Husker Wrestling: #6 Nebraska Hitting the Road to Take on #9 Minnesota in Big Ten Tilt

The #6 Nebraska wrestling team will hit the road Friday night to take on #9 Minnesota in Minneapolis at 8 p.m. on the B1G Network.

Nebraska

is 8-3 on the year in duals with its losses coming to #2 Ohio State and twice to #5 Oklahoma State. Minnesota is 7-2 on the year with a big win last time out against #11 Illinois (27-9). Minnesota’s two losses came against #10 South Dakota State and the #2 Buckeyes.

Both Nebraska and Minnesota have nine ranked wrestlers, setting up a dual with eight ranked matchups.

Weight-By-Weight Preview

125 pounds

This may be the toughest matchup of the dual for Nebraska, no matter who they send to the mat — whether it’s redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen or sophomore Alan Koehler.

Last time out, Koehler beat Purdue’s Ashton Jackson 9-3 in Nebraska’s Big Ten opener. Lauridsen traveled to the Hastings Open where he went 3-0 with all three wins via technical fall.

Against the Gophers, Nebraska will face #6 Jore Volk — the All-American transfer from Wyoming is 14-2 on the year with multiple ranked wins, including two wins over #3 Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech (4-2 and 3-1 in tiebreakers) — Ventresca’s only losses this season. Keep in mind that Ventresca beat returning NCAA Champion Vincent Robinson of NC State 4-1 this season. Volk has lost matches this season to both #5 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State (8-5 in sudden victory) and #20 Brady Roark of SDSU (5-4 in sudden victory).

Earlier this season, Volk beat Koehler 3-0 at the Bison Open. Volk has also faced Lauridsen, beating him 9-4 during his grayshirt year at the Olympic Training Center in December of 2023.

Whoever takes the mat for Nebraska will have a big opportunity here against an established wrestler in Volk who always seems to keep his matches close.

133 pounds

Nebraska’s #8 Jacob Van Dee has been on a tear since dropping a match at the Navy Classic to start the year — he’s 11-1 on the year and 8-0 in duals with multiple ranked wins.

An All-American as a sophomore, Van Dee could face 7th-year senior Chris Cannon, a Northwestern transfer. A two-time All-American for Northwestern in 2021 and 2022, Cannon hasn’t been able to recapture that form at Minnesota — he’s 3-6 this year with a 2-4 record in duals.

If not Cannon, it’ll be sophomore Brandon Morvari who is 1-6 on the year — his only win this year was against Nebraska’s Omar Ayoub via 3-2 decision at the Bison Open. Morvari wrestled most recently for the Gophers against Illinois, falling to #1 Lucas Byrd 7-1, so I would anticipate he gets the start.

Whether it’s Cannon or Morvari, Van Dee is a heavy favorite leading into a season-defining stretch ahead against #11 Drake Ayala of Iowa, #2 Ben Davino of Ohio State, and #6 Marcus Blaze of Penn State in consecutive matches.

141 pounds

Nebraska has a couple options here — either #3 Brock Hardy or true freshman Jake Hockaday. Hardy is a three-time All-American, a Big Ten champion, and a three-time All-American with a 4-0 career record against Minnesota’s #10 Vance Vombaur.

Nebraska could elect to rest Hardy in favor of Hockaday who was recently cleared to compete after recovering from off-season knee surgery. A four-time Indiana state champion in high school (a single-class state), Hockaday won the Hastings Open with four wins via pinfall to start his Husker career this past weekend.

Vombaur is 12-3 on the year and would provide a real measuring-stick kind of match for Hockaday, especially in a dual that Nebraska is heavily favored in. After all, Hockaday will likely be Nebraska’s starter at 141 next season, so getting him a few dual matches against top competition would be monumental for his development.

If it’s Hardy, he’s a heavy favorite after pinning Vombaur in the Big Ten final a year ago. If Hockaday toes the line, I’ll be on the edge of my seat as I get my first look at one of my favorite recruits Nebraska has brought in recently.

Also of note: If Hardy does take the mat and gets the win, it would be his 100th career college win (currently 99-27).

149 pounds

In a ranked matchup, Nebraska’s #12 Chance Lamer will take on Minnesota’s #27 Drew Roberts. Lamer wasn’t eligible for the first semester so he wasn’t able to compete in duals, but he’s 12-1 on the year with his only loss coming to Oklahoma State’s #8 Casey Swiderski.

In the first semester, Minnesota went with Jager Eisch who went 0-4 in duals — the Gophers have since turned to Roberts who is 5-3 on the year and 3-1 in duals.

While at Cal Poly, Lamer beat Roberts 7-2 in the 2024 NCAA tournament. Lamer is coming off a nice 12-2 major decision over Purdue’s #33 Gavin Brown last time out.

I would consider Lamer the favorite here, but Roberts has a couple ranked wins on the year, so he won’t be a push-over.

157 pounds

In one of the more interesting matches of this dual, Nebraska’s returning NCAA Champion #5 Antrell Taylor will take on Minnesota’s redshirt freshman #20 Charlie Millard.

Taylor is 12-2 on the year. Despite a rough National Duals where he fell to both #1 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State and #12 Logan Rozynski of Lehigh — both by major decision — Taylor has rebounded with six wins in a row including a pinfall win over #16 Stoney Buell of Purdue last time out.

Millard is no slouch though — a top recruit in 2024, Millard has some nice wins this year. He’s 13-3 this season after going 13-2 last year while in redshirt.

This won’t be an easy match for Taylor, but it’s one he should win.

165 pounds

One of Nebraska’s bright spots this year has been the wrestling of #8 LJ Araujo, a redshirt freshman who is 9-4 on the year. After a 9-1 start to the year, Araujo has dropped three straight matches to wrestlers who are all ranked in the top-7 nationally — two of those matches went to sudden victory.

The young Husker seems to be on the cusp of turning the corner and winning those types of matches.

Against Minnesota, Araujo will take on senior #16 Andrew Sparks. A four-time NCAA qualifier, Sparks got his second career win this year against Ohio State’s #15 Paddy Gallagher (3-2 in sudden victory) and also beat #18 Ryan Burton of Virginia Tech twice.

Against Nebraska, Sparks has an interesting history — last year he fell to Christopher Minto 5-4, but Sparks won his first career match as a freshman in 2021 via 7-6 decision over Peyton Robb who was up at 165 as a sophomore at that time.

All that is to say that Sparks is certainly not an opponent to overlook, but he represents an opportunity for Araujo to get back in the win column against a quality opponent.

174 pounds

Nebraska’s #6 Christopher Minto has put together an impressive sophomore season so far after placing fourth at NCAAs as a redshirt freshman at 165 pounds. Up a weight class, Minto is 12-2 on the year with his only losses coming to #4 Carson Kharchla of Ohio State (5-1) and #7 Alex Facundo of Oklahoma State (2-1) — he did get that Facundo loss back by beating him in their December dual 4-1 by decision.

Against Minnesota, Minto will take on #23 Ethan Riddle, a sophomore with an 11-4 record on the year. Riddle is 4-4 this year against ranked opponents, including tech fall losses to both Kharchla and #7 (at 165) Ryder Downey of UNI — Downey bumped up from 165 to face Riddle in their dual and beat him 15-0.

Last season, Riddle went 16-6 in open tournaments but fell to Araujo (when he was redshirting up at 174) via pinfall at the Cyclone Open.

Minto should be considered a heavy favorite here, but I could see the Huskers sending out true freshman Ty Eise here. A top-level recruit, Eise is 4-5 this year but has some nice wins over ranked opponents like his 8-5 win over #27 Carter Baer of Binghamton at the Navy Classic.

184 pounds

Outside of 125 pounds, this is the weight class where Nebraska is up against it the most with #9 Silas Allred taking on #3 Max McEnelly of Minnesota.

An All-American last season, Allred is 11-3 on the year with a pair of wins over #10 Zack Ryder of Oklahoma State.

Last season as a redshirt freshman, McEnelly beat Allred 16-6 by major decision before going on to win a Big Ten title and place third at NCAAs with his only losses coming to NCAA Champions Carter Starocci and Parker Keckeisen — both in sudden victory. He went on this summer to win a U20 World Championship in freestyle.

This year, McEnelly is 10-1 with his only loss a 6-3 decision to Missouri’s #2 Aeoden Sinclair at National Duals.

This is a really tough matchup for Allred, but the Husker senior is as tough as they come and won’t back down. It will be a good match to watch that’s for sure.

197 pounds

Nebraska’s #15 Camden McDanel will take the mat Friday against Minnesota’s #25 Gavin Nelson.

McDanel is 11-4 on the year and just beat #21 Ben Vanadia of Purdue 7-1 last time out. An All-American as a freshman last year, McDanel is 11-4 this year and 8-3 in duals.

Nelson is 6-7 this year and just 1-6 in duals. A redshirt freshman, Nelson started the season hot with a 7-0 win over #18 Sonny Sasso of Virginia Tech at the Southeast Open, but he’s lost his last four matches going into this weekend.

Again, McDanel is the favorite here, but he’ll have to earn it.

285 pounds

In the most chaotic weight class for Nebraska, the Huskers should have #4 AJ Ferrari on Friday night. After an 11-2 major over over Purdue’s Hayden Filipovich last Friday night, Ferrari was pulled over later that night for speeding and was detained on a warrant issued in Texas.

After some uncertainty surrounding the situation and Ferrari being held through Monday morning, the case was dismissed without prejudice on Wednesday. Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning has confirmed that Ferrari is still on the team.

Ferrari is 6-1 on the year with his only loss a 5-4 decision to #3 Nick Feldman of Ohio State in a match where he suffered a concussion.

Against Minnesota, Ferrari will take on #9 Koy Hopke. A redshirt freshman, Hopke is 16-3 on the year with wins over #10 Christian Carroll of Wyoming and #15 Jimmy Mullen of Virginia Tech. He’s also faced Husker freshman sensation Cade Ziola twice this year, splitting those matches. Ziola beat Hopke 8-7 at the Bison Open before losing to him 5-3 in the Soldier Salute final.

I would expect Ferrari to be a favorite here against Hopke if he goes. With Ziola having two dates left to use while keeping his redshirt, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ziola here, especially after hearing Husker assistant coach Tervel Dlagnev tell me they like that matchup between Ziola and Hopke going forward.

Nebraska also has last season’s starter Harley Andrews here as an option — the junior is 4-1 this year after a big 16-7 dual win against UNI’s Adam Ahrendsen last time out.