Paul Donahoe Season 2007-08

NCAA Championships
2008-Donahoe posted a 5-1 record at the 2008 NCAA Championships to finish third and claim his second All-America honor. Donahoe advanced with a 9-0 major decision over Ohio State's Nikko Triggas and earned a 21-6 technical fall against Cal State Bakersfield's Brandon Zoeteway.

In the quarterfinals, Donahoe earned a 4-2 win over No. 6 Gabe Flores of Illinois, but second-ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota beat Donahoe 4-3 in the semifinals. Donahoe rebounded with two decisions over No. 5 Tanner Gardner of Stanford (5-3) and No. 19 Mark McKnight of Penn State (6-3) to place third.

2007-Donahoe upset No. 1 Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma to win the 2007 national championship at 125 pounds. Donahoe defeated Hazewinkel in the sudden-victory period, 3-1, to become Nebraska’s ninth national champion and just the second Husker to win a national title as a sophomore.

Donahoe moved into the finals with a 2-1 overtime win over Troy Nickerson of Cornell. In the quarterfinals, Donahoe defeated Tanner Gardner of Stanford, 8-3. Donahoe won both of his matches on the first day of the tournament, defeating Pat Castillo of Northern Illinois in the first round, 4-1, before pinning Dave Tomasette of Hofstra 26 seconds into the third period of their second-round match.

2006-Donahoe went 2-2 in his first trip to the NCAA Championships.  In the first round, the 10th-seeded Donahoe won his first career NCAA match by a 7-5 decision over Patrick Castillo of <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Northern Illinois.  The No. 10 seed at 125 pounds, Donahoe outscored Castillo 6-2 in the final period to take the match.  Donahoe advanced to the quarterfinals at 125 pounds with a 4-2 win over  Jeremy Mendoza of ArizonaState. 

 

With 27 seconds to go in the match, Donahoe earned a takedown to take the lead for the first time in the match, and he held on for the victory.  In the quarterfinals, Donahoe suffered a 5-0 loss to Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel.  Donahoe's season ended with an 8-3 loss to OklahomaState's Coleman Scott.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Big 12 Championships
2008-Donahoe clinched his first career Big 12 title with a perfect 2-0 showing at the 2008 Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, Okla. Donahoe opened with a 2-1 decision over Iowa State's Tyler Clark in the semifinals and topped Oklahoma State's Tyler Shinn in the finals, 7-4.

2007-Donahoe clinched his second career trip to the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish at 125 pounds. Donahoe defeated sixth-ranked Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 5-3, in the semifinals to clinch his bid to nationals. In the finals, top-ranked Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma defeated Donahoe, 12-3.

2006-Donahoe clinched a bid to the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish in his first career appearance at the Big 12 Championships. The No. 3 seed at 125 pounds, Donahoe lost 4-1 to OklahomaState’s Coleman Scott.  In the consolation bracket, Donahoe roared back with a pair of wins, a 14-4 major decision triumph over IowaState’s Ben Hansich and a 10-7 win over Missouri’s Austin DeVoe in the third-place match. 

 

Career Notes
2008-Donahoe marched off 10 wins to start the season, including three pins. An early season matchup at the NWCA All-Star Classic saw Donahoe beat Minnesota's Jayson Ness, 5-2, in Eugene, Ore. He followed with three consecutive wins at the Las Vegas Invitaitonal on Nov. 30, but a tweaked knee forced Donahoe to default out of the tournament.

 

Donahoe went 2-2 at the National Duals on Jan. 12-13, wrestling four opponents ranked in the top seven. Donahoe suffered his first loss of the season to Ness in overtime, and also was on the losing end of a 3-2 decision to Iowa's Charlie Falck.

 

Donahoe rebounded to win eight of his final nine matches of the regular season, including five bonus-point wins. He ended the regular season with dual wins overs No. 13 Dave Tomasette of Hofstra and No. 15 Tyler Clark of Iowa State. He was 3-1 against Big 12 opponents during the regular season, with his only loss coming to Oklahoma's Joey Fio.

2007-Donahoe started the season by winning 23 of his first 24 matches and never looked back on his way to a 35-5 record, which tied three Huskers for fourth-most wins by a sophomore in school history. Donahoe became the first NU wrestler since Jason Powell in 2002-03 to win at least 30 matches.

Donahoe won his first seven matches of the season. After a loss to 19th-ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota, Donahoe ran off 16 straight wins, including each of his first nine dual matches. The streak started with a win over Tyler Shinn of Oklahoma State in the consolation bracket of the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 18. Donahoe’s major-decision triumph over Kyle Anson of Northern Iowa in the third-place match on Nov. 18 started a streak of six straight matches in which he earned bonus points.

Donahoe started the Las Vegas Invitational in resounding fashion, winning three straight matches in bonus-point fashion. After a win over Matt Eveleth of Penn in the semifinals, Donahoe defeated Angel Escobedo of Indiana, 2-0, in the finals.

At the National Duals, Donahoe gave the Huskers an early lead over sixth-ranked Hofstra with a 13-8 win over fifth-ranked Dave Tomasette. He also defeated Michael Watts of Michigan, 20-7, to help spur the Huskers to a win over the Wolverines.

After back-to-back losses, Donahoe got back on the winning track with a 19-7 major decision triumph over John Olanwoski of Missouri in the Big 12 opener. He followed with an 8-5 win over No. 15 Tyler Shinn of Oklahoma State and a pin of Henry Roman of Oklahoma. After an overtime loss against No. 4 Jayson Ness of Minnesota, Donahoe won his last three matches of the regular season, closing with an 8-2 win over No. 20 Matt Eveleth of Penn.

2006-Donahoe finished his first regular season with a 12-5 dual record, tying B.J. Padden for second on the team in dual wins.

 

Donahoe earned wins in 12 of his first 13 matches this season, including an 18-8 major decision triumph over BoiseState’s Cory Fish in his first dual match for NU.  After a third-place finish at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 19, Donahoe moved into the national rankings, then defeated Bryce Leonhardt of Wyoming 2-1 in his second career dual match. 

 

The strong start continued for Donahoe with a championship at 125 pounds at the UNI Open on Dec. 4.  Among the five matches were three pins and one major decision win.  The following weekend, Donahoe dominated Michigan’s Paul Shutich in a 15-0 technical fall win that keyed Nebraska’s 18-16 in Ann Arbor.  After a loss at Minnesota, Donahoe defeated two ranked wrestlers at the Nebraska Duals on Dec. 17.

 

The wrestling community took notice of Donahoe’s strong first semester of wrestling, moving him into the top 10 to begin the month of January.  Donahoe won three straight matches in bonus-point fashion in mid-January.  After a 14-3 major decision win over Justin Staylor of Virginia Tech on Jan. 7, Donahoe keyed the Huskers’ surprising third-place finish at the NWCA National Duals with wins by fall over Luke Magnani of Iowa and Michigan’s Mike Watts. 

 

A win over 13th-ranked Luke Smith of Central Michigan started a three-match winning streak for Donahoe.  Donahoe knocked off American’s Matt Morkel 5-2 on Jan. 21 and defeated 18th-ranked Austin DeVoe of Missouri in a 21-18 win by the Huskers over the Tigers.  A win by fall over Ben Hansich of IowaState closed Donahoe’s first varsity regular season.

 

2005-With five individual championships, Donahoe proved to be another promising prospect at 125 pounds.  Donahoe won his first 10 collegiate matches.  After suffering a pair of losses, he went on to win his last ten matches. 

 

Donahoe started his collegiate career with a three-win performance that tied him for the individual title at 125 pounds on Nov. 13 at the Harold Nichols Open in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Donahoe followed that with a 5-0 run to the championship of the 20-and-under 125-pound bracket at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 20 in Omaha, Neb.

 

On Dec. 4, after winning his first two matches, Donahoe suffered a pair of losses at the UNI Open.  That would be the only two bouts Donahoe would lose in his redshirt season.

 

After Christmas break, Donahoe won four matches on Jan. 8 to capture the 125-pound championship at the Beamon Open in Blair, Neb.  He followed that performance with a pair of three-win championship efforts at the Brand Open in Omaha, Neb. (Jan. 15) and at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln, Neb (Jan. 29).

 

Before Nebraska-A two-time freestyle junior national champion, Donahoe earned two state championships at DavisonHigh School under Coach Roy Hall.  Davison was ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams during Donahoe’s career.  Donahoe also lettered in cross country in high school.

 

Personal-The son of Laura and Kerry Donahoe, Paul was born in Warren, Mich., on May 24, 1985. He has four sisters. He is a sociology major at Nebraska.