Sanders Earns At-Large Bid to NCAA Championships

Lincoln ? The Nebraska wrestling team will have a total of seven Huskers making the trip to the 2009 NCAA Championships, as senior Robert Sanders earned an at-large bid at 149 pounds today.

As part of the new qualifying system for the national tournament, the NCAA allocated automatic qualifiers on Feb. 26 per weight per conference before each qualifying tournament. The Big 12 earned 37 spots, including all five wrestlers at 165, 197 and heavyweight.

Nebraska wrestlers Jordan Burroughs (157), Stephen Dwyer (165), Brandon Browne (174), Vince Jones (184), Craig Brester (197) and Tucker Lane (Hwt.) earned an automatic spot by virtue of their finish at the Big 12 Championship, and will now be joined by Sanders. The Blanding, Utah, native will be making his second trip the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee announced their final 52 at-large selections today, based on head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that weight class. As a whole, the Big 12 earned five at-large bids to claim a total of 42 qualifiers.

The NCAA Championships begin Thursday, March 19, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., and continue through Saturday.