LINCOLN -- The Nebraska wrestling team added a highly-touted transfer on May 16 when Head Coach Mark Manning announced that Liam Cronin will join the Huskers for the 2020-21 season. Cronin, a 125-pounder, comes to Nebraska after spending the first three seasons of his collegiate career at Indiana.
Cronin has 41 collegiate victories to his credit, including 17 during the 2019-20 campaign on his way to a fifth-place finish at the 2020 Big Ten Championships. Cronin's performance earned him an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships, but he never had the chance to take the mat as the championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cronin went 9-3 overall against dual competition as a junior, with a 6-3 mark in Big Ten dual matches, including ranked victories over then-No. 5 Devin Schroder (Purdue) and then-No. 15 Nico Aguilar (Rutgers).
The Orange, Calif., native compiled a 17-13 overall record as a sophomore in 2018-19 with two pins, four technical falls and two major decisions. This came after a redshirt season in 2017-18 which saw Cronin win seven of his final eight bouts and earn a first-place finish at the Purple Raider Open at the University of Mount Union (Ohio).
As a true freshman, Cronin made five appearances in the starting dual meet lineup in addition to seeing action at several open tournaments.
Cronin has also enjoyed considerable success outside of collegiate competition. He was a U23 World Team Trials champion in 2019 (Greco-Roman), placed third at the 2018 U23 Nationals (Greco-Roman) and finished runner-up at the United World Wrestling Junior Nationals in 2017 (Freestyle).
Prior to enrolling at Indiana, Cronin wrestled four seasons under head coach Alan Clinton at Servite High School, where he set Servite records for single-season takedowns, career takedowns, bonus point wins, and winning percentage. Cronin helped his team win four CIF team state championships during his prep years. He became the first high school state finalist from Servite (a feat he accomplished in both 2015 and 2016) and was named the 2015 Wrestler of the Year by the Orange County Register. Cronin is a seven-time Junior Fargo All-American, split between Freestyle and Greco-Roman, won gold at the FILA Junior Greco World Cup and was named to the National High School Coaches Association All-America team in 2016.
