Nebraska will host its final home dual of the season Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Devaney Center.
Nebraska will pay tribute to ten total “seniors” on Senior Day. Although some of these guys technically have eligibility left, this will be their final season. The only exception is AJ Ferrari who will be recognized as a senior, but the Huskers are planning on applying for a waiver from the NCAA to get him one more year of eligibility. According to Head Coach Mark Manning, that process won’t take
place until after the NCAA Championships in late March.
Here is a list of Nebraska’s ten seniors who will be recognized and some accolades they’ve achieved in a Husker singlet.
- Brock Hardy – ‘25 Big Ten champ; 3x All-American; ‘25 NCAA finalist
- Silas Allred – ‘23 Big Ten champ at 197 pounds; ‘25 All-American at 184
- AJ Ferrari – 9-2 as a Husker
- Chance Lamer – 12-4 as a Husker
- Blake Cushing – 42-15 career record at 141/149
- Hayden Mills – 33-18 career at 133
- Jagger Condomitti – 22-9 career at 165
- Weston Dalton – 157 pounds
- Cooper Colson – 197 pounds
- Matthew Moore – 285 pounds
Nebraska will host a Northwestern team that has struggled this season to a 3-6 record in duals. The Wildcats do have a few ranked wrestlers, so there are a couple interesting matchups to be had if you get to watch it on B1G+.
Coming off three straight losses to #1 Penn State (27-12), #2 Ohio State (17-16), and #6 Iowa (22-14), Nebraska finishes its dual season with four very winnable duals against Northwestern, #10 Illinois, #33 Indiana and #38 Utah Valley over the next few weeks.
Weight-By-Weight Preview
125 pounds
It looks like Nebraska’s postseason starter here won’t be decided until the end of the dual season. Manning said they are going with redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen here over sophomore Alan Koehler. Lauridsen is 8-7 on the year against D1 competition, while Koehler is 10-12.
In duals, Lauridsen is 1-5 this year, but his one win was over a ranked opponent in #16 Mack Mauger of Missouri 4-1 in sudden victory. The former four-time Nebraska state champion for Bennington, Lauridsen was dealing with a knee injury in January but seems to have healed up. In his only conference dual, Lauridsen fell to #4 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State 16-4 via major decision.
Lauridsen has a big opportunity Sunday against Northwestern’s #26 Dedrick Navarro. A sophomore, Navarro is 14-10 on the year with his best win a 6-5 decision over #18 Nicolar Rivera of Indiana last weekend.
With a win, Lauridsen may just gain pole position in the race for the starting spot.
133 pounds
Another week, another ranked opponent for Nebraska’s #9 Jacob Van Dee. After losing his last three matches to #2 Ben Davino of Ohio State (7-2), #4 Marcus Blaze of Penn State (5-1) and #8 Drake Ayala of Iowa (12-6), Van Dee is looking to get back in the win column here against Northwestern’s #25 Sean Spidle.
A four-year starter for the Wildcats, Spidle is 12-6 this season with his best win a 4-2 decision over Maryland’s #20 Braxton Brown. Last season, Spidle qualified for NCAAs and made it to the round of 16 where he fell to Van Dee 9-3. It was the only career match between these two.
Holding a 12-4 record on the year, Van Dee needs some conference dual wins because he’s currently 2-3 in Big Ten duals. Van Dee started the season winning his first nine dual matches before his three-match losing streak.
141 pounds
Going into his final home dual for the Huskers, #3 Brock Hardy will be a heavy favorite against Northwestern’s Billy DeKraker. A Big Ten champion, NCAA finalist and three-time All-American, Hardy has already cemented his status as an all-time Husker. This season, he’s 14-4 with all four losses coming to the top two wrestlers in the country #1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State and #2 Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State.
DeKraker is 12-6 on the year and 4-2 in Big Ten duals. He’s been solid this year for Northwestern, but he doesn’t stand much of a chance to beat Hardy at this point.
Hardy is 101-28 for his career with potentially 13 more matches to go — he could jump as high as a tie for 12th-place on the Nebraska career charts along with TJ Dudley who went 114-31 for his career and was also an NCAA finalist.
Of course, that’s only if Hardy repeats as Big Ten champion and wins an NCAA title. That’s possible but certainly not probable considering he hasn’t been able to get past Mendez or Vega this year in two shots at each.
149 pounds
Another Husker who went 0-3 in their gauntlet through Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State, #14 Chance Lamer most recently fell to #1 Shayne Van Ness of Penn State via 12-5 decision after snagging the first takedown of the match.
Lamer could take on Northwestern’s Sam Cartella, but it’s been August Hibler who has been the guy recently. An NCAA qualifier last year as a freshman, Cartella is 11-7 this year but just 0-1 in Big Ten Duals. Hibler is 6-10 this year as a redshirt freshman and holds an 0-5 record in Big Ten duals.
Lamer is 12-4 on the year for the Huskers and should have no trouble with either Cartella or Hibler
157 pounds
Ever since a rough showing at National Duals, #2 Antrell Taylor has been on a tear — he’s won 10 straight and beaten two then-#2 ranked true freshman in PJ Duke of Penn State and Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State. Both freshmen are undefeated outside their losses to the returning NCAA Champion Taylor.
Against Northwestern, Taylor will face redshirt freshman Gunnar Myers who is 8-11 on the year. As for a couple common opponents, Myers was pinned by Duke and fell to #13 Cam Catrabone of Michigan via 12-2 major decision — Taylor beat Duke 2-1 in tiebreakers and won over Catrabone via 20-5 technical fall.
Taylor should get the win here and will likely be hunting for bonus points.
165 pounds
Despite going 1-2 in his last three matches and holding a 2-3 record in Big Ten duals, Nebraska’s #7 LJ Araujo is still one of the top wrestlers in the country. The redshirt freshman is 11-6 on the year with a number of ranked wins and a lot of “good” losses.
He’s taken losses to #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State (20-5 tech), #2 LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma State (4-1 in sudden victory), #3 Michael Caliendo of Iowa (14-4 major decision), #4 Joey Blaze of Purdue (8-2) and #6 Ryder Downey of UNI (3-0 in sudden victory). His other loss was a 10-1 major decision to Ohio State’s #14 Paddy Gallagher at National Duals when he was dealing with injuries to both hamstrings.
As for wins, Araujo has beaten #9 Max Brignola of Lehigh (pinfall), #11 Bryce Hepner of North Carolina (2-0), #13 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota (9-2) and #17 Gunner Filipowicz of Army (5-3).
Against Northwestern, Araujo will take on sophomore Jacob Bostelman who is 9-9 on the year. Bostelman is 1-3 in Big Ten duals and lost to Ohio State’s e’Than Birden 6-4 — Araujo recently beat Birden 1-0.
Araujo doesn’t really blow anyone out, so this match will likely be close on the scoreboard, but I expect Araujo to control it throughout and not be in any real danger of losing.
174 pounds
In potentially the match of the dual, Nebraska’s #4 Christopher Minto will face Northwestern’s #27 Eddie Enright.
Minto is 14-4 this year but just went 1-2 through a brutal gauntlet — he beat #5 Carson Kharchla of Ohio State (4-1 in sudden victory) but lost to #1 Levi Haines of Penn State (8-6) and #3 Patrick Kennedy of Iowa (2-1 in tiebreakers). Against Haines, he scored the first takedown of the match, the only one Haines has given up all year.
As for Enright, don’t let the ranking fool you — he’s for real. A redshirt freshman, Enright is 20-7 on the year and 4-2 in Big Ten duals. He’s lost a couple matches to top guys like Haines (19-4 tech), but he’s also beaten former Husker #20 Lenny Pinto of Rutgers 14-3 by major.
Minto needs to take Enright seriously, but he’s still the heavy favorite here.
184 pounds
Wrestling for the last time in front of the home crowd, Nebraska’s #6 Silas Allred is 12-6 this year and 87-30 for his career. An All-American as a junior and a Big Ten champion as a freshman (up at 197), Allred is looking to finish higher up on the podium in his final season and go out on a high note.
Against Northwestern, Allred will take on Jesse Perez. A senior, Perez is 6-10 on the year and 3-3 in Big Ten duals. All three of his conference wins have come to unranked wrestlers.
Allred should be able to pile up the points in this one for a fairly easy win.
197 pounds
A guy who has improved a lot in this his sophomore season, #10 Camden McDanel is 14-5 on the year after placing 8th at NCAAs as a freshman a year ago.
In his last two matches, McDanel earned his biggest career win 9-6 against Ohio State’s #11 Luke Geog before falling to #1 Josh Barr of Penn State 21-9 by major decision. In that match, McDanel stung Barr in the third period for the first takedown he’s given up all season.
Against Northwestern, McDanel will take on Alex Smith. A true freshman, Smith is 6-12 this season and 0-6 in conference duals — five of those losses have come via pinfall.
McDanel should dominate here — likely winning by tech fall.
285 pounds
Nebraska’s #4 AJ Ferrari is 9-2 on the year with his only losses coming to #3 Nick Feldman of Ohio State. He has top-10 wins over #5 Taye Ghadiali of Michigan (11-3 major), #6 Konner Doucet of Oklahoma State (2-1), #8 Cole Mirasola of Penn State (2-1) and #9 Ben Kueter of Iowa (4-1).
Against Northwestern, Ferrari will face senior Gabe Christenson who is 5-10 on the year. Christensen is just 1-5 in Big Ten duals, including losing his last five matches.
Ferrari should be able to put up some points in this one and could look for bonus points.
