Huskers Set for Big Ten ChampionshipsHuskers Set for Big Ten Championships
Wrestling

Huskers Set for Big Ten Championships

 Big Ten Championships  Saturday, March 3-Sunday, March 4  East Lansing, Mich. (Breslin Center) 
 #13 Nebraska Cornhuskers  10-4 (7-2 Big Ten)  Nebraska Match Notes | @HuskerWrestling
 Session I   Saturday, March 3 - 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT  BTN Plus | FloWrestling | TrackWrestling
 Session II  Saturday, March 3 - 5 p.m ET/4 p.m. CT  BTN Plus | FloWrestling | TrackWrestling
 Session III  Sunday, March 4 - Noon ET/11 a.m. CT  BTN Plus | FloWrestling | TrackWrestling
 Session IV (Finals)  Sunday, March 4 - 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT  BTN/BTN2Go | TrackWrestling

Nebraska moves into the postseason portion of this season’s schedule, as the Huskers will test their place against some of the nation’s best this Saturday and Sunday at the Big Ten Championships, held at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.

Session I commences on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET). Session II also slated for Saturday, will get started at 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). Both sessions Saturday will have a live stream available on BTN Plus and FloWrestling (subscription required for both).

Sunday’s action starts at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET) with Session III, which will be streamed on BTN Plus and FloWrestling. The championship finals in Session IV will begin at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET) and will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

Live scoring and brackets for the entirety of the tournament will be available on TrackWrestling.

Eight Huskers earned pre-seeds for the Big Ten Championships. Colton McCrystal (149), Chad Red Jr. (141) and Jason Renteria (133) each earned the fourth seed at their weight classes, while Tyler Berger was seeded fifth at 157. Taylor Venz is sixth at 184, while Isaiah White (8th at 165) and Eric Schultz (8th at 197) also earned top-eight seeds.

Nebraska finished the dual season with a 10-4 record, including a 7-2 record in the Big Ten to finish tied for third in the conference dual meet standings. Nebraska ended the season by winning eight of nine duals, including each of the last three.

Last Time Out

Nebraska closed out the regular season with a 23-14 win over Stanford on Feb. 16.

Up Next

Qualifiers to the 2018 NCAA Championships will compete at the national tournament, held March 15-17 in Cleveland, Ohio. Automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships is based on finish at conference tournaments, with predetermined conference allocations. The Big Ten Conference leads the nation with 80 automatic qualifiers. A total of 283 wrestlers will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships with the remaining 47 at-large qualifiers to be announced on March 6.

Quick Notes

  • Two starters have surpassed the 20-win plateau, as Isaiah White (165) and Taylor Venz (184) won their 20th match of the season in the season-ending dual against Stanford
  • Chad Red Jr. (141) and Tyler Berger (157) are two wins away from their 20th of the season, while Colton McCrystal is three away from 20
  • Taylor Venz (184) leads all starters in pins this season with seven, and has recorded the fastest fall of the season, a 12-second pin over Andrew Psomas of Columbia on Dec. 1
  • Isaiah White (165) leads all starters in technical falls this season with four
  • Colton McCrystal (141), Tyler Berger (157) and Isaiah White (165) lead starters with four major decisions this season

Six Huskers Ranked in Third Coaches' Panel, Five in Second RPI Rankings

Six Nebraska wrestlers were ranked in the third NCAA Division I Coaches’ Panel Rankings, released Feb. 22. Tyler Berger and Taylor Venz were the highest ranked Huskers, coming in at eighth at 157 and 184 pounds, respectively. Colton McCrystal was ranked ninth at 149 pounds, while Chad Red Jr. (141) and Isaiah White (165) were both ranked 12th. Eric Schultz rounded out the list of Huskers in the rankings, as he came in at 30th at 197.

Five were rated in the second RPI rankings, also released last Thursday, as both White and Venz were rated seventh, while Berger was eighth. Both Red and McCrystal came in at 10th in their respective weight classes

Wrestlers in each weight class will be measured by winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches’ rankings to earn spots in their qualifying tournaments for the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

Eight Huskers Receive Big Ten Championships Pre-Seeds

Eight Nebraska wrestlers were pre-seeded by the conference’s coaches at their weight classes ahead of the Big Ten Championships. Colton McCrystal (4th at 149), Chad Red Jr. (4th at 141) and Jason Renteria (4th at 133) each earned the highest pre-seeds for Nebraska, while Tyler Berger was seeded fifth at 157 to give the Huskers four with top-five seeds.

Taylor Venz (6th at 184), Isaiah White (8th at 165), Eric Schultz (8th at 197) and Mitchell Maginnis (11th at 125) also received pre-seeds for the conference tournament.

Huskers Bring Talent, But Lack of Experience, to Big Ten Championships

Nebraska graduated six starters from last year’s team, and features eight first-time starters this season. Colton McCrystal (149) and Tyler Berger (157) are the only returning Huskers in this year's lineup with Big Ten Championships experience, which marks the lowest number of participants in last year’s tournament expected to compete this season.

Every other team in the Big Ten is expected to have at least four wrestlers who competed at the Big Ten Championships last season in their lineup in East Lansing. Four teams - Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin - could include as many as seven wrestlers who competed last year in their lineups.

Both McCrystal (141 in 2017) and Berger (157) placed third at last season’s Big Ten Championships.