Nebraska wrestling’s first dual of the 2008-2009 campaign will go down as a 29-15 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga. But it might be better remembered as the start to a very intriguing season.



The sixth-ranked Cornhuskers unveiled an altered lineup Thursday in front of 598 fans at the NU Coliseum, moving one of their best wrestlers, junior Jordan Burroughs, from 149 pounds to 157. That means Chris Hacker and Robert Sanders, slated to battle for wrestling time at 157, will drop a weight instead vie for position there.



Burroughs, ranked No. 3 nationally, kicked off competing at his new weight by dominating No. 19 Joey Knox in a 17-7 major decision that included seven takedowns.



“Jordan had grown into a big 149-pounder,” NU Coach Mark Manning said. “So he’ll go at 157 for us. We made that decision earlier in the week. It’s gonna be good for us. Really Chris Hacker and Robert Sanders are 149-pounders.”



The move takes Burroughs out of a ultra-competitive weight class that included Iowa’s Brent Metcalf – who beat Burroughs last year – and puts him in a more wide-open national race.



“It kinda bothers me a little bit, knowing I was a 149-pounder last year,” Burroughs said after the match. “I’m just doing what’s better for myself, so I’m not really thinking about what anyone else thinks. It’s my decision. I’m just doing what’s healthy for me, and what makes me feel strong.”



The rest on Thursday was business as usual. Sort of. At 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Andy Pokorny scratched because of illness, and NU had to forfeit. At 184, Levi Wofford wrestled instead of Vince Jones and, under the circumstances, scored an impressive 15-3 major decision that included nine back points.



Fourth-ranked Brester had a quick night at 197, pinning UTC’s Ethan Winel in two minutes, 45 seconds. Brester had a takedown 19 seconds into the match, and finally worked Winel to his back for the fall just before the first period had ended. Brester joked he was trying win swiftly Thursday as his former high school, Howells, was playing a state championship football game in nearby Memorial Stadium.



“The old man told me to make it quick,” Brester said. “…You just take what’s there. I saw an opening there, and I took it, and it worked out. It’s always nice to get done early.”



No. 3 Brandon Browne shrugged off what he called a slow start to take a 12-6 decision UTC freshman Jason McCroskey, who came into the match 6-0. Browne busted an 8-5 match with a reversal late in the second period.



“As the match went on, I got more comfortable,” Browne said. “I had to relax and started doing what I do best, the points would start coming.”



At 165, Stephen Dwyer handled the Mocs’ Seth Garvin 9-3 in a defensive match. Nebraska’s Tucker Lane scored a 5-3 win over Cody Sliger thanks to a reversal early in the third period.



The Huskers’ two losses of the night were 141 and 149 pounds. At 141, Curtis Salazar held a 3-2 lead over fourth-ranked Cody Cleveland after one period, but Cleveland scored the pin just 38 seconds into the third period after Manning said Salazar got “a little tentative.” Brian Litch lost at 149 pounds to Dan Waddell 11-4. Waddell had six takedowns and a point for riding time.



Nebraska next heads to Omaha for the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nebraska-Omaha’s campus. Wrestlers from many of the nation’s top programs, including Iowa and Iowa State, will be there.



“It’ll be a grind,” Brester said. “A long day.”


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Nebraska wrestling coach Mark Manning isn’t sure what to think of his team’s No. 6 national preseason ranking from InterMat. Too high for right now? Too low for what this team is capable of? Just right? The Cornhuskers entered 2007 in a No. 14 slot, and walked away from the NCAA Championships in fourth.




“You’re never quite sure why they rank you where,” Manning said outside his team’s practice room, a low-ceiling, rectangular hothouse just to the north of the Bob Devaney Sports Center’s basketball courts. “We’re really focused on getting better right now. We gotta get tougher and we gotta get better.”





An all-energy, no-frills kind of a guy, Manning enters this season having experienced a full life in the last year. He was named Big 12 Coach of the Year last spring. His team peaked at the NCAA Championships with a glut of then-underclassmen. He coached the U.S. Junior Olympic squad in Turkey.





All that behind him now, the coach can look forward to season largely spent in Nebraska. The Huskers have eight home meets – including duals against national powers Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania – and host the Big 12 Championships in the NU Coliseum. Given that four of the Big 12 teams in the nation’s top seven and five are in the top 20, the Big 12 meet could be the nation’s best this side of the National Duals and the NCAA Championships.




The first of those home matches is against Tennessee-Chattanooga Thursday night at the Coliseum.


“It’s what our guys want,” Manning said. “And it’s what we want. It’s a great way for us to kinda showcase our program and get more fans and build our fan base and really show people how we compete.”




Junior Jordan Burroughs agreed.





“It’s always good to have home crowds cheering you on, having little kids run up to you after the match asking for your autographs,” he said. “It just gives you a little bit more inspiration when you get that takedown and crowd cheers.”




The Huskers are led by a quartet all ranked in the top five of respective weight classes: Burroughs is No. 3 at the ultra-competitive 149 pounds; junior Stephen Dwyer is No. 5 at 165; senior Brandon Browne is No. 3 at 174 pounds; and Craig Brester is No. 4 at 197 pounds. All finished inside the top eight at last year’s NCAA Championships to garner All-American status; this is the most returning Huskers with that honor since the 1995-96 season.




“Team unity is great,” Brester said. “I think we’ll really grow as a team. Every dual, every tournament, we’ll get better as we go along.”




After those four, NU fills in some of the spots with young pups. Redshirt freshman Andy Pokorny, from Bennington, looks like the starter at 125 pounds. Sophomore Curtis Salazar and freshman Jon Burns are battling at 141 points. Redshirt freshman Chris Hacker will start at 157 pounds and another redshirt freshman Tucker Lane, starts at heavyweight.




“That’s gonna be the fun part of our season,” Manning said. “To see how those guys come together.”




Said Burroughs: “Everybody takes their lumps. It’s just a learning experience. It’s a point where you have to stop being happy to just be there and actually want to win. “


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Two standouts in the lower weights, the son of a four-time Super Bowl winner, the brother of a Nebraska football player and a smart, successful in-state kid comprise NU wrestling’s recruiting class, announced Thursday by coach Mark Manning.



The sixth-ranked Cornhuskers plucked two top 100 recruits – Kyle Waldo and David Klingsheim - to compete at 125 pounds beginning in the 2009-10 season. Waldo, a three-time state champion from Rockford, Mich., was ranked as the 96th best prospect by InterMat. Klingsheim, out of Brentwood, Calif., wrestles in the single-class California system, and is ranked No. 62.



“He is very much a go-getter who wrestles at a high pace and tempo,” Manning said of Klingsheim. “People are going to really like to watch this young man compete because he gets after it.”



Caleb Kolb, of Grove City, Penn., is the son of Jon Kolb, who started 177 games on the offensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their golden age. Kolb, ranked No. 78, should wrestle 174 at NU.



Cody Compton, meanwhile, is the younger brother of NU linebacker Will Compton, who is redshirting this season. Compton, Manning said, is a raw talent that could be molded into a top-notch competitor at 157 or 165 pounds.



“His attitude is very infectious,” Manning said of Compton. “He has a huge upside because he hasn’t had the benefits a lot of young men have had, as far as being exposed to a lot of things.”



Kearney Catholic product Michael Klinginsmith rounds out the class; he’s gone 83-0 in his last two seasons, has a 4.0 grade-point average and scored 35 on his ACT. He’ll wrestle at 149 or 157 pounds.



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