Huskers Set for Top Ten Showdown with Minnesota

#7 Minnesota Golden Gophers 12-2 (5-1) at #6 Nebraska Cornhuskers 10-4 (4-3)

Friday, Feb. 8

7 p.m. CT

Lincoln, Neb.

Devaney Center

Live Streaming: BTN Plus/FloWrestling

 

The Matchup:

The #6 Nebraska Cornhuskers host the #7 Minnesota Golden Gophers at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8 at the Devaney Center. Minnesota has won five straight duals, all against Big Ten foes, since losing to Iowa on Jan. 13.

 

The Gophers are a perfect 5-0 in true road duals this season and 8-0 away from Maturi Pavilion. Minnesota has seven wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their weight class by the InterMat rankings. Gophers’ heavyweight Gable Steveson is ranked No. 1 in the country in his weight class and he’s a perfect 24-0 this season (14-0 in duals).

 

All-Time Series:

Nebraska trails the all-time series against Minnesota 21-50-0, but NU has won the past two duals against the Gophers. The Huskers won the last meeting in Minneapolis 21-11 in 2017.

 

How to Follow:

Both duals will be televised on BTN Plus and FloWrestling. Live stats will be available on TrackWrestling.com and updates will be posted on Twitter (@HuskerWrestling) and Facebook (@NebraskaWrestling) throughout the evening.

 

Scouting Minnesota:

• Head Coach: Brandon Eggum

            • Career Record: 27-13 (3rd Year)

            • Record at Minnesota: 27-13 (3rd Year)

 

            • 2018-19 Record: 12-2 (5-1 Big Ten)

            Wins (12): at Air Force, South Dakota State, vs. #16 Lehigh, vs. #20 North Carolina,

vs. Kent State, vs. Utah Valley, #14 Rutgers, at #18 Illinois, at Northwestern, at #15 Wisconsin, Purdue

            Losses (2): #2 Oklahoma State, #3 Iowa  

 

Gophers Nuggets:

• Minnesota Head Coach Brandon Eggum completed his first season as the Gophers’ head coach in 2016-17 after spending the previous five seasons serving as the program’s head assistant coach. This season is Eggum’s 18th on the Gophers wrestling team staff.

• After winning seven duals in his first year in 2016-17 and eight duals last year, Minnesota has 12 dual victories this season, its most since winning 12 duals in the 2013-14 season.

• Minnesota’s Ethan Lizak (133) is the team’s only returning All-America honoree after he finished fourth at 125 pounds last year as a junior. He has earned All-America honors in each of the past two seasons.

• Gophers upperclassmen Mitchell McKee and Steve Bleise both made appearances at the NCAA Championships last year. McKee was eliminated in the Round of 12 and Bleise fell in the Cons. Round 2.

• Minnesota heavyweight Gable Steveson is the #1 285-pound grappler in the country right now. The true freshman from Apple Valley, Minn., is a perfect 24-0 this season with 14 wins by bonus points. He’s 9-0 in Big Ten bouts and 10-0 in matchups against ranked opponents.

 

Nebraska’s Projected Starters:

125: #16 Sr. Zeke Moisey (10-7)

133: R-Fr. Tucker Sjomeling (11-5) -OR- Fr. Jevon Parrish (13-8)

141: #19 So. Chad Red Jr. (14-8)

149: Jr. Jordan Shearer (7-7) -OR- Jr. Collin Purinton (8-6)

157: #2 Sr. Tyler Berger (98-2)

165: #6 Jr. Isaiah White (13-5)

174: #9 R-Fr. Mikey Labriola (18-4)

184: #5 So. Taylor Venz (16-4)

197: #11 So. Eric Schultz (17-7)

285: #10 Jr. David Jensen (13-2)

 

Minnesota’s Projected Starters:

125: #6 Sr. Sean Russell (18-3)

OR: Sr. Steve Polakowski (5-4)

133: #8 Sr. Ethan Lizak (19-4)

141: #10 Jr. Mitchell McKee (13-3)

149: #19 Sr. Thomas Thorn (13-7)

157: #8 Sr. Steve Bleise (13-3)

165: Jr. Carson Brolsma (15-8)

OR: RFr. Jake Allar (18-5)

174: #12 Jr. Devin Skatzka (20-6)

184: Jr. Owen Webster (7-10)

OR: Sr. Brandon Krone (7-8)

197: So. Dylan Anderson (11-7)

285: #1 Fr. Gable Steveson (24-0)

 

Top Matchups to Watch:

            125: #16 Zeke Moisey (NEB) vs. #6 Sean Russell (MN)

            141: #19 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) vs. #10 Mitch McKee (MN)

            157: #2 Tyler Berger (NEB) vs. #8 Steve Bleise (MN)

            174: #9 Mikey Labriola (NEB) vs. #12 Devin Skatzka (MN)

            285: #10 David Jensen (NEB) vs. #1 Gable Steveson (MN)

 

Quick Notes:

• Nebraska has outscored its 14 dual opponents by a combined score of 314-201.

• Nebraska has won 84 of 140 (60%) of the individual matches in dual competition.

• As a program, Nebraska has won 711 duals all-time after starting the season at 701 dual victories.

• The Huskers have a 10-4 record, but two of the four losses (22-21 vs. #10 Wisconsin and 18-17 at #7 NC State) came by criteria.

• Returning All-American Tyler Berger (157) won his 100th career match on Dec. 15 against UNC’s Sawyer Davidson. He’s the 28th Husker to hit the 100-win mark and holds a 13-1 dual record this year.

• Redshirt freshman Mikey Labriola (174) leads the team with 61 dual takedowns in 14 bouts. Labriola is 18-4 on the season (11-3 in duals) and earned the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week award on Nov. 13 after going undefeated at the Northeast Duals.

• After starting the season 1-3, junior Isaiah White (165) has won 12 of his last 14 matches, with his only losses coming to #1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State and #2 Alex Marinelli of Iowa.

• Returning All-American Taylor Venz (184) had won his last six dual matches before falling to #13 Cash Wilcke of Iowa on Sunday. Venz has won two of his last three matches by pinfall.

• After starting the season 1-3, junior Isaiah White (165) has won 12 of his last 13 matches, with his only loss coming to #1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State. He’s 4-1 in his last four matches against top 20 ranked opponents.

• Returning All-American Taylor Venz (184) has won his last six dual matches. He has three pins in those matches and two top 10 wins (UNI’s #6 Drew Foster and Illinois’ #2 Emery Parker).

 

Berger Closes in on School Records:

• After winning his 107th career match against #7 Kaleb Young of Iowa, redshirt senior Tyler Berger is two wins away from entering the top-15 on the all-time wins list at Nebraska.

• Berger has defeated four out of the five top-ten opponents he’s faced this year. He went on the road to defeat NC State’s #4 Hayden Hidlay, beat Northwestern’s #2 Ryan Deakin on Jan. 6, and held off Ohio State’s #6 Ke-Shawn Hayes at the Cliff Keen Invitational. He suffered his first top-10 loss of the season against Penn State’s #1 Jason Nolf, who defeated him in a 10-4 decision.

• After his win over Deakin, Berger earned both the OpenMat Wrestler of the Week award and the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week.

 

Red Searching for Top 10 Victory:

• Now 14-8 on the season, returning All-American Chad Red Jr. (141) is looking to build momentum heading into the final few weeks of the season before postseason play begins.

• The sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind., has had a couple heartbreakers lately. He’s dropped one-point decisions to #6 Nick Lee of Penn State (5-4), #4 Mike Carr of Illinois (4-3) and #8 Josh Alber of Northern Iowa (6-4). He has won his last two duals, earning a major decision against Rutgers and earned a victory by decision against Iowa.

• Red Jr. has an opportunity for a top 10 victory this weekend against Minnesota’s #10 Mitchell McKee.

 

Labriola on Pace for Freshman Records:

• After earning the Nebraska Redshirt of the Year award in 2017-18, Mikey Labriola has impressed in his first season as a starter at 174 pounds for Nebraska. He’s 18-4 (11-3) in duals, and leads the team in dual takedowns with 62.

• Labriola has won a team-high 12 bouts by bonus points this year and holds three victories over top 20 opponents.

• The 174-pounder from Easton, Pa., is 10 wins away from joining the top 10 in single-season wins for a freshman at Nebraska.

 

Manning Sweater Vest Night at the Devaney Center:

• In Friday’s match against Minnesota, the promotion is “Sweater Vest Night,” where fans will get in free if they wear Coach Manning’s typical match attire, a sweater vest.

• Coach Manning, who is in his 22nd season at Nebraska, holds a 244-93-2 dual record as the head wrestling coach in Lincoln. With the team’s win last week over Rutgers, Manning has now led the Huskers to 10-wins in each of the past nine seasons. NU has also finished in the top 10 of the NCAA Tournament in four straight seasons.

 

Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (3x):

• For the third time this year, a Husker wrestler has garnered Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors. #4 Taylor Venz (184) earned the award after pinning #2 Emery Parker of Illinois on Sunday.

• #6 Isaiah White (165) and #9 Mikey Labriola also won the award on Dec. 4 and Nov. 13, respectively.

• Prior to this season, the last Husker to earn Big Ten Wrestler of the week was Robert Kokesh in 2014-15. NU is tied for 1st in the Big Ten with Penn State in Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors this year.

 

Jensen Changes His Best:

• Not only has Mobridge, S.D., native David Jensen secured the heavyweight spot for the Huskers, he’s becoming one of the better 285-pounders in the country. Since joining the lineup in early December, Jensen holds a 13-2 record (7-2 in duals) with three wins over top 20 opponents.

• Jensen moved all the way up to #9 in the country at the heavyweight spot in the FloWrestling rankings this week after earning the best win of his career on Sunday over Iowa’s #3 Sam Stoll. Jensen took a 3-0 decision and tacked on 4:00 of riding time to control Stoll throughout the bout.

 

Closing in on Milestones:

• #2 Tyler Berger (157) has 107 career wins. He’s just two wins away from being in the top 15 all-time at Nebraska.

• #9 Mikey Labriola (174) carries an 18-4 record into this weekend. The redshirt freshman from Easton, Pa., is 10 wins away from breaking the top 10 for wins as a freshman.

• #16 Zeke Moisey (94-43) is just six wins away from reaching 100-career victories. He’s 10-7 overall at Nebraska in his redshirt senior year. His other 84 wins came in his first four years at WVU.

 

Last Time Out:

The Huskers defeated #14 Rutgers on the road in Piscataway, N.J., on Friday, Feb. 1, but dropped a 20-13 dual to Iowa on Sunday, Feb. 3 at the Devaney Center.

 

Up Next:

NU heads on the road for their last regular season dual away from the Devaney Center on Sunday, Feb. 17 at #2 Ohio State.