The 5th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team just wrapped up its Big Ten schedule last weekend with a sweep of #10 Illinois and Indiana, but the Huskers still have one more dual before turning their full attention to the postseason.
Nebraska will travel to take on Utah Valley Saturday night at 8 p.m. with the dual streaming on FloWrestling. An upstart program, Utah Valley is currently ranked #42 in FloWrestling’s team rankings. The Huskers hosted Utah Valley last season to start the year and beat them 32-7.
There are a few tasty matchups here, but it should be a dominant win for the Huskers.
Traveling to Utah is notable as Nebraska has Utah native Brock Hardy on the squad, giving him a chance to toe the line in his home state. Also, Nebraska has a recruit from Utah in both its 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes. A senior, Noah Bull just won his third Utah state title, while 2027 commit Wyatt Hanssen just won his second as a junior.
Hopefully they both get the chance to attend and watch their future team in action. It seems Utah has become somewhat of a pipeline for the Huskers.
Also, with this non-conference dual not really meaning much, I could see Nebraska sending out a few of its true freshmen because they all have dates to use up — guys like Cade Ziola at 285, Ty Eise at 174 or 184, and Nikade Zinkin at 149 could hit the mat to give the starters a weekend off. With many Big Ten schools already done with their dual slate, it might make the most sense.
Note: I talked to Husker assistant coach James Green on Monday for a FloWrestling piece that came out Wednesday that you can find here, but I will be including some relevant quotes from that interview that I didn’t use in my Flo piece, so enjoy.
Weight-By-Weight Preview
125 pounds
With redshirt freshman #33 Kael Lauridsen taking the mat in both duals last weekend, it seems he’s edged out sophomore Alan Koehler for the starting spot here going into the postseason. This Saturday, Lauridsen will get his last crack at another dual win before heading to the Big Ten Championships in two weeks.
This match may be pretty evenly matches with both guys sporting .500 records — Lauridsen is 9-9 while Utah Valley’s #25 Bridger Ricks is 11-11 on the year.
Ricks is 2-4 in his last six matches, including an overtime win over #18 Nicolar Rivera of Wisconsin and an 8-2 loss to Missouri’s #20 Mack Mauger — Ricks also dropped a match to #29 Dedrick Navarro of Northwestern 13-3 by major decision earlier in the year. The reason I bring those up is because Lauridsen beat both Mauger (4-1 in sudden victory) and Navarro (11-6) in dual matches this year, but he fell to Rivera 8-2 in a dual last year while redshirting.
There’s no sense to be made of those conflicting results.
I think a win here would do a lot for Lauridsen’s confidence going into the Big Ten Championships where he will need to be at his best if he wants to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
133 pounds
Winning his last two matches via technical fall, Nebraska’s #10 Jacob Van Dee has been on a roll since losing three straight to top opponents from Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State. The Husker junior went 4-3 in Big Ten duals and is likely to cruise here going into his third postseason.
Van Dee will take on Utah Valley’s Geronimo Rivera — a freshman with a 7-11 record on the year. Rivera is 2-4 in his last six matches, including a 13-1 loss via major to former Husker and current Northern Colorado wrestler #11 Dominic Serrano.
Rivera is no slouch though — he beat #13 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin 5-2 in December. Fugitt beat Van Dee 11-1 by major last year in dual action.
I expect Van Dee to get this win though and go into the Big Ten tournament with some nice momentum. Against this field at 133, he’s going to need it.
141 pounds
Being a Utah native, I think there’s no way that #3 Brock Hardy doesn’t take the mat here against Utah Valley’s #20 Haiden Drury in his final dual as a Husker.
One of the top guys on the squad, Drury is 5-1 in duals since medically forfeiting out of the Southern Scuffle in early January. In that span, Drury beat #17 Julian Taagg of SDSU 2-0 and earned a 5-0 win over former Nebraska state champion John Alden of Wyoming by way of O’Neill.
I expect someone as good as Hardy to make quick work of his fellow sixth-year senior.
The defending Big Ten Champion from a year ago, Hardy has been dominant lately with his last four matches coming with bonus points — three techs and a pin.
149 pounds
This is undoubtedly the matchup of the night if Nebraska goes with starter #15 Chance Lamer because Utah Valley has former Penn State backup #17 David Evans here. In his first year at Utah Valley and as a starter, Evans is 14-4 on the year.
At Penn State, Evans was stuck behind All-Americans Beau Bartlett, Tyler Kasak and Shayne Van Ness, but he did amass a 30-6 record — including a tiebreaker loss against Kasak and a sudden victory loss to Bartlett. This year, Evans is officially 14-4, but two of his losses came at the Cliff Keen Invitational via injury default and medical forfeit.
On the year, Evans has some impressive wins — including a 13-8 win over #5 Aden Valencia of Stanford to start the year and a 5-4 decision over #20 Josh Edmond of Missouri. His losses came against #2 Jaxon Joy of Cornell (8-2 decision) and #27 Gabe Willochell of Wyoming (16-1 tech fall).
To be honest, I really wanted Nebraska to land Evans from the transfer portal last year to fill the hole at 149 before they eventually signed Lamer. Both guys have had similar seasons, and the rankings reflect that, so this match could be really important when it comes to NCAA seeding. Evans has won five straight, while Lamer has won his last three matches since that Iowa-Ohio State-Penn State gauntlet.
If Lamer doesn’t wrestle and Nebraska goes with freshman Nikade Zinkin, I’m still really interested in that matchup. Any time a redshirt gets a match against a ranked opponent, I’m always interested to see what happens.
157 pounds
Nebraska’s #1 Antrell Taylor came into the season fresh off an NCAA title and ranked #1 in the country, but it didn’t last long after he dropped two matches at National Duals in November. Talking to Green, he acknowledged the early-season struggles, but Taylor has won 13 straight matches since, including two wins over then-#2 ranked true freshmen PJ Duke of Penn State and Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State — giving both of them their only loss of the season and their career to date. He’s since reclaimed his standing atop the weight class.
“Antrell coming off the season before where he’s the defending national champ – not necessarily defending anything because no one has won it yet and you got to go win it all over again – but everyone’s got you scouted and know what to do,” Green said. “They’re just prepared to wrestle you, and everyone has got a game plan. I think in the beginning of the season you just gotta remind yourself that no matter what the game plan is that those people have for you, you gotta do what you do best and stick to it.”
Before looking toward another postseason, Taylor will take on junior Mark Takara of Utah Valley. Coming into this match with a 12-16 record on the year, Takara is 2-8 in duals. For perspective, Takara was pinned by #15 Cam Catrabone of Michigan, while Taylor beat Catrabone 20-5 by tech fall.
Taylor should put on another clinic in this one and be the first Husker to hit the 20-win mark on the season — he’s currently 19-2.
165 pounds
Off to an impressive first year in the lineup, redshirt freshman #7 LJ Araujo has wrestled an absolute gauntlet this year to a 13-6 record. He already has wins over guys ranked #8, #9, #12, #15, #16, and #18 in the country. His six losses have come to guys ranked #1, #2, #3, #4, #6 and #13.
According to Green, Araujo traveled a lot with the team last year while redshirting to acclimate himself for life in the lineup, and he was ready to get after it from the first whistle of his first match this year.
“I mean, I remember last year at Big Tens, LJ was just foaming at the mouth – he couldn’t wait to just be in the lineup, especially with the season that (Christopher) Minto was having. He mentally has already seen it – he got to get on the road and see what it’s all about. I think he just kind of took that and ran with it. He’s wanting to scrap with these guys every weekend,” Green said. “I think as soon as the whistle blows, he’s the first one shooting every time. He’s just got the right attitude and mindset for it which is cool to see.”
Against Utah Valley, Araujo will take on Zyon Trujillo. A freshman with a 6-15 record on the year, it’s unlikely he’ll give Araujo much of a challenge.
Chalk up a Husker win with bonus points here.
174 pounds
Speaking of #4 Christopher Minto who placed 4th at NCAAs last year as a redshirt freshman down at 165 pounds, the sophomore has won three straight after a close 8-6 loss to #1 Levi Haines of Penn State. He’s 17-4 on the year and looking at being potentially a 3-seed at the Big Ten Championships with his only losses coming to Haines and #3 Patrick Kennedy of Iowa in tiebreakers.
A guy with the ability to get to legs and score points, Minto sometimes relies on his game plan of great defense, hand fighting and scrambling to win matches too often, according to Green. Minto often lets matches stay closer than they maybe should against inferior opponents.
“I think Minto, he’s still gotta kind of get out of his own head,” Green said. “He’s not so much stubborn, but sometimes he just thinks that his technique is the best way to win whether sometimes he has a slow start to the match, he might get into his head that he’s just gonna beat someone up with his hand fight. He just needs to shoot to the leg and get back to what got him on the podium last year.”
On Saturday, Minto will take on Utah Valley’s Hudson Rogers. A redshirt freshman with a 7-11 record on the year, he’s unlikely to pose much of a threat to Minto who might be looking to get to his offense in this one.
As I mentioned, Nebraska could send out freshman Ty Eise here, but he could also wrestle at 184 — he’s been at 174 most of the season, but Nebraska did use him at 184 in a dual against North Carolina (an 8-4 loss to #19 Jake Dailey). Eise is 13-5 this year in his redshirt season, but he may be a lead contender to start next year at 174 or 184.
184 pounds
Nebraska has sixth-year senior #6 Silas Allred here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Huskers give him a break from the scale in anticipation of the postseason — that’s why I think it’s more likely that we see Eise here than at 174.
Regardless of who Nebraska sends out, they’ll face Caleb Uhlenhopp. A junior with a 13-12 record on the year, Uhlenhopp is 2-4 in his last six dual appearances.
If it’s Allred, he’ll likely demolish Uhlenhopp. If it’s Eise, this will be another opportunity for him to prove himself heading into a pivotal offseason before potentially starting next year. As a top 2025 recruit, Eise will be counted on to contribute as a redshirt freshman.
197 pounds
Looking to continue his hot streak, Nebraska’s #13 Camden McDanel has won eight of his last nine matches and finished the Big Ten dual season with a 7-1 record — his only loss was a 21-9 major decision against #1 Josh Barr of Penn State. McDanel scored the only takedown of the season against Barr in that match.
McDanel is 17-5 on the year and the likely 2-seed at Big Tens in a couple weeks.
In this dual, McDanel will take on Utah Valley’s #29 Kael Bennie. A sophomore with a 13-12 record on the year, Bennie is 2-3 in his last five dual matches.
Bennie has some solid results, but he likely won’t be much of a challenge for a rapidly-improving McDanel here.
285 pounds
Nebraska has #4 AJ Ferrari here who just finished his Big Ten dual schedule with a 7-1 record. Both of Ferrari’s losses this year have come to Ohio State’s #6 Nick Feldman who recently lost matches to #4 Taye Ghadiali of Michigan and #5 Cole Mirasola of Penn State, throwing a wrench into the Big Ten seeding.
Ferrari beat Ghadiali 11-3 by major decision and has wins over Mirasola, #8 Konner Doucet of Oklahoma State and #9 Ben Kueter of Iowa to his name. On paper, Ferrari is the likely 1-seed at Big Tens despite the two losses to Feldman.
I think it’s possible that true freshman Cade Ziola gets the start here — he’s 16-3 on the year and having an impressive redshirt year.
Either guy will likely face Utah Valley senior #27 Jack Forbes here — he’s 19-9 on the year and has won his last five dual matches, including ranked wins over #29 Luke Rasmussen of SDSU and #33 Jarrett Stoner of Missouri. Against the only top opponents he’s faced this season, Forbes has lost via major decision.
Both Ferrari and Ziola should be considered heavy favorites here.
