Nebraska Takes on Wyoming in First Road Dual

#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1) at #18 Wyoming Cowboys (2-0)

Nov. 18, 2018

3 p.m. (CT)

Laramie, Wyo. (Storey Gym)

All-Time Series: NU, 37-14-0

Live Streaming: FloWrestling

 

Laramie, Wyo. -- The Nebraska wrestling team has its second dual in three days this weekend as they go on the road to take on the #18 Wyoming Cowboys today. The Huskers currently hold a 37-14 series lead on Wyoming. NU has won the last eight matchups, including 29 of the last 30, dating back to 1987.

 

The two teams squared off last year to open the season in Lincoln, with the Huskers taking a 25-10 victory.

 

The Cowboys are led by Mark Branch, who is in his 11th year as the man-in-charge of Wyoming’s wrestling program. With over 100 dual wins and a 78-percent win rate within the conference ranks, Branch has brought the Cowboys to national prominence.

 

Branch has compiled a 49-14 mark against conference record foes with four regular-season dual titles. Named the Big 12 Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2018, he led the Cowboys to a 13-3 overall record with a 7-2 mark against Big 12 opponents. Wyoming went on to finish fourth at the Big 12 Championships and 17th at the NCAA Championships in March. Wyoming has finished in the top-20 three-straight years at the NCAA Championships.

 

Top returners for Wyoming include sophomore Montorie Bridges (141) and senior Branson Ashworth (165). Both are ranked as the No. 11 wrestler in the country in their weight class, according to InterMat. Bridges, who earned All-America honors as a redshirt freshman, won 35 matches last year, with three wins over top five opponents and nine ranked wins overall. Ashworth holds a 97-20 overall record and also defeated nine ranked opponents last year.

 

The Huskers are 3-0 in neutral site duals this season, winning all three duals last weekend against Utah Valley, Drexel and Virginia. The dual against Wyoming today will be the first of three non-conference road duals before the New Year, as NU will head to Raleigh, N.C. and Chapel Hill, N.C. on consecutive days in mid-December to take on the #8 NC State Wolfpack and #24 North Carolina Tar Heels.

 

Nebraska’s Projected Starters:

125: #6 Zeke Moisey (2-0)

133: Christian Miller (3-4) -OR- Tucker Sjomeling (4-2)

141: #11 Chad Red Jr. (1-2)

149: Jordan Shearer (5-2) -OR- Collin Purinton (5-2)

157: #3 Tyler Berger (4-0)

165: #11 Isaiah White (1-2) -OR- Johnny Blankenship (3-2)

174: #10 Mikey Labriola (7-1)

184: #3 Taylor Venz (4-0)

197: Eric Schultz (6-3)

HWT: Christian Lance (3-2) -OR- Patrick Grayson (4-3)

 

Wyoming’s Projected Starters:

125: Cole Verner (6-3)

133: #11 Montorie Bridges (8-1)

141: Sam Turner (6-3)

149: Jaron Jensen (7-2)

157: Dewey Krueger (8-0)

165: #11 Branson Ashworth (8-1)

174: Hayden Hastings (7-2) -OR- Casey Randles (4-2)

184: Carless Looney (6-5)

197: Cale Davidson (5-3)

HWT: Brian Andrews (8-1)

 

Quick Notes

• Nebraska has outscored its four dual opponents by a combined score of 89-61

• Nebraska has won 24 of 40 individual matches in dual competition

• Two starters have perfect 4-0 dual records to start the season. Returning All-Americans Tyler Berger (157) and Taylor Venz (184) both started out the season 4-0, with 32 combined dual points between them.

• Junior Jordan Shearer (149) and sophomore Patrick Grayson (HWT) are a combined 4-1 in duals after notching victories by decision over Drexel and UVA. Grayson took a 5-2 decision over the No. 13 ranked heavyweight wrestler in the country on Saturday in Joey Goodhart (Drexel).

• Tyler Berger (157) leads NU with four victories by major decision. All four of his dual victories this season come by bonus points.

• Zeke Moisey (125) made his Huskers debut last weekend and started 1-0 with an 8-7 decision in his bout against Drexel’s Antonio Minninno. He stayed undefeated Friday night against Wisconsin, winning by injury default over #17 Connor Brown.

• Labriola (174) leads the team with three wins by tech. fall and seven victories overall.

 

Four Returning All-American’s Look to Make Waves

• Nebraska returns five starters in 2018-19 who competed at last year’s NCAA Championships. Throw in Zeke Moisey (125), a West Virginia transfer and two-time All-American, and the Huskers have legitimate reason to believe that over half the team’s starters have an excellent chance to go to nationals once again.

• Moisey, Chad Red Jr. (141), Tyler Berger (157), Isaiah White (165) and Taylor Venz (184) did not travel to the Daktronics Open Nov. 4, but all competed at the Northeast Duals. Berger, Moisey, Red Jr. and Venz were each named All-Americans after finishing in the top 8 of their weight classes at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

• Moisey went 26-11 at WVU last season before placing eighth at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Red Jr. had an identical 26-11 mark in 2018-19 before going 5-2 at the NCAA Championships to earn a seventh-place finish. Berger, who sits just 9 wins away from his 100th win as a Husker, went 28-9 a season ago and placed third at the NCAA Championships.

• A transfer from Division II Notre Dame College, Isaiah White (165) enters his second year as a Husker in 2018-19. He qualified for nationals after accumulating a 25-8 record last season, but fell short of All-America status, losing in the Round of 12.

• Taylor Venz (184), a redshirt sophomore from Farmington, Minn., finished fourth at the 2018 NCAA Championships. He also competed in the NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 2, defeating Cornell’s Max Dean in a rematch from last year’s bout at nationals.

 

Open Lineup Spots Being Sorted Out

• Nebraska will have a few starting roles to sort out after the graduation of a few key seniors. Two-time All-American Tyler Berger is firmly entrenched at 157 pounds. Returning NCAA qualifiers Chad Red Jr. (141), Isaiah White (165), Taylor Venz (184) and Eric Schultz (197) are all locked into starting spots.

• A few spots up for grabs are at 125, 133 and 149 pounds as NU looks to replace departed seniors Mitchell Maginnis (125) and Colton McCrystal (149).

• Zeke Moisey made his Huskers debut last weekend and tallied up a victory in the win column at 125-pounds. He defeated his first ranked opponent as a Husker on Friday night in Wisconsin’s Connor Brown (No. 17).

• Redshirt freshman Christian Miller, who went 3-1 to finish second at the Daktronics Open, went 0-2 in his first dual competition last weekend. His top competitor for the spot is Tucker Sjomeling, who earned a 13-6 victory by decision against Utah Valley on Saturday. Listed as “OR” on the depth chart, Miller and Sjomeling could each see action this weekend.

• Jordan Shearer, a junior from Fargo, N.D., has been NU’s top-dog at 149 pounds early on in the season. He went 2-0 in dual action in Albany, N.Y., Saturday, proving the decision to start him to be a good one. Collin Purinton also grabbed a dual victory on Saturday at 149 as the two combined to go 3-0.

 

Labriola Wins Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

• Nebraska redshirt freshman Mikey Labriola (174 pounds) was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 13. A native of Easton, Pa., Labriola has been dominant thus far in the 2018-19 season. He earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors after going 3-0 at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y.

• In his first match, Labriola squared off with No. 14 Kimball Bastian of Utah Valley and ended up taking an 11-7 victory by decision. In his next bout, the 174-pounder won 18-3 by tech. fall (2:43) against Drexel’s Jason Hoffman. Labriola finished the Northeast Duals with another win by tech. fall, this time over Virginia’s Robby Patrick (6:03), 22-7.

• He also went 4-0 in the 174-pound bracket of the Daktronics Open on Nov. 4 to take first place in his weight class. Labriola boasts a 7-1 record with two top-20 wins heading into Sunday’s dual against Wyoming. The redshirt freshman is Nebraska’s first Big Ten Wrestler of the Week since Robert Kokesh did so as a senior in 2014-15.

 

Seven Huskers ranked in Intermat, OpenMat, FloWrestling Rankings

• Seven Nebraska wrestlers are currently ranked in the top 20 of their weight class by the weekly rankings services. Tyler Berger (157) and Taylor Venz (184) are the highest-ranked Huskers, as each is ranked as the No. 3 wrestler in their weight class by the InterMat rankings.

• Zeke Moisey (125) comes in at No. 6 in the InterMat rankings, No. 7 in the OpenMat rankings and No. 5 in FloWrestling’s rankings, moving up one spot from last week.

•  Mikey Labriola, who was ranked 12th at 174 pounds last week, moved up to No. 10 in the InterMat and FloWrestling rankings and No. 11 in the OpenMat rankings.

• Chad Red Jr. (141) comes in at No. 11 on the InterMat rankings but stayed in the top ten in each of the other two. Isaiah White (165) comes in at No. 11 and Eric Schultz (197) ranks as the 14th best wrestler in his class on OpenMat and the 18th best on FloWrestling.

 

Scouting Wyoming:

 

2018-19 Record: 2-0 (0-0 Big 12)

Wins (2): Virginia, Edinboro

Losses (0):

 

2017-18 Record: 13-3 (7-2 Big 12)

Wins (13): Iowa State, UNC, Duke, Army, American, CSU Bakersfield, Oregon State, NDSU, Fresno State, Oklahoma, Utah Valley, Northern Colorado, Air Force

Losses (3): Nebraska, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State

 

• The Cowboys finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships last year and 17th at the NCAA Championships.

• Archie Colgan (157) and Bryce Meredith (149) became the first Cowboys ever to win Big 12 individual titles last year. Both were seniors and are replaced by Jaron Jensen (149) and Dewey Krueger (157), who are a combined 15-2 this season.

• Montorie Bridges (133), Sam Turner (141) and Branson Ashworth (165) all return after competing at the NCAA Championships last year. Bridges and Turner are sophomores this year and will be looking for their second NCAA Championship appearance while Ashworth, a senior from Spanish Fork, Utah, will be looking to make his third straight appearance.

• Montorie Bridges (133) is the team’s only returning All-American from last season. Bridges finished third in the Journeyman Collegiate Classic last weekend, while four Cowboys won titles in their weight classes.

 

• Coached by: Mark Branch (11th Season at Wyoming)

• Career Record: 102-49 (11 seasons); Record at Wyoming: Same

 

Last Meeting: #15 Nebraska 25, Wyoming 10

Nov. 17, 2017

Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center)

 

• #15 Nebraska took seven out of the ten duals against Wyoming, winning two of them by bonus points.

• Returners that competed for NU included Tyler Berger (157), Isaiah White (165), Taylor Venz (184) and Eric Schultz (197).

• No. 4 Tyler Berger and No. 16 Isaiah White each grinded out victories by decision over top 20 opponents Archie Colgan (157) and Branson Ashworth (165). Ashworth will get his rematch with White on Sunday in Laramie, Wyo.

• Taylor Venz came out with a vengence in his first dual as a Husker, defeating Chaz Polson (184) by tech. fall, 18-2.

• No. 6 Colton McCrystal won in a decision over Wyoming’s Sam Turner, 5-4. The victory

for McCrystal at 149-pounds broke a 6-6 team score tie as NU went on to win six of the next seven bouts.

• Huskers returners Eric Schultz (197) and David Jensen (HWT) each won their bouts as well. Schultz used three key takedowns to win by decision,7-3. Jensen dominated his match from start to finish, winning by tech. fall, 17-2.

 

Last Time Out:

The #12 Huskers fell on Friday night to the #17 Wisconsin Badgers to open up the Big Ten dual season, 22-21. The two teams were tied up, 21-21, before Wisconsin was awarded the victory by tie-breaker.

 

Up Next:

This will be the Huskers first home dual out of seven on the season, and the only one of 2018. Nebraska heads to the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. on Nov. 30 for the two-day tournament. After duals with NC State and North Carolina on the road, NU will be off until Jan. 6, 2019, when they return home for a dual against Northwestern.