At the Senior level, Nebraska has seven contenders who are hoping to punch their tickets to Final X where Team USA determines its lineup for the World Championships — led by current assistant coach James Green and recent Huskers Ridge Lovett and Brock Hardy.
Outside of Green, the six other Huskers entered at the Senior level have all expired their eligibility in the last three years or still have college eligibility left. Liam Cronin’s final year was in 2023, Peyton Robb last competed in college in 2024,
Ridge Lovett finished competing collegiately in 2025, and Brock Hardy and Chance Lamer just finished their college careers in March. Nebraska’s new transfer portal pick-up Vincent Robinson is also registered to compete at the Senior level — he has two year of eligibility remaining.
The Seniors wrestle Greco-Roman on Thursday and Friday, while freestyle will take place Friday and Saturday. The U20 division — which has a number of current and future Huskers — will compete Saturday and Sunday. Once their seeds come out, we’ll have a preview up for them as well.
Now for a deep dive into each Senior US Open entry for the Huskers and their potential paths. Here are the brackets using only the seeded wrestlers.
Senior US Open Entries
57 kg
3-seed Liam Cronin
An All-American for the Huskers in 2023, Cronin has pretty quietly put together an impressive Senior-level resume since graduating.
Last year, Cronin earned a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships for Team USA and made it to the US Open final where he fell to Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl via technical superiority. At Final X, Cronin wrestled Stanford’s Nico Provo for true 3rd-place and won a 10-3 decision, earning him a spot on the US National Team (top 3 in the country at each weight).
With just the top 8 seeded, nothing is really known up until the quarters where Cronin would likely face 6-seed Eric Barnett — a three-time All-American for Wisconsin and 2018 Fargo Junior National Champion in 2018 in freestyle.
With a win over Barnett, Cronin would face 2-seed Luke Lilledahl out of Penn State, which will be a tall task after their last meeting. Lilledahl is a world champion at the U17 (2022), U20 (2024) and U23 (2025) level — completing the triple crown of age-level freestyle wrestling.
With an upset over Lilledahl, Cronin would face Olympic silver-medalist Spencer Lee in the final, an even taller task.
Unseeded Vincent Robinson
Nebraska’s newest addition via the transfer portal, Robinson is slick on his feet and seems to have a style tailored to freestyle, so it’s exciting that he’s competing this year in the international style after not doing so for many years.
A Fargo All-American in 16U in 2021, Robinson hasn’t done much freestyle since. As a redshirt freshman at NC State in 2025, Robinson shocked the wrestling world and won an NCAA title at 125 pounds. He followed that up with a 4th-place finish at NCAAs this past season.
Robinson’s path through the tournament is an unknown, as he’ll be randomly drawn in.
With Lee and Lilledahl entered, Cronin and Robinson are long shots to win, but their performance will tell us a lot going forward.
65 kg
5-seed Brock Hardy
One of Nebraska’s most accomplished freestylers is Brock Hardy. A two-time Fargo champion in high school, Hardy took some time off from freestyle between his LDS mission and his start in college, but Hardy returned to freestyle in 2023 when he won the U23 National Championship and went on to earn bronze at the U23 World Championships.
In 2025, Hardy was a finalist at the World Team Trials — he beat Seth Gross in a wild 19-16 match and took down high school phenom Bo Bassett 12-7 on the way to the finals where he lost to Real Woods 10-6. Bassett is considered one of the favorites at this weight, but you can watch their match from last year below. In my opinion, Hardy’s length, rubber-knee ability, and his chest wrap really gave Bassett problems in this matchup that Hardy was leading 12-3 with under a minute left.
Looking into Hardy’s path, not everything is known about the early-round matchups, but if seeds hold he’ll face Penn State redshirt freshman Nate Desmond in the Round of 16. Desmond was a three-time Pennsylvania state champion and one of the nation’s top recruits in 2025.
With a win over Desmond, Hardy would move on to the quarters to face 4-seed Jesse Mendez who just completed his career at Ohio State as a two-time NCAA Champion. Hardy and Mendez wrestled seven times in college with Mendez winning six of those. It’ll certainly be a tough match for Hardy to win.
With an upset win over Mendez, Hardy would likely see 1-seed Joey McKenna — a past U23 bronze-medalist and U20 silver medalist in freestyle — in the semifinal round.
A run to the final would likely pit Hardy against 2-seed Vito Araujo (a World Champion at 61 kg), 3-seed Aiden Valencia (just won a national title for Stanford as a redshirt freshman), or 6-seed Bassett (U17 World gold medalist and U20 World bronze).
Even against this stacked field, I do think Hardy stands a puncher’s chance of earning a spot at Final X — his toughest matchup could very well come in the quarters against Mendez — a U20 World silver medalist in 2023 and Olympic Trials Finalist in 2024.
70 kg
5-seed Ridge Lovett
One of the true title threats this weekend, Lovett is gushing with potential in freestyle. An NCAA champion and three-time All-American for Nebraska, Lovett has turned his attention to freestyle over the past year.
Back in his youth and high school days, Lovett was a monster in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. Between both styles, Lovett was a Fargo All-American TEN TIMES. He won three titles in Greco and got a Junior Freestyle National Championship in 2020 at 61 kg.
Last summer, Lovett made it to the semifinal round of the World Team Trials but fell to PJ Duke of Penn State 3-2 on a late exchange that really could have gone either way — it was eventually called a step-out on Duke, but Lovett secured what was called the go-ahead takedown. Watch it below.
Duke went on to earn the spot for Team USA, so it’s evident that Lovett is right there with the best guys in America at 70 kg. A win this week would secure Lovett a spot in Final X — a three-match series to determine the World Team representative.
Looking at his path according to his seed, Lovett will likely face 12-seed Dayne Morton in the Round of 16. After a likely win in that match, Lovett will see 4-seed Ian Parker in the quarters. Lovett and Parker traded matches at last year’s Open, so this match is not one to look past by any means. Parker finished third at the Open and World Team Trials last season and made it on the US National Team.
If Lovett makes it past Parker, he’ll take on 1-seed Alec Pantaleo. A three-time All-American for Michigan, Pantaleo is a past US Open champ and has won multiple ranking series events, but he’s yet to make a Senior World Team and has been in the game a long time.
With a win over Pantaleo, Lovett would likely face 2-seed Caleb Henson, 3-seed Tyler Kasak or 7-seed Melvin Miller in the final. Henson beat Lovett at NCAAs in 2023 before Lovett returned the favor in the NCAA final in 2025, while Kasak is a two-time All-American for Penn State who owns multiple Folkstyle wins over Antrell Taylor. Miller is a high school phenom with multiple high-level wins who should be considered a potential finalist.
Lovett’s path in this bracket is manageable.
10-seed Chance Lamer
A newcomer to Nebraska’s lineup this year, Lamer finished his college career with his first ever podium finish, placing fourth at NCAAs at 149 pounds in March. Below you can see his second round upset of 4-seed Colin Gaj of Virginia Tech.
Now Lamer turns his attention towards freestyle. In high school, Lamer was very accomplished in freestyle. In 2017, he made the Fargo finals in both Greco and freestyle — he won a title in Greco and finished as the runner-up in freestyle.
In 2018, Lamer made the Cadet World Team and placed fifth at the U17 World Championships.
If seeds hold, Lamer will take on 7-seed Miller in the Round of 16. With a win over the talented youngster, Lamer would then face 2-seed Henson in the quarters. With an upset over Henson, Lamer would need another upset over 3-seed Kasak to make the final on the bottom side of the bracket.
74 kg
5-seed James Green
One of the most decorated American wrestlers this century, James Green is a legend who is still out there competing. A current Husker assistant coach, Green has been balancing both competing and coaching the past couple seasons in Lincoln.
A seven-time World Team member for Team USA at 70 kg, Green won bronze at the World Championships in 2015 and took silver in 2017. As a Husker, Green was a four-time All-American and a Big Ten champion.
Green officially moved up to 74 kg this year and has had some solid results as he works his way up. Green wrestled overseas at both the Zagreb Open and the Yasar Dogu, finishing with a bronze medal at both. He also lost a 4-4 match against Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia (via Russia) at RAF 02 — Salkazanov is a four-time World medalist at 74 and 79 kg. Green led the match 4-0 late but lost in the end.
Looking at Green’s path, he’ll have 12-seed Nicco Ruiz — an All-American and Big 12 Champion for Arizona State — in the Round of 16.
With a win over Ruiz, Green would likely face 4-seed Will Lewan in the quarters. Green lost to Lewan twice in 2022 but won their match at the 2024 Olympic Trials.
If Green makes the semifinal round, he’ll face 1-seed David Carr. A two-time NCAA Champion for Iowa State, Carr was on the World Team last year at this weight and fell just short of earning a medal. He’s the heavy favorite in this bracket and poses the toughest matchup by far.
If Green can beat Carr, he’d have a very winnable match against someone like 2-seed Jarrett Jacques or 3-seed Quincy Monday in the final.
6-seed Peyton Robb
The only one pulling double duty at the Senior level, Robb will compete at 74 kg in freestyle after wrestling at 72 kg in Greco. Robb is seeded fourth in Greco and sixth in freestyle.
Robb is well versed in both styles — he made the U23 National Team for Team USA in freestyle in 2021 and nearly made the finals of the World Team Trials in 2024 in Greco. He’s also won silver at the Bill Farrell and bronze at the 2025 US Open.
As a youngster, Robb was a double Pan American Champ at the Cadet level in 2017 and earned another Pan American title in freestyle in 2019, this time at the Junior level. In 2017, he also won a Fargo title in Greco and placed third in freestyle.
As a Husker, Robb was a three-time All-American, placing 4th, 5th and 7th at the national tournament. As a freshman, he made the blood-round.
In freestyle, Robb will take on 11-seed Kannon Webster in the Round of 16 — Webster once beat Antrell Taylor in freestyle. With a win there, he’d likely face 3-seed Monday in the quarters and 2-seed Jacques in the semifinal.
A run to the finals in freestyle isn’t likely, but I do like his path.
