Robert Sanders Season 2008-09

NCAA Championships
2009-Sanders received an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA Championships, but went 0-2 at 149 pounds to end his season. He lost an 11-3 major decision to No. 17 Heinrich Barnes of Oregon State and a 10-1 major decision to Bucknell's Kevin LeValley.

2006-In his NCAA Championships debut, Sanders went 1-2 at 149 pounds. In the first round, Sanders came back from a 2-1 first-period deficit to defeat David Jauregui of West Virginia, 6-3, at 149 pounds. Sanders clinched the match with a takedown with 39 seconds to go. In the second round, Sanders suffered an 11-2 major decision loss to Matt Storniolo of Oklahoma. Sanders’ trip to nationals ended with a 5-2 loss to Trevor Chinn of Lehigh.

Big 12 Championships
2009-The fourth seed at 149 pounds, Sanders went 2-1 to finish third at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. Sanders lost a 10-4 decision to Iowa State's Mitch Mueller in the semifinals, but bounced back with a 1:33 pin over Missouri's Andrew Sherry. Sanders won a 4-3 decision against Oklahoma State's Luke Silver in the consolation final to win his final match in the NU Coliseum.

2006-Seeded fifth at 149 pounds, Sanders went 2-1 at the Big 12 Championships to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Sanders won his first-round match by major decision over Josh Wagner of Missouri, 12-3, before losing to Oklahoma State’s Zack Esposito. In the third-place match, Sanders defeated Iowa State’s Jason Knipp, 6-3, to earn the trip to nationals.

Career Notes
2009-Sanders went 26-17, including 10-8 in duals, at 149 pounds in 2008-09. He began the season at 157, wrestling in several open tournaments during the fall semester, but dropped down one weight class after an injury to Chris Hacker. Sanders filled in very well, as his wins were crucial in several Nebraska dual wins.

2008-Sanders battled three other Huskers for the starting nod at 141 pounds, earning three dual appearances and notching a 1-2 mark, while finishing 8-8 overall.

Sanders went 2-2 at the Cowboy Open on Nov. 10, before earning his first dual win of the season with a 14-4 major decision over Lehigh’s Kyle Rosser on Nov. 16. Sanders went 3-2 in the elite division of the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 17, and finished 2-2 at the Las Vegas Invite on Nov. 30.

Sanders also made two dual appearances against Northwestern at the National Duals on Jan. 12, and against Oklahoma State on Jan. 20. Sanders lost both matches, and an injury kept him out of NU’s lineup the rest of the season.

2007-Sanders finished his sophomore season with a 17-12 record as he split time with Jordan Burroughs as Nebraska’s starter at 149 pounds.

After a 2-2 start to the season at the Cowboy Open, Sanders went 3-2 at the Kaufman-Brand Open the following week. In his first dual action of the year, Sanders fell in overtime 7-5 to Jon Bonilla-Bowman of Virginia Tech on Nov. 24. Sanders rebounded the following day with a 6-5 win over Andrew Schlaffer of Maryland.

Sanders finished 2-2 at the Las Vegas Invitational including an 8-7 win over 20th-ranked Jason McGee of Kent State in the consolation bracket.

After a third-place finish at the Dana College Open on Jan. 6, Sanders split his two matches at the National Duals, losing to third-ranked Josh Churella of Michigan before defeating Alex Grunder of Iowa, 7-2.

Sanders lost a pair of dual matches to ranked conference opponents to close the season. After losing to 16th-ranked Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, Sanders lost to ninth-ranked Josh Wagner of Missouri in his final match of the season.

2006-An academic All-Big 12 performer in the classroom, Sanders split time with Ryan Davis as the starter at 149 pounds early in the season, before taking over for the last three conference duals.

Sanders finished 3-2 at the Harold Nichols Open on Nov. 12, then split his first two dual matches for the Huskers. After a 2-2 performance at the UNI Open on Dec. 4, Sanders got back on the winning track with a 7-6 decision over Orlando Perez of Oregon State on Dec. 17 at the Nebraska Duals.

Sanders earned the Brand Open championship at 149 pounds on Jan. 21, then lost a pair of Big 12 matches to top-seven competition before falling in the final conference dual of the season to finish 0-3.

2005-Thanks to a strong finish when he placed in his last four open tournaments, Sanders finished with a 21-12 mark at 149 pounds. After a 1-2 finish at the Harold Nichols Open, Sanders won three of five matches in the 20-and-under division at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 20. A 1-2 finish at the UNI Open on Dec. 4 was followed by a sixth-place finish at the UNK Runza Loper Open on Dec. 11. Sanders won four of six matches at the Beamon Open on Jan. 8, to earn his first of two straight fourth-place finishes. The second came at the Brand Open on Jan. 15, as he again won four of six matches. Sanders ended the year with a second-place finish at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln on Jan. 29.

Before Nebraska-Sanders won two state championships for his father, Coach Bob Sanders, at San Juan High School. In his senior year, Sanders went 51-0 at 140 pounds, capping a 169-9 career in which he won 100 matches by fall. Sanders lettered in wrestling (four years), football (one year), baseball (two years) and track (one year). He earned academic all-state honors in football, wrestling and track.

Personal
The son of Robert and Leslie Sanders, Robert was born in Cortez, Colo., on Sept. 29, 1985. He has one brother, Paul, who was also on the Nebraska wrestling team. Robert majored in nutritional science and dietetics at Nebraska.