In what may be the most pivotal single weekend of the year for #6 Nebraska, the Huskers will host both #4 Iowa and #2 Ohio State (using the NWCA Coaches Poll). Nebraska is 9-3 this year in duals and on
a three-dual win streak having beaten #9 Minnesota (20-12), #13 UNI (30-6) and Purdue (36-3).
Iowa will be limping into the Devaney Sports Center tonight after getting beaten badly by #1 Penn State 32-3 — the Hawkeyes are 8-3 on the year with losses to the top-3 teams in the Nittany Lions, #2 Ohio State (27-12) and #3 Iowa State (20-14). Iowa did beat #5 Oklahoma State (who beat Nebraska twice) 18-16 at National Duals and also has wins over #12 Illinois (24-13), #14 Pitt (36-0) and #16 Wisconsin (23-12).
The last time Nebraska beat the Hawkeyes came in 2005 when the Huskers went into Carver and won 24-13. If you ask me, this is Nebraska’s best chance it’s had in a long time to stop the losing streak and hand head coach Tom Brands his first career dual loss to Nebraska.
Ohio State will come in as the second hottest team in the country behind Penn State who just became the first team ever to have SIX #1-ranked wrestlers. Think about that … If Penn State wrestled a dual against the best wrestler in the country at each weight class, the Nittany Lions would be favored in six of those 10 matches.
That’s just absurd.
I digress — the Buckeyes are 12-0 this year with wins over #3 Iowa State (21-13), #4 Iowa (27-12), #6 Nebraska (33-3), #8 NC State (26-10), #9 Minnesota (29-6) and #25 Indiana (45-0) on its resume.
That’s one hell of a resume, and I can’t wait for that PSU-OSU dual on the day before Valentines Day.
It looks like Nebraska will again set a program record for attendance tonight with over 6,000 tickets already sold. The previous record was set in December against Oklahoma State (7,094).
I think you can choose to look at a weekend like this as a challenge or an opportunity. For a team like Nebraska that fell a bit after a rough National Duals in November, some of its wrestlers just haven’t had a lot of opportunity since to face top competition — and the only way to really move up the rankings once you get in the top-10 is to beat guys ranked ahead of you. Winning just the matches you’re supposed to while hoping the top guys lose isn’t a great strategy for moving up.
I’ll get off my soapbox and on with the preview.
Weight-By-Weight Preview
125 pounds
Nebraska and Ohio State are in totally opposite situations at this weight — Nebraska has two options who have struggled so far this season, while Ohio State has two options who could both find the medal stand at NCAAs.
Nebraska has redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen and sophomore Alan Koehler here — both are unranked and have been battling for the starting spot all season. I talked to Nebraska coach Mark Manning on Monday, and he told me this spot has not been decided yet, so I expect both guys to get a start — the question is who goes where.
Lauridsen is 8-6 on the year against D1 competition, while Koehler is 8-9. Lauridsen is 1-4 in duals, while Koehler is 2-6 in duals — Koehler has been the starter in Nebraska’s last three duals.
Iowa brought in Rutgers transfer #7 Dean Peterson here — he’s 7-2 on the year with some nice wins over #8 Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State and #12 Stevo Poulin of Iowa State this season. He’s only dropped matches to #1 Luke Lilledahl of Penn State and #4 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State on the season.
It only gets harder from there with the Buckeyes likely bringing both Bouzakis and Brendan McCrone. Bouzakis is officially 8-0 this year, but he did drop a match 5-4 to McCrone early in the year (losses to teammates don’t count on your official record). Bouzakis beat #6 Jore Volk in overtime and pinned Peterson of Iowa in the National Duals final. He’s also beaten #10 Maximo Renteria of Oregon State (19-4 technical fall), #12 Poulin (9-2) and #13 Jacob Moran of Indiana (11-2 major decision) this year.
After moving down from 133 a year ago, Bouzakis has looked dominant most of the season. The starter the past two years, McCrone is a two-time NCAA qualifier who is 6-1 on the year — his only loss was to returning NCAA Champion Vincent Robinson of NC State via 12-3 major decision. McCrone beat Koehler 5-0 at National Duals earlier this year as well.
Like I said, they have two really solid options here.
Nebraska will be the heavy underdog here in both duals.
133 pounds
Nebraska’s All-American #8 Jacob Van Dee has put together a solid season so far — he’s 12-1 on the year and has only given up one takedown while racking up 26 takedowns of his own.
For a guy who hasn’t yet hit any of the top guys this year, he’s about to do just that.
Iowa has two-time NCAA finalist #11 Drake Ayala, while Ohio State has #2 Ben Davino, a redshirt freshman who has been as impressive as anyone in the country to start his career.
Ayala is on an uncharacteristic skid as of late, having dropped his last three matches to #4 Evan Frost of Iowa State (11-5), #10 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin (6-5) and #6 Marcus Blaze of Penn State (4-2). Ayala is 4-5 on the year, but he’s a veteran who will come in and be a dangerous opponent regardless — the Hawkeye senior did beat Van Dee 4-2 in their dual match last season.
After facing Ayala, Van Dee will take on Ohio State’s Davino who is out to a 15-0 start to his career. After redshirting last year and going 19-1, Davino has big ranked wins over #4 Frost (4-2) and Ayala. He’s already registered 11 wins via tech fall this year, showing his point-scoring ability.
It’ll be interesting how this match goes with Van Dee having such sound defense going against a guy who likes to attack early and often in Davino.
141 pounds
Nebraska’s #3 Brock Hardy took last weekend off to stay fresh, and he’ll need it this weekend as he’ll face a pair of All-Americans, including a Sunday afternoon rematch of last season’s NCAA final against #1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State.
Hardy is 12-3 this year with a loss to Mendez and two losses to #2 Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State. Against everyone else, he’s looked great.
First, Hardy will take on Iowa’s #13 Nasir Bailey. A Little Rock transfer, Bailey is up from 133 where he finished fourth at NCAAs as a true freshman. He failed to find the podium last season though. Bailey is 10-4 on the year, but he’s been dominated by the top guys at his new weight class.
Bailey has lost matches to #1 Mendez (17-1 tech), #2 Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State (3-0 in sudden victory), and #4 Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State (15-2 major). His other loss was a medical forfeit at the Soldier Salute.
Hardy should be able to down Bailey in this one, setting up the match of the dual against the Buckeyes. Hardy is 1-4 against Mendez — Hardy beat Mendez 9-8 at Big Tens last season before dropping the NCAA final 12-9.
Mendez is 12-0 on the year and already has a 4-1 win over Hardy at National Duals — he’s also beaten #4 Echemendia (5-1) and #9 Vance Vombaur of Minnesota (14-5 major) this season.
In what has become a great college rivalry, Hardy gets another shot at cracking the code that is Jesse Mendez.
149 pounds
After missing the Minnesota dual last weekend due to illness, Nebraska’s #12 Chance Lamer will get his shot at some top Big Ten competition this weekend when he faces #10 Ryder Block of Iowa and #4 Ethan Stiles of Ohio State.
Lamer is 12-1 this season with his only loss coming to Oklahoma State’s #8 Casey Swiderski 7-2. He’s since scored bonus points against both UNI and Purdue.
Iowa’s Block is 6-3 in his first year starting as a sophomore. Block has dropped his last two matches — an 8-3 loss in overtime to #13 Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin and a 13-4 major decision to Penn State’s #1 Shayne Van Ness. He also fell to Stiles 3-2 at National Duals.
Ohio State’s #4 Stiles is 9-3 this year. After redshirting at Nebraska, Stiles transferred to Oregon State where he placed sixth at NCAAs as a redshirt freshman. He then transferred to Ohio State this past offseason. Stiles has lost to #2 Jaxon Joy of Cornell (pinfall), #3 Caleb Tyus of SIUE (10-4) and #7 Jacob Frost (4-1 in sudden victory) this year, but he also has a 4-3 win over #5 Koy Buesgens of NC State and a pinfall win over Husker freshman Nikade Zinkin to his name.
Stiles is a dangerous opponent, but he’s not one who doesn’t have vulnerabilities. I’ll be interested to see how the Huskers’ new transfer fares against their former wrestler.
157 pounds
Nebraska’s #5 Antrell Taylor has a big weekend ahead of him as he takes on both #11 Jordan Williams of Iowa and #1 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State. Taylor is 13-2 on the year and lost a previous match against Cannon this season.
Talking to Taylor a couple weeks ago, that match against Cannon on Sunday is one he has circled on the calendar.
First, Taylor will need to get past Williams, the Little Rock transfer who has qualified for NCAAs twice. He started at Oklahoma State before transferring to Little Rock last year. As a junior, he then transferred to Iowa where he’s moved up from 149 to 157.
Williams is 7-3 on the year with all three losses coming against Top-10 opponents. Taylor should be able to outmatch the smaller Williams in this one, although Williams has big-move potential making him dangerous.
Ohio State’s Cannon is 12-0 this year (although he did lose an 8-5 decision to high-schooler Melvin Miller at the Clarion Open, which doesn’t count toward his record). A Big Ten finalist last year, Cannon beat Taylor 16-4 by major at National Duals earlier this year. He also beat Minnesota’s #19 Charlie Millard 18-8 by major — Taylor needed a late takedown and a pin to beat Millard this past weekend.
This is a tough matchup for Taylor who is itching to get that one back. A win here would be monumental for the Husker junior.
165 pounds
Nebraska’s #7 LJ Araujo got back in the win column last weekend with a 9-2 decision win over #15 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota — Araujo is now 10-4 on the year and has a big weekend ahead of him.
Tonight, Araujo will take on Iowa’s #3 Michael Caliendo who is 9-2 this season with his only losses coming to the top two wrestlers in the country. A three-time All-American and an NCAA finalist last year, Caliendo has been one of the best 165-pounders in the country the past few years.
Araujo wrestled #2 LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma State really tough in December before dropping the match 4-1 in sudden victory — Lockett beat Caliendo 7-3 earlier this year. The Husker redshirt freshman has proven that he’s right there with the top guys, so this match could be his opportunity to earn a signature win.
On Sunday against the Buckeyes, Araujo will have a chance to exact revenge over #14 Paddy Gallagher who beat him 10-1 by major decision at National Duals — Araujo was dealing with injuries to both hamstrings in that match. Gallagher is 8-4 this year with a 4-1 loss to Caliendo in sudden victory.
Both of these matches are winnable for Araujo who seems to be gaining more confidence by the week.
174 pounds
Out of all the Huskers, #6 Christopher Minto has the toughest road this weekend. A sophomore, Minto is 13-2 on the year and already avenged one of his two losses at National Duals when he beat Oklahoma State’s #7 Alex Facundo 4-1 in their dual matchup after falling 2-1 in November. On Sunday, he’ll get a chance to avenge his other loss to Ohio State’s #4 Carson Kharchla.
But first he’ll have to face Iowa’s #3 Patrick Kennedy in tonight’s dual. Kennedy is 9-1 this season with his only loss an upset at the hands of Iowa State’s #12 MJ Gaitan via 9-8 decision in tiebreakers. Kennedy also has a win over Facundo and beat Kharchla 4-1 in sudden victory. An incredibly tough competitor and a returning All-American, Kennedy represents not only a great challenge but also a great opportunity for Minto to move into the Top-5 at the weight.
Against Kharchla, Minto will try to exact his revenge after his 5-1 decision loss at National Duals. Kharchla is 11-1 on the year and also has an 8-4 win over #5 Matthew Singleton of NC State this year. His only loss was that overtime loss to Kennedy. A guy who has dealt with a lot of injuries throughout his career, Kharchla is finally healthy and seems to be one of the current favorites to make an NCAA finals run.
A win over just one of these guys would be monumental for Minto, but a win over both of them would likely shoot him up to #3 in the rankings next week.
184 pounds
Nebraska’s #7 Silas Allred has put together one of his best seasons to date so far this year — he’s 11-4 with his four losses all coming by decision to guys ranked #3, #4, #5 and #9. An All-American last season, Allred has a pair of tough opponents this weekend.
Tonight, Allred won’t wrestle Iowa’s #2 Angelo Ferrari as he’s out with an injury, so he’ll face Gabe Arnold instead. Arnold has been Iowa’s utility guy this season with wins at three different weight classes — 4-2 at 174, 4-0 at 184, and 2-0 at 197. His last six matches have taken place at 174, including a close 4-2 decision loss last weekend to #1 Levi Haines of Penn State.
Arnold always wrestles tough, low-scoring matches against top guys using solid defense. Last season, Arnold was Iowa’s starter at 184 pounds and made it to the round of 16 at NCAAs. He split matches against Allred with the Husker winning 4-1 in sudden victory in the dual and Arnold winning 4-3 at Big Tens.
On Sunday, Allred will get a chance to avenge his largest defeat of the season — an 8-1 decision to #5 Dylan Fishback. A junior, Fishback is 10-2 on the year with a pair of Top-10 wins over Allred and #10 Eddie Nietenbach of Wyoming 10-7. An NC State transfer, Fishback is a two-time round-of-12 finisher.
A pair of wins this weekend would likely catapult Allred into the Top 5 at this weight next week.
197 pounds
Out of all the Huskers, #11 Camden McDanel may have the “easiest” road this weekend. A sophomore, McDanel is 12-4 on the year with all four losses coming to Top-10 wrestlers.
Tonight against Iowa, McDanel will take on either redshirt freshman Brody Sampson or true freshman Harvey Ludington. Iowa cut previously-#4 Massoma Endene from the team last week, leaving a major hole in their lineup at 197. Sampson is 2-3 on the year and just fell to #1 Josh Barr of Penn State via pinfall. Ludington is a highly-touted freshman who was #15 on the 2025 Big Board coming out of high school — he’s 5-3 this year and could see action here while preserving his redshirt. Iowa has said that the decision hasn’t been made and could be a last-minute decision.
Regardless, McDanel should be considered a heavy favorite against either wrestler. This could be an opportunity for Nebraska to score some bonus points in what may be a very tight dual.
Against Ohio State on Sunday, McDanel will take on #9 Luke Geog. A junior, Geog is 8-3 this year with all three losses coming to guys in the Top-6. Last time out, he beat #21 Gabe Sollars of Indiana 7-5.
Both these matches are very winnable, and Nebraska likely needs them both if it wants to win these duals.
285 pounds
It’s never really clear who Nebraska will have in any given dual at heavyweight. Nebraska’s #4 AJ Ferrari will likely be the guy for Nebraska, but that’s unclear with the news that he has been indicated on felony evading charges in Texas stemming from an incident last October. After initially stating that the charges were dropped, it came out this week that Ferrari is indeed being charged, so we’ll see what happens this weekend.
If not Ferrari, Nebraska could use either true freshman Cade Ziola or Harley Andrews, last year’s starter. Ziola (11-3) still has two dates left to use while keeping his redshirt intact, while Andrews is 4-1 this year and 1-0 in duals.
The Hawkeyes will send out #12 Ben Kueter tonight — the sophomore is 3-2 this year after dropping his last match 4-3 to Penn State’s #11 Cole Mirasola. Kueter finished 8th at NCAAs last year and has a 23-11 career record. If it’s Ferrari, he’ll be a heavy favorite to win (likely) a one-point match.
Against Ohio State, Ferrari could get a chance at revenge for his only loss this season — a 5-4 decision loss to #3 Nick Feldman at National Duals when Ferrari suffered a concussion. Ferrari comes in with a 7-1 record on the year, while Feldman is 13-2 with decision losses to #1 Yonger Bastida of Iowa State and #2 Isaac Trumble of NC State.
Regardless of who takes the mat for Nebraska, Feldman should be considered the favorite in this one.
