One of the best wrestlers in the state of Nebraska from the second he hit the mat, Zaiyahn Ornelas announced Monday that he’s going to be a Husker.
A senior-to-be for Creighton Prep, Ornelas spent his first three high school seasons at Class C Wilber-Clatonia where he dominated — he won three Class C state titles at three different weight classes without losing a single match. In high school, Ornelas is 121-0.
This past season at 120 pounds, he not only went undefeated, he didn’t give up a single offensive points (takedowns or reversals). Credit to @NEBwrestle for that unbelievable nugget (see below). At the state tournament in February, he won all four matches via tech fall, outscoring his opponents 65-0.
This season, things will heat up though for Ornelas after he decided to transfer to Creighton Prep for his senior season — a Class A school with a much tougher schedule. Ornelas will certainly put his undefeated high school record on the line this season.
Outside of being an undefeated three-time state champ in folkstyle, Ornelas is also pretty good in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. He’s twice placed as a Fargo All-American in freestyle — 7th in 2024 in the 16U division, and 8th this summer in the Junior division. In 2024, Ornelas made it to the Fargo final in 16U in Greco.
In 2023, Ornelas placed third at the U17 US Open in freestyle (see below). The year after, he finished seventh at the U17 World Team Trials.
Most recently, Ornelas competed both at Super 32 and Iowa’s Night of Conflict. The toughest folkstyle tournament of the year, Super 32 is the best of the best in a preseason invitational — Ornelas went 4-2 at 126 pounds but missed the podium. At Night of Conflict, Ornelas beat Iowa’s Cale Vandermark, a guy who’s beaten him a couple times in the past, via 5-1 decision.
Ornelas is a two-time Preseason Nationals placer and just won Fall Brawl in early October, winning via bonus in every match leading up to the finals — three techs, a pin and a major decision before winning a 5-2 decision in the final.
All that is to say that despite competing in Class C in Nebraska, Ornelas has consistently sought out the best competition he can find and more than held his own. He’s a serious prospect with real upside.
Looking ahead to where he fits into Nebraska’s lineup in the future, I do believe that he ends up at 133 pounds. Nebraska currently has junior Jacob Van Dee, redshirt freshman Omar Ayoub, junior Hayden Mills, and true freshman Jake Hockaday there.
However, the Huskers graduate both Brock Hardy and Blake Cushing at 141 after this season with no clear replacement waiting in the wings — I do think that all three of Ayoub, Mills and Hockaday could move up to 141 next year to compete for the job. In the case of Ayoub and Hockaday, I think it’s probably their ideal weight class — I think Hockaday was brought in to redshirt before taking over for Hardy at 141.
That would leave 133 to Van Dee and Ornelas while he’s on redshirt next season.
There’s also the chance that Van Dee goes up to 141 after Hardy graduates, so that would leave Ayoub and Hockaday to compete for the 133-pound spot next season.
All I know is that Nebraska’s 2026 class is really rounding into form:
- The Huskers have four middle weight prospects that will likely go 149-157-165 in Noah Bull, Davis Parrow, Mason Petersen and Niko Rotella. Bull is the highest-ranked of the group at #59 on the FloWrestling 2026 Big Board.
- Nebraska just secured a flip from Lehigh last week out of Pennsylvania’s Jason Singer out of powerhouse Faith Christian Academy, adding n legit upper weights prospect to the class.
- Now, Ornelas completes the class with a light weight prospect that projects anywhere from 125 to 141 in college.
