Nebraska announced on Monday that this season’s wrestle-offs will be held Friday at the Hendricks Training Complex at 4 p.m. in the wrestling room — open to fans for free with parking in the lot located
north of Innovation Campus.
Brackets for the wrestle-offs haven’t been released, but that didn’t stop me from projecting what I think they may be. You can see them here:
Here are some of my thoughts and what matches may really impact this season:
- At 125 pounds, I think redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen gets the nod as the 1-seed based on his 7-1 win over sophomore Alan Koehler in last year’s wrestle-offs. Lauridsen went on to beat All-American Caleb Smith 8-7 in the wrestle-off final before taking a redshirt on the season. Also, I’m interested to see that Koehler vs. Abdi Unle match — Unle is a true freshman from Omaha Bryan that’s bursting with talent.
- At 133 pounds, All-American Jacob Van Dee won’t be gifted the job as he’ll have to take out redshirt freshman Omar Ayoub. Ayoub won a U20 World bronze medal this summer for Puerto Rico and isn’t likely to concede the starting spot easily.
- A senior, Blake Cushing is listed at 141 and is at his best at that weight, but I do think he could go 149 for the first semester. Nebraska will be without transfer Chance Lamer for the first semester, and Cushing could add another option there.
- Speaking of 149 pounds, the winner between sophomore Scott Robertson and true freshman Nikade Zinkin could determine the first-semester starter. Zinkin can wrestle in five events without losing his redshirt, so I expect Nebraska to use him if he gives them the best chance to win — especially at National Duals and at home against Oklahoma State. We could see some sort of Robertson/Zinkin combo until January.
- I’m really interested in seeing all the true freshmen, but I really think both Ty Eise and Cade Ziola will be forces someday. Eise is at the same weight as All-American Christopher Minto, so I expect him to redshirt, but he’s really good — I hope we get to see him take on Minto on Friday. First, he’ll have to get through a really talented sophomore in Ethan DeLeon — a guy that head coach Mark Manning raves about.
- Heavyweight is the only weight class with four options, so we have a full semifinal bracket. I don’t know how the seeds go, but I do expect to see transfer AJ Ferrari take on true freshman Cade Ziola at some point. Two guys who have had some serious goes in practice, I expect this to be a great match to watch.
