Huskers Head North to No. 5 Minnesota, South Dakota State

No. 12 Nebraska (4-1) at No. 5 Minnesota (1-1)
Williams Arena (14,625)
Minneapolis, Minn.
Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009 - 7 p.m.
Series History: UM leads, 46-19-0
Last Meeting: NU won, 21-18 in Lincoln (Dec. 21, 2008)
Live Video: Gophersports.com
Live Blog: Huskers.com

No. 12 Nebraska (4-1) at South Dakota State (1-5)
Swiftel Center (2,000)
Brookings, S.D.
Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 - 2 p.m.
Series History: NU leads, 14-13-2
Last Meeting: NU won, 43-3 in Lincoln (Jan. 18, 2009)
Live Blog: Huskers.com

The 12th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team continues its month-long road swing with a trip north to take on No. 5 Minnesota and South Dakota State this week. The Huskers will meet the Gophers at Minneapolis' Williams Arena on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m., before a Saturday dual against the Jackrabbits at the Swiftel Center in Brookings, S.D.

The University of Minnesota will offer live video of the Nebraska-Minnesota dual with a paid subscription on its official website, www.gophersports.com. A live blog will be provided on Huskers.com for both matches.

No. 5 Minnesota (1-1) will be the highest ranked opponent NU has met in dual action this season, as the Huskers have been battle-tested en route to a 4-1 record through the first month. Last week, Nebraska finished fifth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational behind an individual title from senior Craig Brester at 197 pounds. The Huskers were without defending national champion Jordan Burroughs (157), who suffered a mouth injury and withdrew from competition after the first round.

South Dakota State (1-5) will be hosting its first dual of the 2009-10 season when the Huskers travel to Brookings this Saturday.

Scouting the No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers
Minnesota has been one of the premier college wrestling programs in the nation this decade with three NCAA Championships (2001, 2002, 2007) and four Big Ten titles (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007). Head Coach J. Robinson (Oklahoma State, 1969) has been with the Golden Gophers for 24 seasons, racking up a career record of 348- 119-3. After a national crown in 2007, Minnesota has finished 10th (2008) and 14th (2009) the past two seasons, but returns eight starters in 2009-10.

The Gophers are expected to start seven ranked wrestlers against the Huskers, five of which are in the top 10. Senior Jayson Ness leads the charge as he is ranked No. 2 at 133 pounds following his third-straight All-American season in 2009 (3rd at NCAA Championships). Sophomore Zach Sanders (125) and senior Dustin Schlatter (165) are each ranked No. 4 in their respective weight classes. Sanders finished sixth at the 2009 NCAA Championships, while Schlatter is a three-time All-American, including a 2006 national title at 149 pounds.

Minnesota is 1-1 in dual competition this season, defeating Cal-State Bakersfield, 31-9, but dropping a 21-8 decision at No. 3 Oklahoma State.

Scouting the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
South Dakota State is coming off a 9-11-1 season under 17th-year head coach Jason Liles. In Brookings, Liles has compiled a 139-110-3 record after spending nine years at Montana State-Northern. The Jackrabbits return eight starters in 2009-10 and 11 letterwinners as they aim to improve on a winless conference record last season.

Senior Tyler Sorenson is without doubt South Dakota State's primary performer. Sorenson is ranked No. 9 at 197 pounds after becoming just the second Jackrabbit in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships last year. He is 17-2 this season with six pins and six technical falls.

South Dakota State picked up its lone with this season against Cumberland at the Hoosier Duals on Nov. 28. The Jackrabbits have been defeated by No. 2 Iowa State, No. 13 Indiana, Northern Illinois, Liberty and Tennessee- Chattanooga.

Last Time Out: Brester Wins 197-pound Championship at Las Vegas Invitational
Craig Brester continued a dominant senior season as he claimed the 197-pound championship while leading the Nebraska wrestling team to a fifth-place finish with 94 points at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitaitonal on Dec. 4-5 in Primm, Nev.

After three falls on the first day of competition, Brester pinned Purdue's Logan Brown in 2 minutes, 30 seconds to advance to the finals, where he won a 6-3 decision over Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky for the 197-pound title. The Howells, Neb., native is now 11-0 this season and has won five matches by fall.

Brester was one of three Huskers to reach the finals, in addition to senior Stephen Dwyer (174) and sophomore Tucker Lane (285). Dwyer and Lane each claimed runner-up finishes after advancing to the championhip round with semifinal vicotires. Dwyer defeated Purdue's Luke Manuel (7-3), but fell to Cornell's Mack Lewnes by decision (5-3), while Lane downed Oklahoma's Nathan Fernandez (3-1) before dropping the title bout to Indiana's Nate Everhart (3-2).

Nebraska was without defending 157-pound national champion Jordan Burroughs, who was forced to withdraw from the Las Vegas Invitational after a first round mouth injury.

While 10 Huskers traveled to the Las Vegas Invitational, the rest of the Husker wrestling team competed at the Fort Hays State Open in Fort Hays Kan., where freshman Kyle Waldo (125), freshman Cody Compton (157), redshirt freshman Tyler Koehn (165), freshman Caleb Kolb (174) and senior Levi Wofford (285) all brought home third-place finishes.

Last Time Nebraska and Minnesota Met:
No. 3 Nebraska won six of its first seven matches before holding off No. 7 Minnesota for a 21-18 dual victory in front of 829 fans at the NU Coliseum on Dec. 21, 2008. Nebraska was led by its heavier weights, as Stephen Dwyer (165), Brandon Browne (174) and Craig Brester (197) notched major decision wins to help NU move to 4-0 in dual competition and hand Minnesota (3-1) its first loss of the season.

A native of Howells, Neb., Brester wasted little time in improving his record to 13-0 on the year. Brester earned two takedowns in the first period and was constantly on the offensive against Minnesota's Gordon Bierschenk. Brester was awarded three stalling points and racked up 2:52 in riding time to post a 12-3 major decision.

Browne was equally as impressive, earning a 20-8 major decision against UM's Kaleb Young. The senior scored two takedowns in each of the first two periods, but turned up the intensity and posted five takedowns in the final stanza.

Dwyer also held an early lead, but poured on the points late in his match with Minnesota's Matt Everson. Dwyer went into the third period leading 6-0 after a takedown, reversal and two stalling points. He notched three takedowns and a three-point nearfall to earn nine points in the final period and claim the 15-3 major decision.

Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs, Vince Jones and Robert Sanders all scored victories over their Golden Gopher opponents. Burroughs completed a hat trick, as he is now 3-0 on the season against UM's Tyler Safratowich. In the only matchup of the night with two ranked wrestlers, No. 2 Burroughs scored two takedowns in the third period to pull away from No. 19 Safratwoich for a 9-4 win at 157. Jones, ranked No. 13 in the nation at 184, posted three reversals in his match to win 7-5, while Sanders scored a reversal with 14 seconds left to secure a 7-5 victory at 149.

The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a pin at 141 pounds, but NU's six straight wins put the Huskers up 21-9. Minnesota scored the upset of the night at heavyweight, as unranked Joe Nord topped No. 12 Tucker Lane of Nebraska, 6-2, to close the gap. UM's Zach Sanders (125) and Jayson Ness (133) earned a technical fall and major decision, respectively, in the final matches of the day, but Minnesota still came up short.

Last Time Nebraska and South Dakota State Met:
Brandon Browne posted two pins to propel No. 4 Nebraska to dual wins over South Dakota State (43-3) and Maryland (26-13) in the NU Coliseum on Jan. 18, 2009. Browne, Vince Jones, Craig Brester and Robert Sanders notched 2-0 records on the day to help the Huskers move to 10-2 in dual competition this season. The Jackrabbits fell to 6-5-1.

The Huskers sprinted to a 22-0 lead against South Dakota State with four bonus-point wins to start the dual, including three pins. Alex Ward opened with an 11-0 major decision at 165 pounds, but Browne got the Huskers rolling with a pin of SDSU's Justin Retallic in 4:56. Browne was well on his way to a 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.

NU's 43 dual points marked the second time the Huskers topped the 40-point mark in 2008-09.

Next Up: Huskers Come Home for Dec. 19 Double-Dual
Nebraska will return to the NU Coliseum for the first time in over a month when the Huskers host No. 6 Central Michigan and in-state foe Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday, Dec. 19. The Chippewas and Lopers will start the day at 10 a.m., with Nebraska's duals against CMU and UNK beginning 10 minutes following the first match of the day (approximately 11:30 a.m.).