After stumbling a couple times in the opening round, Nebraska went a perfect 10-0 in the second session of the day and sits in 2nd place in the team race after Day 1 at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.
Penn State leads the pack with 40.5 points after Day 1, but the Huskers are second with 27 points. Oklahoma State has 26 points for third, while Iowa is fourth with 25 points. Ohio State is fifth with 22.5, and Iowa State has 21.5 and sits in sixth.
The Nittany Lions lead the field with eight
of their ten wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket, while Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Iowa each have seven wrestlers in Friday morning’s quarters.
The difference for Nebraska was its bonus-point scoring — Nebraska scored five wins via technical fall (1.5 bonus points each) and four more via major decision (1 point bonus) for 11.5 additional team points.
Weight-By-Weight Recap
125 pounds
25-seed Kael Lauridsen
In his first NCAA tournament, Lauridsen dropped his first match to 8-seed Dean Peterson of Iowa via 9-1 major decision, but he rebounded with a 5-1 win over 24-seed Ayden Smith of Rutgers in the first consolation round. Lauridsen also beat Smith at Big Tens for 7th place.
Lauridsen advances to Friday morning’s second round of consolation where he’ll face 7-seed Nico Provo of Stanford. The winner will move one match closer to All-American status, and the loser’s tournament will be over.
133 pounds
13-seed Jacob Van Dee
In the first round, Van Dee suffered an upset loss to 20-seed Julian Farber of UNI, an opponent he’s beaten multiple times. Van Dee led Farber 4-2 with a minute to go in the match, but the Panther scored a takedown with 52 seconds left and was able to keep Van Dee down for the rest of the match for the 5-4 win.
Van Dee fell to the first round of consolations where he faced 29-seed Luke Willochell of Wyoming. Van Dee scored the first takedown, but the back-and-forth match went to sudden victory tied 7-7. Van Dee was able to earn the win and stay alive with a re-attack takedown in overtime for the 10-7 decision win.
In Friday’s second round of consolations, Van Dee will take on 19-seed Gage Walker of Missouri.
141 pounds
3-seed Brock Hardy
In his first match of his last NCAA tournament against 30-seed Dario Lemus of Maryland, Hardy scored first in the second period with a takedown before adding four near-fall points, breaking the match open with an 8-0 lead.
Hardy added another takedown in the third before putting Lemus on his back for four near-fall points and the dominant 18-1 win via tech fall.
In the second round, Hardy took on Penn State’s 14-seed Braeden Davis. After giving up the opening takedown, Hardy scored a reversal, an escape and a pair of takedowns for the 9-4 decision win. It was the first loss by a Penn State wrestler in the tournament.
Hardy will face 6-seed Vince Cornella of Cornell in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
149 pounds
20-seed Chance Lamer
The story of Day 1 for Nebraska was likely that of Chance Lamer who secured two upset wins on the way to securing his quarterfinal run.
In the first round, Lamer faced 13-seed Joe Zargo of Wisconsin who beat him at Big Tens. Lamer flipped the script though with a late takedown for the 4-1 decision win.
In the second round, Lamer faced 4-seed Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech. Lamer scored a first-period takedown and held on for the 3-1 decision win over Gaj for one of the biggest upsets of the day.
Lamer moves on to the quarters where he’ll face 12-seed Carter Young of Maryland.
157 pounds
2-seed Antrell Taylor
After winning an NCAA title last year, Taylor is on track to repeat after Day 1.
In his first match, Taylor poured on the points in a 19-4 win via tech fall over 31-seed Garrett McChesney of Edinboro.
Moving to the second round, Taylor faced 15-seed Cam Catrabone of Michigan for the third time this year. With the match tied at 1-1 in the third period, Taylor scored a takedown with authority and held on for the 5-3 decision win.
Taylor will take on 7-seed Kannon Webster of Illinois in Friday morning’s quarterfinal round.
165 pounds
6-seed LJ Araujo
In one of the biggest upsets of the first round, Nebraska’s Araujo went down against 27-seed EJ Parco of Stanford.
Parco scored the first takedown in the first period, but Araujo scored a quick reversal and ride-out. Araujo then tied the match 3-3 with an escape in the second period. Araujo then scored a third-period takedown in the third period with 20 seconds left and looked to be on the way to a win up 6-3 with riding time locked, but Parco put together a late flurry for the ages.
Parco shot to his feet on a re-start and secured an escape and a point off a locked-hands call before shooting right in for a late takedown of his own to go up 8-6. After multiple reviews, the call was upheld. Despite collecting the riding-time point, Araujo dropped the match 8-7.
Dropping down to the consolations, Araujo put it on 22-seed Matthew Olguin of Oregon State with a 16-0 win via tech. Araujo collected three takedowns and scored six near-fall points in the match.
In the second round of consolations on Friday morning, Araujo will take on Oklahoma State’s 5-seed LaDarion Lockett who suffered an upset loss in the second round. Lockett beat Araujo in sudden victory in December in a dual, so there’s history there.
The wild thing is that this means that either Araujo or Lockett will miss the podium.
174 pounds
3-seed Christopher Minto
A sophomore for the Huskers, Minto looks to be on the war path this weekend as he advanced to Friday’s quarters with a pair of dominant wins.
In the first round, Minto beat 30-seed Riley Davis of Wyoming via 20-4 tech fall — Minto scored six takedowns in the win.
Minto then downed 19-seed Logan Messer of George Mason via 11-3 major decision in the second round. Minto scored two takedowns in the first period and added another in the third for the bonus point.
Minto will take on 11-seed MJ Gaitan of Iowa State in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
184 pounds
8-seed Silas Allred
A returning All-American from last year, Allred won both his matches to advance to Friday’s quarters.
Allred used a second-period reversal to earn the 3-1 win in the first round over 25-seed Malachi DuVall of George Mason.
In the second round, Allred overcame an early deficit to down Illinois’ 9-seed Chris Moore by major decision. Allred gave up a first-period takedown, but he scored two takedowns in the second period and put Moore on his back in a cradle, taking a 10-5 lead to the third. Allred then scored a late takedown in the third period on the way to the 15-5 win via major decision.
Allred will take on 1-seed Rocco Welsh of Penn State in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
197 pounds
11-seed Camden McDanel
Another returning All-American for the Huskers, McDanel won both his matches on Thursday.
After a scoreless first period against 22-seed Devin Wasley of NDSU, McDanel traded escapes with Wasley before securing a pair of third-period takedowns for the 7-2 win via decision.
In the second round, McDanel faced 6-seed Justin Rademacher of Oregon State, an opponent he’s lost to multiple times in both freestyle and folkstyle, but McDanel showed that he’s jumped levels with a dominant win. After a scoreless first period, McDanel scored a takedown in the second period and three more in the third for the 13-5 win via major.
McDanel moved on to Friday’s quarterfinal round where he’ll face 3-seed Stephen Little of Little Rock.
285 pounds
4-seed AJ Ferrari
A major boost for the Huskers this year, Ferrari won his first two matches on Thursday with bonus points.
Ferrari won his first-round match against 29-seed Luke Rasmussen of SDSU 17-2 by tech fall with three takedowns and six near-fall points.
In the second round, Ferrari beat 20-seed Dayton Pitzer of Pitt 12-0 by major decision. Ferrari used two takedowns and four near-fall points to earn the win.
In Friday’s quarters, Ferrari will face 21-seed Juan Mora of Oklahoma who upset 5-seed Nick Feldman of Ohio State in the second round.
