NU Completes Weekend Road Sweep

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The No. 14 Nebraska wrestling team grabbed its second straight conference dual win as it won six of 10 bouts, scoring bonus point in three matches, to defeat No. 21 Northwestern 23-12 on Sunday afternoon. 

The dual began at 165 pounds. Bubba Wilson and No. 29 David Ferrante wrestled a scoreless first period. In the second, Wilson got on the board first with an escape and Ferrante tied it up with an escape of his own to start the third period. Wilson then recorded a takedown and held his ground to claim the 3-2 decision.

No. 5 Mikey Labriola (174) then faced Northwestern's Ankhaa Enkmandakh and worked quickly with four takedowns in the first period to lead 8-4. Enkmandakh recorded two escapes in the second, but Labriola extended his lead to 16-6 after two more takedowns and four near fall points. Labriola then continued the attack with an escape and three more takedowns to score the 15th technical fall of his career at 24-8. 

No. 11 Taylor Venz (184) scored a takedown and an escape in the first period against Jack Jessen but trailed 5-3. Venz responded in the second period with an escape, takedown and two near fall points to grab the 8-5 lead. The senior from Farmington, Minn., finished strong for the Huskers closing out a 15-5 major decision victory with six near fall points and the riding time point.  

At 197, No. 3 Eric Schultz kept the Big Red momentum going in the first ranked bout of the afternoon. Schultz recorded a takedown in the first, while holding No. 29 Andrew Davison scoreless. In the final two periods, Schultz scored two escapes and nine takedowns to remain undefeated in this season's dual competition and grab NU's second technical fall at 23-8. 

With the Huskers' 17-0 overall lead, No. 11 Christian Lance faced No. 14 Lucas Davison in the second ranked bout in a row. Davison attacked first with an early takedown, but Lance responded with an escape to trial 2-1 entering the second period. Lance battled, but Davison extended his lead with a takedown and an escape of his own. To start the third, Lance tallied another escape, but it was not enough as Davison grabbed another takedown and the riding time point for an 8-3 decision. 

After a brief intermission, Jeremiah Reno (125) faced his third straight ranked opponent in Northwestern's #11 Michael DeAugustino. The two grappled a scoreless first period before DeAugustino recorded an escape and a takedown in the second to lead 3-0. Reno started the third period with an escape, but the Wildcat responded with a takedown and won by decision, 6-1. 

Dominick Serrano saw his second dual meet action of the season at 133 pounds. Squaring off against Northwestern's No. 9 Chris Cannon, the match was scoreless after the first period. Cannon then got on the board first with an escape, but Serrano notched a takedown to grab the lead. Cannon responded with a takedown of his own and held off Serrano's late attack to claim the 5-4 victory by decision. 

In the third ranked bout of the night, No. 9 Chad Red Jr. and No. 32 Frankie Tal-Shahar grappled a scoreless first three minutes. In the second period, Red started on bottom and tallied the escape. Tal-Shahar tied up the match with an escape of his own to start the third before Red notched a takedown and grabbed the riding time point in route to a 4-2 decision. 

No. 4 Ridge Lovett (149) then faced No. 11 Yahya Thomas with Thomas grabbing the 6-3 advantage entering the first period. Lovett tied the match at 6-6 with an escape and a takedown and ended the second period on top. In the final two minutes, Lovett held Thomas scoreless and got the riding time point to secure the 7-6 victory. 

No. 5 Peyton Robb (157) closed out the match with a hard-fought battle against Northwestern's No. 2 Ryan Deakin, Robb's fourth Top 5 opponent of the season. The wrestlers completed a scoreless first period before Deakin grabbed a 3-0 lead with an escape and a takedown. Robb was awarded a penalty point and an escape in the third, but Deakin finished on top with the 4-2 decision. 

With the win, the Huskers move to 5-2 overall with a 2-2 mark in conference action while Northwestern slips to 2-4 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. 

Extra Matches
Three Huskers wrestled in extra matches on Sunday as Nebraska finished 2-1 in those bouts. At 133, Alex Thomsen defeated Matt Vinci by major decision 15-2. In the second match, Tucker Sjomeling (133) battled Justin Benjamin but fell in overtime 8-6. To close out the extra matches, Brandyn Van Tassell claimed the major decision over John Halvorsen 14-2.
 
Up Next
The Huskers will return home to host No. 3 Michigan (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) on Friday, Feb. 4. The meet will begin at 8 p.m. and be televised on BTN. 

#14 Nebraska 23, #21 Northwestern 12
165: Bubba Wilson (NEB) dec. #29 David Ferrante (NU) 3-2 (NEB 3, NU 0)
174: #5 Mikey Labriola (NEB) tech. fall Ankhaa Enkmandakh (NU) 24-8 (NEB 8, NU 0)
184: #11 Taylor Venz (NEB) maj. dec. Jack Jessen (NU) 15-5 (NEB 12, NU 0)
197: #3 Eric Schultz (NEB) tech. fall #29 Andrew Davison (NU) 23-8 (NEB 17, NU 0)
HWT: #14 Lucas Davison (NU) dec. #11 Christian Lance (NEB) 8-3 (NEB 17, NU 3)
125: #11 Michael DeAugustino (NU) dec. Jeremiah Reno (NEB) 6-1 (NEB 17, NU 6)
133: #9 Chris Cannon (NU) dec. Dominick Serrano (NEB) 5-4 (NEB 17, NU 9)
141: #9 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) dec. #32 Frankie Tal-Shahar (NU) 4-2 (NEB 20, NU 9)
149: #4 Ridge Lovett (NEB) dec. #11 Yahya Thomas (NU) 7-6 (NEB 23, NU 9)
157: #2 Ryan Deakin (NU) dec. #5 Peyton Robb (NEB) 4-2 (NEB 23, NU 12)

Extra Matches
133: Alex Thomsen (NEB) maj. dec. Matt Vinci (NU) 15-2
141: Justin Benjamin (NU) dec. Tucker Sjomeling (NEB) 8-6 SV-1
184: Brandyn Van Tassell (NEB) maj. dec. John Halvorsen (NU) 14-2