Nebraska weathered the early storm from Illinois before taking over with eight-straight wins in a 28-11 dual win on the road.
Nebraska was
the underdog at both 125 and 133 pounds coming it, but matters were magnified with the absence of All-American Jacob Van Dee at 133. Nebraska brought both Kael Lauridsen and Alan Koehler for 125 pounds, but Koehler was pressed into action up a weight class at 133 against the returning NCAA Champion.
After losing the first two matches, Nebraska won the final eight for the dominant win over a top-10 team in #10 Illinois.
Weight-By-Weight Recap
125 pounds
Facing a seasoned veteran in this match, Nebraska’s #33 Kael Lauridsen showed some promise in this one with an early takedown before dropping the match.
Lauridsen threw #13 Spencer Moore by for a first-period takedown before putting on a hard ride for 43 seconds. Moore then scored a takedown later in the first and a reversal in the second period to take the lead 6-3. Moore then used a cross face to put Lauridsen on his back for the pinfall loss.
With the loss, Lauridsen falls to 9-8 on the year against D1 competition.
In the team race, Nebraska fell into an early 6-0 hole here.
133 pounds
With #9 Jacob Van Dee out with an illness, Nebraska was forced to go with backup 125-pounder Alan Koehler who faced the toughest of assignments.
Not only did he bump up a weight class, Koehler also took on the returning NCAA Champion at the weight in undefeated #1 Lucas Byrd.
Koehler actually showed some really good defense at times against such a talented and bigger opponent, but he eventually dropped the match 17-2 by technical fall. If anything, Koehler did make Byrd work for it.
With the loss, Koehler falls to 10-13 on the year.
In the team race, Nebraska was down 11-0 after this match.
141 pounds
Facing Illinois backup William Baysingar, #3 Brock Hardy did what he’s expected to do — win the match with bonus points.
Hardy racked up six takedowns on the way to the 20-4 win via tech fall.
With the win, Hardy is now 16-4 on the year and cut the Illinois lead to 11-5.
149 pounds
Nebraska’s #14 Chance Lamer took on Illinois’ Michael Gioffre in this one, and the Husker senior took care of business.
Gioffre is tough, but Lamer used a late takedown in the first period to earn the 5-2 decision win. Lamer used his defensive prowess to hold off Gioffre throughout the match.
With the win, Lamer moved to 14-4 on the year while cutting the Illinois dual lead to 11-8.
157 pounds
In another Top-10 matchup, Nebraska’s #2 Antrell Taylor again took care of his opponent.
After a scoreless first period, Taylor and #10 Kannon Webster of Illinois traded escapes to start the second and third periods. Taylor was called for his second stall call about 45 seconds into the third period, giving Webster the lead 2-1.
With some time to work, Taylor turned up the pressure on a pretty defensively sound Webster, but the returning NCAA Champion Taylor was able to get to his body lock with 15 seconds left, planting Webster to the mat for the takedown with 10 seconds left. Taylor rode the period out for the 4-2 decision win.
With the win, Taylor improved to 18-2 on the year and tied the dual at 11-11 going into intermission.
165 pounds
In the other Top-10 matchup of the dual, Nebraska’s #7 LJ Araujo took on #8 Braeden Scoles of Illinois.
Araujo missed last week as he went to Brazil and secured his spot on the U20 World Team, but he looked ready for this match. Araujo hit a swing single off the opening whistle to go up 3-0.
Araujo then gave up a pair of reversals in the second and third periods when his ride on top got too high, but he scored a reversal of his own in the second period. In the end, Araujo’s takedown, reversal and riding-time point were enough to earn the 8-5 decision win against a really solid opponent.
Araujo’s win moves him to 12-6 on the year and gave Nebraska its first lead of the night 14-11.
174 pounds
Nebraska’s #4 Christopher Minto did what he needed to do to earn the win over #25 Colin Kelly of Illinois and continue his impressive sophomore season.
After a scoreless first period, Minto earned a quick escape in the second. Kelly countered with an escape to start the third period.
When Kelly shot in the third, Minto came around on a re-attack and looked to have secured the takedown, but the officials called it a stalemate. Nebraska threw the challenge brick, but the officials upheld the call.
No matter…Minto went out and shot a low double off the whistle to earn the decisive takedown with just 12 seconds left in the period, riding Kelly out for the 4-1 decision win.
With the win, Minto is now 16-4 on the year.
184 pounds
In another top matchup in this dual, Nebraska’s #6 Silas Allred took on #13 Chris Moore of Illinois who has some impressive wins this year.
Allred hit a late shot in the first period and secured the all-important takedown late in the period to go up 3-0.
After Allred and Moore traded escapes to start the second and third periods, Allred hit a re-attack on Moore for the decisive takedown late in the third period for the 7-1 decision win.
With the win, the senior Allred improves to 14-6 on the year and 89-30 for his career.
197 pounds
Facing Illinois backup senior Cade Lautt, #10 Camden McDanel was fairly dominant as he earned his team a bonus point.
McDanel earned the only takedown in the first period before adding another in the second to go up 6-3 with Lautt scoring three escapes in that time. McDanel then scored an escape to start the third before notching two more takedowns for the 15-4 major decision win with the riding-time point.
With the win, McDanel is now 16-5 in his sophomore season — he’s won seven of his last eight with the only loss coming to #1 Josh Barr of Penn State.
285 pounds
In another ranked matchup, Nebraska’s #4 AJ Ferrari took on #14 Luke Luffman of Illinois. Ferrari was giving up at least 30 pounds to Luffman, but it didn’t matter as the Husker won the match with bonus points.
Ferrari earned a takedown in the first period and two more in the third on the way to the 11-1 win via major decision.
With the win, Ferrari is now 11-2 on the year with a number of wins over top Big Ten wrestlers.
