameron Wade to solidify a come-from-behind 20-16 win versus No. 14 Penn State. Against No. 2 Iowa State, Lane scored an early takedown over No. 3 Dave Zabriskie and added a three-point nearfall in the second period to take a 7-6 victory and nearly lead the Huskers to an upset of the Cyclones.

At the time, Lane was 19-5 on the season, including 8-2 in duals, with three pins. It was his first career honor, and he was the second Husker to earn recognition from the Big 12 this season.

Big Time at the Big Weights
Nebraska has posted an impressive mark so far this season in the upper weights. In 12 duals, Nebraska has a 57-9 record from 157 pounds to heavyweight, including three wrestlers holding at least 10 dual wins in that weight range.

Perfect So Far
One Husker wrestler remains in the ranks of the undefeated. Of NU’s 30 wrestlers that have competed, Jordan Burroughs (157) still has an unblemished record. Nebraska has 21 wrestlers with winning records in 2008-09.

Running up the Rankings
The Huskers stayed fourth in the latest NWCA dual rankings after dual victories over South Dakota State and Maryland last Sunday. NU moved up to as high as third 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 18 straight polls in the top 10.

Bonus-Point Brester
Craig Brester has been a bonus-point machine for the Huskers this season. A junior from Howells, Neb., Brester has posted an 20-1 record, including 11-1 in duals. Seventeen of his 20 wins have come by bonus-points, including seven pins, two technical falls and eight major decisions. Brester notched five pins in his first six matches, and has rolled from there. In early December, 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 four pins on the year, while the Huskers as a whole have notched 79 so far.

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 10 dual appearances this season, he is well on his way to breaking the record again. He has notched 66 dual takedowns so far, including 18 in two duals on Jan. 4. With nine duals left, Burroughs would have to average 3.5 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 10 pins in 26 matches, including three straight to start the year.

Jones has some competition this season from junior Craig Brester, the Huskers’ 197-pounder. Brester is 20-1 on the year with seven pins and two technical falls and eight 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.

Best Start Since
The Huskers rushed to an 8-0 start to this season, before falling to No. 1 Iowa at National Duals. The mark is NU’s best start since 2004-05, a season in which Nebraska finished third at the Big 12 Championships and 19th at the NCAA Championships.

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 the 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 in early December 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.

Topping Off National Duals
NU’s fourth-place finish at National Duals this season was the 11th time the Huskers have finished in the top five since the inception of the event in 1989. The Huskers improved their all-time record to 48-29 in the 16 appearances at National Duals.

4-0 for National Duals
Two Huskers posted a perfect 4-0 record at National Duals, leading the Huskers to a fourth-place team finish. Jordan Burroughs was the most impressive, earning victories over three ranked foes and two All-Americans. The junior opened with a decision over No. 17 Jason Welch of Northwestern, before adding another decision against eighth-ranked Dan Vallimont of Penn State, an All-American last season. Burroughs added a 22-7 technical fall over Iowa’s Matt Ballweg and ended with a 12-4 major decision over No. 5 Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, also an All-American last season.

Senior Brandon Browne also contributed four victories to the Huskers’ cause, winning all his matches by decision. He posted a 14-7 decision against Northwestern’s Robert Kellogg and defeated No. 14 Quentin Wright of Penn State, 3-1, on the first day. Browne got a measure of revenge with a 5-4 decison over No. 5 Jay Borschel of Iowa, who defeated him in the consolation finals of last year’s NCAA Championships, and capped the tournament with a 7-4 win over Iowa State’s Andrew Sorenson.

Double Down in Vegas
The second time around was just as nice for the Huskers in Vegas, as Nebraska won the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 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.

Over the Half Century
The Huskers put a 50-0 defeat on the Augustana Vikings on Nov. 28 for Nebraska’s largest win in over 25 years. The Huskers have topped the 50-point mark just three times in their history. NU posted an all-time high 55 points in a shutout of the Colorado School of Mines on Jan. 22, 1983, after defeating Western New England College on Jan. 31, 1982, by a 50-0 margin. In their defense, Augustana and Colorado School of Mines are NCAA Division II teams, while Western New England is a member of Division III.

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.

Non-Varsity Notes
Nebraska sent nine wrestlers to the Glen Brand Open in Omaha last Saturday, with three Huskers placing. NU’s contingent was led by freshman Josh Ihnen and sophomore Cameron Browne, who took first at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively. Junior Levi Wofford also placed, earning third at 184.

Browne posted a 3-0 mark, including two bonus-point victories, to move to 18-5 on the year. He pinned Tim Smell of Air Force in 4:21, followed with a 16-4 major decision over Iowa State’s Kyle Simonson and earned a 12-6 decision against Nebraska Omaha’s Jacob Marrs in the final. Browne has placed at four consecutive tournaments, including winning three titles. Browne has two pins, two technical falls and six major decisions this year.

Ihnen won his third open tournament of the season by notching three straight decisions over Wyoming’s Michael Poulos, Nebraska-Omaha’s Matt Baker and Iowa’s Grant Gambrall. Ihnen stands at 20-4 on the year, placing in the top three in five of the six tournament he has competed in. He has four pins, two technical falls and three major decisions.

Wofford went 4-1, claiming two decisions before losing to Iowa’s Grant Gambrall. Wofford rebounded with a 16-6 major decision over Wyoming’s Michael Poulos and won a 7-2 decision over Nebraska-Omaha’s Matt Baker in the consolation final. Wofford is 15-4 on the season with three pins, three technical falls and three major decisions.

Ross Grande (149) went 3-2 at the tournament to move to 18-12 on the year, while Ridge Kiley (125), Tyler Koehn (157), Ethan Studebaker (165) and Hadley Cooskley (Hwt) all went 2-2. Livingston Lukow finished 1-2 at 197 pounds.

NU’s non-varsity wrestlers next travel to the Grand View Open in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 31. Hosted by Grand View University, wrestling begins at 9 a.m. in the Sisam Arena.

Next up: NU Begins Big 12 at Missouri
The Huskers begin the conference portion of their schedule with a dual against No. 12 Missouri in Columbia at 2 p.m. on Jan. 31. Nebraska is 3-2 in its last five Big 12 openers. The Huskers and Tigers has been a meeting of two highly-ranked programs recently, including a matchup of the No. 2 and 3 teams in the nation during the 2006-07 season. Nebraska lost a 31-11 dual in its last trip to Coumbia.