(Photo courtesy of Big 12 Sports)

It was the moment for which Jordan Burroughs geared his entire collegiate wrestling career at Nebraska: That final victory in pursuit of an undefeated national championship season.

So when Burroughs finished off his 5-1 victory over Illinois' Mike Poeta in the finals of the NCAA Championships with a takedown, it wouldn't have been surprising to see a jubilant celebration at the middle of the mat. Most wrestlers do that.

Not the 157-pound Burroughs, who stood up, took off his ankle straps, shook Poeta's hand and smiled, just a little, before heading off the mat at the ScottTrade Center in St, Louis and taking a quick congratulations from head coach Mark Manning, who watched NU take fourth overall.

"I was happy to score that last takedown," Burroughs said to Husker Locker in a phone interview. "I knew it wasn't really over until I got that. Then I was overcome with joy. But I try to stay humble and keep that on the inside."

His smile as he won still said everything that needed to be: With his win over Poeta, Burroughs became the tenth NU national champion, and, at 35-0 the first without a blemish. Considering that Burroughs nearly beat every wrestler inside the NWCA top 20 this season - and beat them handily - there isn't much debate about it being the best individual season for any wrestler in Nebraska history.

"The only way I could do was taking one match at a time," Burroughs said. "It feels great. It was something I wanted to do ever since I finished high school."

Fittingly, Burroughs' match with Poeta, the undefeated senior who matched Burroughs' quickness but not his power, unfurled as so many of his matches have in 2009. Poeta stayed back for the entirety of the first period before Burroughs swallowed him with a shot and a takedown just one second before the period ended. Burroughs earned an escape in the second period, and played expert defense for the rest of the match, notching another takedown on a desperate shot by Poeta in the waning seconds of the third period.

"He was pretty good," Burroughs said. "Quick. He wrestled a bit of a defensive match, but I got in on him for that takedown."

Burroughs resisted a couple good shots from Poeta with strong hip movement and superior strength. Poeta never had Burroughs in serious trouble in the third period.

“Jordan did a great job against a great competitor who was in the finals last year," Manning said. "Jordan has really made himself a complete wrestler and has put the work in."

At 197 pounds, junior Craig Brester lost a heartbreaker to Iowa State's Jake Varner, 2-1, in a match decided by a one-point advantage given to Varner for one minute, 19 seconds of riding time in the third period. Neither wrestler came particularly close to taking down the other; Varner simply escaped from Brester faster at the beginning of the second period than Brester did from Varner in the third. Once Varner had the riding time point, he was able to fall into his stellar defense, which kept Brester at bay for the last 45 seconds or so of the match.

Both Brester and Varner are juniors, and likely to stay at their current weights. After wrestling four times in 2008-09 - Varner won three of them - they'll see each several more times in 2010.

NU's 184-pounder, Vince Jones, and 174-pound Brandon Browne also finished with All-American honors. Jones finished sixth after two losses to Iowa Phil Keddy and Wyoming's Joe LeBlanc. Browne finished fourth after pinning Cornell's Steve Anceravage in overtime and losing to Missouri's Raymond Jordan, 4-0, in the third-place match.

As a team, Nebraska finished fourth with 78.5 points. Iowa used morning wrestlebacks to rally for the team title over Ohio State, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes didn't have one individual national champion. That's because IU's Brent Metcalf, a 149-pounder who had won more than 60 straight matches was upset by North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, the only wrestler to beat Metcalf in college.

Burroughs had hoped to set up a match with Metcalf in an all-star duel to possibly avenge his last three losses to Metcalf, all of which came at the 149-pound weight.

"We might have to do it with Caldwell now," Burroughs joked.

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Nebraska's wrestling team advanced four competitors to the quarterfinals after day one of the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

No. 1 seed Jordan Burroughs (157 pounds) and Craig Brester (197) comfortably advanced with easy victories. Brandon Browne (174) and a somewhat surprising entrant, Vince Jones (184), remain in the hunt for a national title.

At 149 pounds, senior Robert Sanders lost his first two matches and is done, while heavyweight Tucker Lane lost his first match to eighth-ranked Kyle Massey of Wisconsin in triple overtime, and it currently in "wrestlebacks," or the loser's bracket, a long arduous gulag of matches that could earn Lane a All-American spot, if he keeps winning. Ditto for 165-pounder Stephen Dwyer, who lost 5-2 to Bucknell's Andrew Rendos.

In the team race, Iowa and Iowa State are tied with 33 points; the Hawkeyes are in slightly better position in the lower weights, while the Cyclones have better contenders Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (Hwt) in the upper weights.

The surprise of the tournament thus far is Ohio State, in third with 30 points. The Buckeyes won all five third-round matches and sent five wrestlers to quarters. OSU doesn't enjoy NU, IU or ISU's top-seeded wrestlers, but the Bucks have already pulled off some impressive upsets.

Burroughs had the biggest day for NU, with a pin and a technical fall. Brester won two major decisions while Jones had a pin and a major decision. Browne won by major decision and decision in his first two matches.

Action continues today in St. Louis with the quarterfinals this morning, and the semifinals, to be televised on ESPN2, later tonight.

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It was the final practice before heading to nationals, and Nebraska wrestling coach Mark Manning gathered his team to the middle of NU humid practice room for a final message. It didn't last long, but at the end of it the Cornhuskers reached their hands to a point near the low ceiling and said "Champs!"

This year, for maybe the first time in Nebraska's history, a team NCAA championship is a distinct possibility. Ranked third and fourth in the national rankings, the Huskers will only send seven wrestlers to St. Louis' ScottTrade Center. Favorites Iowa and Iowa State will send 9 and 10, respectively. That's two less competitors to score points.

"But it's not the quantity of wrestlers," Manning said Monday. "It's the quality of the seven."

NU was the only one of two teams to have two wrestlers receive No. 1 seeds in their weight class with 157-pounder Jordan Burroughs and 197-pounder Craig Brester. Three other Huskers - 174-pounder Brandon Browne, 165-pounder Stephen Dwyer and 184-pounder Vince Jones - also received seeds. Heavyweight Tucker Lane did not, but has beaten the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 wrestlers.

"He could be a real wild card for us," Manning said.

Senior Robert Sanders, at 149, is also capable of pulling an upset.

While Manning tabbed Iowa as "definitely the big favorite" for the title, he did the same in anointing Iowa State as the favorite for the Big 12 title. And Nebraska pulled off a magical comeback - filled with some of NU's best wrestling of the season - to forge a tie for that crown.

While the top-ranked Hawkeyes are strong - and 149-pounder Brent Metcalf seems ready to coast to his second straight national title - so-so results in the Big Ten Tournament left the usually certain Iowa faithful asking tough questions about some of the upper weight wrestlers. Iowa State, in both the Big 12 Championships and earlier tournaments, struggled to close out big matches, drawing ire from coach Cael Sanderson midway through the season and prompting one ISU assistant to say Nebraska could "keep the trophy" in Lincoln after Big 12s.

If one had to concoct a perfect recipe for a Nebraska national championship, far-flung as it might seem with seven qualifiers, it'd look something like this:

Brester and Burroughs Winning National Titles: Far within their capabilities, given their seeds.

Burroughs carries a 30-0 record into St. Louis, hoping to become the first undefeated national champion in Nebraska history.

"He's had a great year," Manning said. "He hasn't always wrestled his best, but he's found a way to win."

To do it, Burroughs will have to beat 2007 national champ Gregor Gillispie of Edinboro (Pa.)

"You have to respect that," Burroughs said. "He's a good wrestler."

But the pressure of going undefeated, he said, is gone now, replaced by the typical anxiety that goes along with nationals.

Brester, meanwhile, enters nationals coming off his biggest win to date over previously top-ranked Jake Varner of Iowa State. He said NU spent a grueling week in preparation "completely breaking down our bodies" before tapering down on Tuesday.

"I'm definitely excited," he said. "I just want to get that first match under my belt."

Score bonus points early and often: Those points are most likely to come from Burroughs, Brester, Browne and Jones, who can come up with pins at unlikely times. Manning said NU can ntoch enough major decisions, technical falls and pins to make up for an extra wrestler the Huskers don't have in St. Louis.

"Instead of seven guys, you end up with eight," he said.

Burroughs agreed.

"It's going to take toughness to wrestle hard every match to get those extra points," he said. "We have to help each other out with less."

Get Some Help: If Iowa pulls some upsets, or if Iowa State's talent finally gels at the right time, Nebraska can wrestle as well as it wants - it probably can't make up for two or three qualifiers.

But, aside from Iowa's Metcalf, the Hawkeyes and Cyclones haven't been dominant at any weight class in 2009. Clear, undefeated favorites at 125, 165, 174 and 184 mean that Iowa and ISU aren't running away with a handful of titles. And while the Cyclones have the nation's No. 1 heavyweight in David Zabriskie, he's vulnerable to a whole slew of wrestlers - including Lane.

"The more teams that are in the mix, the more it helps us," Manning said.

Recapture the magic of Saturday night at Big 12s: It was an electric evening for NU, one of the best in recent memory. Just recalling it, Manning had to smile a little.

Now, he said, Nebraska has to duplicate it.

"We need to wrestle perfect as a team to be in there," he said. "No upsets."

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Before the finals round of the Big 12 Championships, Nebraska’s wrestling team sat in the locker room normally used by NU’s volleyball squad.

The Cornhuskers trailed No. 3 Iowa State by 64-58, and the Cyclones had seven wrestlers in the finals. NU only had five. Those odds are nearly impossible, and don’t typically equal a conference title.

But Nebraska looked at the glass Big 12 trophy, one of many won by the volleyball team, that was sitting in that locker room, staring right back at them.

“We got this,” undefeated 157-pounder Jordan Burroughs told his teammates.

And so Nebraska did, catching the Cyclones by the 184-pound finals and surpassing them on Craig Brester’s upset of No. 1 Jake Varner at 197. ISU managed to forge a tie with top-ranked David Zabriskie’s 3-1 win the heavyweight match, but it was the kind of tie, frankly, that felt like a Husker win.

Yes, NU beat ISU, 70-70, for its first Big 12 Championship and the first male Big 12 title of any kind since 2007.

“Nebraska wrestling is all heart, and all hard work,” NU coach Mark Manning said. “A lot of people didn’t think we had a chance…I love this team, and I love these guys.”

Said Brester: “Everybody though ISU was too deep for us. But we knew if we do what we can, we’d hope to get the job done.”

NU won four individual titles – needing every one of them – out of their upper weight wrestlers: Burroughs won at 157; Brandon Browne, just two weeks after the death of his mother, Thayes, won an emotional title at 174; Vince Jones won at 184 and Brester, the meet’s outstanding wrestler, beat Varner – a defensive stalwart whom many had seen as untouchable – 4-3 in his third try this season.

That match clinched the tie for the Huskers. Brester notched a takedown with nine seconds left in the second period to get a 3-0 lead, then held on the third period, resisting a final-minute flurry of moves and shots by Varner, to win the match. It felt like a national title match, and it’s likely that Brester and Varner will meet for a fourth time at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

“The No. 1 guy and we were tied with ISU,” Brester said. “There’s not gonna be a bigger match.

The Husker fans inside the Coliseum roared as Brester was presented to all four sides of the arena as the winner. Manning picked Brester off the ground as he left the mat, then Brester and Varner, in one of those great moments, crossed path in the cool down area as Varner made his way to an indoor racquetball court, slamming the glass screen behind him.

How’d Brester get the takedown on Varner? He slipped a throw attempt by Varner, who lost his balance. Brester then wheeled his way around for the two points, and didn’t let Varner escape before time expired.

“It was a kind of a scramble, and I got the takedown,” Brester said.

Browne’s victory was no less dramatic. He got a takedown of Mizzou’s Raymond Jordan with four seconds left in the match, which touched a giant celebration from the Plattsmouth senior. Browne hadn’t wrestled since the death of his mother right before the ISU dual, and took five days off before preparing for the Big 12 meet.

As Browne left the mat, he hugged his brother, 197-pounder Cameron Browne, and his father in the hallway. Browne took a half-minute to collect himself after reporters asked him the first question.

“It’s the first meet my dad gone to without (his mother) since I was kid,” Browne said. “It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable. To have this be my last match here, you can’t ask for anything more.”

Said Manning: “To go through what he went through, he comes out and beats two great competitors…I told the team, ‘no team in the country has gone through adversity like you have.’”

Burroughs won a closer-than-expected match over Mizzou’s Michael Chandler, beating him 6-4. Burroughs gave up only his second takedown of the year. And Jones, at 184, beat ISU’s Jerome Ward for the third time this season, 3-0. Stephen Dwyer was the only NU wrestler not to win his title match, losing in overtime to Nick Marable, 3-1.

He didn’t win a title, but redshirt freshman heavyweight Tucker Lane won crucial points in his division with an upset of third-ranked Jared Rosholt in the consolation match, 3-2. Lane scored an early takedown and successfully fended off Rosholt in the closing minute of the match for the win. In the semifinals, Lane nearly beat No. 1 David Zabriskie, controlling the match for the full seven minutes before falling in triple overtime, 3-1.

Every Husker wrestler except 141-pounder Curtis Salazar won a match Saturday. At 125, redshirt freshman Andy Pokorny pinned Missouri’s Troy Dolan in an opening match before losing two straight. Sophomore Matt Vacanti beat Todd Schavrien 7-2, then narrowly lost to No. 1 seed Nick Fanthorpe, then lost to Schavrien 4-3 in a match that had Husker fans booing the referees for not calling a stalling penalty. Vacanti recovered, though, to win a challenge match over Oklahoma’s Brian Shelton – one of Vacanti’s best wins of the year. Ironically, Shelton didn’t have to challenge Vacanti, and if he hadn’t, Nebraska could not have forged the tie for the title.

For the night, NU automatically qualified six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, and planned to get two more wild card bids with Vacanti and Sanders. Eight bids would put the Huskers right in the hunt in St. Louis. Iowa will be the prohibitive favorite, but Nebraska’s upper weight wrestlers could again pull a coup.

After all, they just did.

“It’s a very mature group,” Manning said. “They just keep on getting better and keep on fighting. They epitomize what this state’s all about.”

Undefeated Burroughs worth the price of admission

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