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2009 Jan 04
WRESTLING: Still Undefeated! NU Tops Michigan, Smokes UNC
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Nebraska’s third-ranked wrestling team avoided a key upset at a lower weight and got its usual strong performances from undefeated All-Americans Jordan Burroughs and Craig Brester in 22-13 dual win over No. 15 Michigan.
In a second dual, the Cornhuskers ran their dual record to 6-0 with an easy 39-3 win over Northern Colorado.
Burroughs, No. 2 in the latest NWCA individual rankings at 157 pounds, dominated UM’s Aaron Hynes, notching ten takedowns 24-8, technical fall victory. The 197-pound Brester, also ranked second, coasted past Erich Smith 15-4, who replaced third-ranked Tyrel Todd in the lineup.
The Wolverines chose not to wrestle Todd - who suffered a knee injury in the Las Vegas Invitational last month - even though he wrestled Saturday in a dual against Oregon State, and scored a pin earlier Sunday afternoon vs. Northern Colorado.
“I guess he’s trying to save himself,” Brester said. I didn’t get to see him, but I heard he tore up the two kids he wrestled earlier this week. It’s kinda of a bummer we didn’t get to wrestle because it’s a big match. A lot of people come down to watch a big match. That’s the way it goes. Can’t really do anything about it.”
Said NU head coach Mark Manning: “We try not to focus on what other teams do. We just wanted Craig ready to wrestle anyone.
Todd’s absence took a little air out of 972 fans at NU Coliseum, who expecting a second showdown to go along with the match at 174, where UM’s top-ranked Steve Luke defeated No. 3 Brandon Browne 6-2.
Luke scored an early takedown vs. Browne and took advantage of Browne’s poor shot attempt late in the second period for another takedown. In three matches against Luke, Browne has yet to score a takedown; on Sunday he struggled to keep Luke’s hands from jamming into his face, which disrupted his offensive game.
“I gotta figure something out,” Browne said. “I know the things I need to do. It’s just about me going out and executing my gameplan. I let him stand there and pressure me. I wasn’t giving him any reason to go away from doing that. I gotta work on creating motion and getting my size on him.
On Sunday, he said, the smaller, bulkier Luke dictated the first two periods so completely that Browne was in catch-up mode by the third period. And Browne nearly scored a reversal and appeared to have an escape that wasn’t awarded to him.
“He was tired,” Browne said. “I just need to work on finishing it.”
Manning agreed.
“(Luke)knows how to win those tight matches,” he said. “That’s what Brandon has to do. He has to pick up the pace, use our conditioning to our advantage. He knew it was going to be a tight match and he kinda wrestled that way, instead of being aggressive.”
UM (2-3) blew a chance to steal points at 133 pounds when Nebraska senior Patrick Aleksanyan scored a takedown and two back points in the match’s final 20 seconds vs. freshman Zac Stevens for a 4-2 victory. Leading 1-0, Stevens made the mistake of trying a late-match double shot on Aleksanyan, who spun out of the hold quickly, flipped Stevens and scored the winning points with eight seconds left.
Stevens slammed his head gear on the NU Coliseum floor, walked into the hallway and laid on the tile floor.
The afternoon’s wildest match came courtesy of NU’s Vince Jones at 184 pounds. Jones dropped a 9-6 decision to No. 11 Anthony Biondo, nearly coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the final minute when he looked over at the coaches for instruction and left himself wide open to a reversal.
In other matches, seventh-ranked Husker Stephen Dwyer used solid defense to shut down Justin Zeerip 9-1, NU senior Robert Sanders beat Mark Weber 6-2 at 149 pounds and freshman heavyweight Tucker Lane stonewalled UM’s Chad Blekse in a 4-1 victory.
The duals also marked the debut of true freshman Jon Burns, who replaced Curtis Salazar at 141 pounds. Burns, from Apex, N.C., lost 8-0 to fourth-ranked Kellen Russell in the Michigan dual, but scored a pin against Northern Colorado’s Lance Gallegos.
Burns knew before holiday break Manning would burn his redshirt – a rarity in college wrestling. Burns said he’d known for a week he’d be suiting up against UM.
“I made a few mistakes,” he said. “I didn’t give up, I tried really hard. Just have to work on my positioning, pushing the pace of the match.”
“Jon’s only gonna get better,” Manning said.
Overall, Manning said, Nebraska put in the kind of work that should have it at peak form for the National Duals next week in Cedar Falls, Iowa. No. 1 Iowa will be there, as will No. 2 Iowa State and co. No.3 Cornell.
UM Dual Fan Photos
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In a second dual, the Cornhuskers ran their dual record to 6-0 with an easy 39-3 win over Northern Colorado.
Burroughs, No. 2 in the latest NWCA individual rankings at 157 pounds, dominated UM’s Aaron Hynes, notching ten takedowns 24-8, technical fall victory. The 197-pound Brester, also ranked second, coasted past Erich Smith 15-4, who replaced third-ranked Tyrel Todd in the lineup.
The Wolverines chose not to wrestle Todd - who suffered a knee injury in the Las Vegas Invitational last month - even though he wrestled Saturday in a dual against Oregon State, and scored a pin earlier Sunday afternoon vs. Northern Colorado.
“I guess he’s trying to save himself,” Brester said. I didn’t get to see him, but I heard he tore up the two kids he wrestled earlier this week. It’s kinda of a bummer we didn’t get to wrestle because it’s a big match. A lot of people come down to watch a big match. That’s the way it goes. Can’t really do anything about it.”
Said NU head coach Mark Manning: “We try not to focus on what other teams do. We just wanted Craig ready to wrestle anyone.
Todd’s absence took a little air out of 972 fans at NU Coliseum, who expecting a second showdown to go along with the match at 174, where UM’s top-ranked Steve Luke defeated No. 3 Brandon Browne 6-2.
Luke scored an early takedown vs. Browne and took advantage of Browne’s poor shot attempt late in the second period for another takedown. In three matches against Luke, Browne has yet to score a takedown; on Sunday he struggled to keep Luke’s hands from jamming into his face, which disrupted his offensive game.
“I gotta figure something out,” Browne said. “I know the things I need to do. It’s just about me going out and executing my gameplan. I let him stand there and pressure me. I wasn’t giving him any reason to go away from doing that. I gotta work on creating motion and getting my size on him.
On Sunday, he said, the smaller, bulkier Luke dictated the first two periods so completely that Browne was in catch-up mode by the third period. And Browne nearly scored a reversal and appeared to have an escape that wasn’t awarded to him.
“He was tired,” Browne said. “I just need to work on finishing it.”
Manning agreed.
“(Luke)knows how to win those tight matches,” he said. “That’s what Brandon has to do. He has to pick up the pace, use our conditioning to our advantage. He knew it was going to be a tight match and he kinda wrestled that way, instead of being aggressive.”
UM (2-3) blew a chance to steal points at 133 pounds when Nebraska senior Patrick Aleksanyan scored a takedown and two back points in the match’s final 20 seconds vs. freshman Zac Stevens for a 4-2 victory. Leading 1-0, Stevens made the mistake of trying a late-match double shot on Aleksanyan, who spun out of the hold quickly, flipped Stevens and scored the winning points with eight seconds left.
Stevens slammed his head gear on the NU Coliseum floor, walked into the hallway and laid on the tile floor.
The afternoon’s wildest match came courtesy of NU’s Vince Jones at 184 pounds. Jones dropped a 9-6 decision to No. 11 Anthony Biondo, nearly coming back from a 6-3 deficit in the final minute when he looked over at the coaches for instruction and left himself wide open to a reversal.
In other matches, seventh-ranked Husker Stephen Dwyer used solid defense to shut down Justin Zeerip 9-1, NU senior Robert Sanders beat Mark Weber 6-2 at 149 pounds and freshman heavyweight Tucker Lane stonewalled UM’s Chad Blekse in a 4-1 victory.
The duals also marked the debut of true freshman Jon Burns, who replaced Curtis Salazar at 141 pounds. Burns, from Apex, N.C., lost 8-0 to fourth-ranked Kellen Russell in the Michigan dual, but scored a pin against Northern Colorado’s Lance Gallegos.
Burns knew before holiday break Manning would burn his redshirt – a rarity in college wrestling. Burns said he’d known for a week he’d be suiting up against UM.
“I made a few mistakes,” he said. “I didn’t give up, I tried really hard. Just have to work on my positioning, pushing the pace of the match.”
“Jon’s only gonna get better,” Manning said.
Overall, Manning said, Nebraska put in the kind of work that should have it at peak form for the National Duals next week in Cedar Falls, Iowa. No. 1 Iowa will be there, as will No. 2 Iowa State and co. No.3 Cornell.
UM Dual Fan Photos
Check out our Husker Groups!
Love Nebraska wrestling? Create your FREE profile today!
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Home > Blogs > Official Husker Locker Blog > WRESTLING: Still Undefeated! NU Tops Michigan, Smokes UNC
Considering everything the wrestling team went through in the off-season (two wrestlers booted from the team, for starters) they are showing an amazing performance this year. However they are the SECOND Husker team to be ranked third this year, as the Husker Volleyball team finished the season ranked 3rd by the AVCA (they should have been ranked second based off of what the did to Penn St., having beaten Stanford earlier this year, and Stanford being swept by PSU in the final. Oh well.) so hopefully the wrestlers can stay strong through the NCAA and finish the year out big - another group of underdogs overacheiving!
– Jan 5, 2009 at 9:52 am
Thanks for covering the NU wrestlers Wonk. I'm hoping to make it to the National duals again, sans big hat. Last year NU did great, but ran out of gas in finals against Iowa. The semi-final against defending national champion Minnesota was classic. Vince Jones pulled victory from the jaws of defeat by throwing and pinning the #2 ranked wrestler in the last 10 seconds. Unreal.
– Jan 4, 2009 at 9:38 pm