Despite having just two wrestlers find the podium at the U20 US Open, Nebraska’s young talent was on display this weekend with a number of wrestlers posting impressive performances in both Greco-Roman and freestyle.
Nebraska’s newest commit for its 2026 recruiting class, Lincoln Sledzianowski showed that he was an absolute gem of a pick up out of Florida — he made the Greco final and placed on the podium in both styles.
Nebraska saw another podium finish from in-state signee Mason Petersen in Greco.
U20 Placers
Lincoln Sledzianowski
2nd-place Greco-Roman at 67 kg (4-2 record)
4th-place Freestyle at 65 kg (6-2)
Nebraska’s newest recruit in a monster 2026 class may just be its best with Sledzianowski finding the podium this weekend in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.
In Greco-Roman, Sledzianowski came in as the 3-seed at 67 kg and was dominant on his way to the final series.
Sledzianowski won his first three matches by technical superiority — 8-0 in 21 seconds over Niko Barnes, 9-0 over 14-seed Vinnie Gutierrez in 1:53, and 8-0 over 6-seed Tas Storer in 52 seconds. Sledzianowski then beat 2-seed Thomas Verrette 13-5 via tech in the semifinal round.
Heading to the final series (the U20 Greco World Team is decided at the Open, so the final is a three-match series), Sledzianowski faced 1-seed Amryn Nutter. In the first match, Sledzianowski lost a tight 8-7 decision before dropping the second match 8-0.
In the freestyle tournament, Sledzianowski was the 3-seed here as well. He was dominant to start the day, beating his first three opponents 10-0 in under a minute.
In the Round of 16, Sledzianowski got a match but came out on top 12-10 over 46-seed Zytavius Williams. In the quarters, Sledzianowski downed 11-seed Clinton Shepherd 12-2 by tech in 2:15 to advance to the semis. Shepherd is the #6 overall recruit in the 2027 class and a Penn State commit.
Sledzianowski then faced 2-seed Kellen Wolbert in the semifinal round. In a wild match where Sledzianowski jumped out to an 8-0 lead, Wolbert came back to go up 9-8, but Sledzianowski kept his offense going and took the lead back. With both guys scoring late, the match ended with Wolbert on top 14-13. Wolbert is a Michigan commit.
In the consolation semi, Sledzianowski faced another future Michigan Wolverine in 5-seed Sam Herring, but he made quick work of him in a 10-0 win via tech in 2:16.
Sledzianowski advanced to the 3rd-place match where he again faced Shepherd. This match went the other way though with Sledzianowski eventually losing via injury default when he was down 8-2 with an apparent injury to his left knee. Sledzianowski finished his freestyle tournament with a 6-2 record to place fourth.
I hope the injury isn’t too serious though because Sledzianowski really impressed this weekend, winning ten matches between both styles.
Nebraska will be looking for a new starter at both 141 and 149 pounds this next season, and Sledzianowski has established himself as a contender to start at whichever weight class he ends up at. I do think he’ll be at 149 pounds and will have to hold off Nikade Zinkin, but he may just be up for the task if this weekend is any indication.
- Of note, there is a lot of speculation that the NCAA will adopt a 5-for-5 rule where athletes have five years to compete in five postseasons — no more redshirts. If that is the case, that will drastically change how wrestling coaches construct their lineups. With no more redshirts, the best guy at each weight will wrestle no matter their age. This potential change would change not only roster management but also recruiting. Therefore, take any speculative redshirt possibilities with a grain of salt going forward.
Mason Petersen
5th-place Greco-Roman at 72 kg (5-2)
DNP in Freestyle at 74 kg (3-2)
Also wrestling double duty was Petersen, an incoming freshman from Columbus, Nebraska who is very accomplished in both Greco and freestyle in addition to his three Nebraska state titles in high school in folkstyle.
This weekend, Petersen started in Greco at 72 kg where he found the podium as the 7-seed. Petersen made a run to the semifinal round and finished in 5th place with a 5-2 record.
Petersen’s run to the semis was an impressive one — he teched 26-seed Hunter Thomsen (8-0 in 43 seconds), 10-seed Gabriel Delgado (8-0 in 2:34), and 2-seed Jacob Morris (12-1 in 5:37) along the way.
Petersen was pinned in the semis by 6-seed Eli Esguerra before getting pinned again by 17-seed Mikel Uyemura in the consolation semis. Petersen then rebounded by defeating 5-seed Billy Greenwood 10-0 in just over two minutes in the 5th-place match.
The 12-seed in freestyle, Petersen won his first three matches via tech in the first period before dropping a close 10-8 match to 5-seed Rocco Cassioppi in the Round of 16. Petersen then lost his first consolation match 5-5 on criteria — Petersen was leading 3-3, but a late exchange where they traded exposures gave 19-seed Claudio Torres the criteria lead with the last points scored, ending Petersen’s hopes to double All-American.
Petersen will most likely redshirt next season at 165 pounds, but I anticipate him being a major asset in the room as a training partner for not only his college teammates, but also for Peyton Robb who just made the Senior Greco US Open final at 72 kg.
Non-Placers
Keep in mind that many of these freestyle brackets are enormous, so placing in the Top-8 is incredibly impressive. Most of the brackets start in the Round of 256.
74 kg
10-seed Mac Crosson
One of just two wrestlers currently in Nebraska’s 2027 class, Crosson is a two-time Iowa state champion going into his senior season at Indianola.
This weekend, Crosson went 6-2, falling twice to the same opponent as he finished one win shy of the podium.
Crosson earned two 10-0 techs to start the tournament before falling to 23-seed Matthew Staples 5-4 in the Round of 32.
Crosson then won three straight matches via tech before a disqualification win on Sunday morning put him in the blood round where he again faced Staples, one of the best wrestlers in the 2028 class. After falling behind early, Crosson tried running Staples down and nearly got there before giving up a late takedown, dropping the match 10-5.
Crosson will arrive in 2027 and will likely wrestle at 165 or 174. After a redshirt year, he could contend to fill the 174-pound spot after Christopher Minto graduates.
65 kg
17-seed Jake Hockaday
Likely the front-runner to start next year at 141 pounds for the Huskers, Hockaday tried his hand at the US Open this weekend. Not an overly experienced freestyler, Hockaday still had a pretty impressive tournament.
Hockaday won his first two matches by 10-0 tech in under two minutes combined. He then beat 16-seed Carson Walsh 15-8 in the Round of 32 — Walsh is a freshman at Pitt.
In the Round of 16, Hockaday took on 1-seed Bo Bassett, a freshman-to-be at Virginia Tech and arguably the best wrestling prospect ever. I say that with all seriousness because Bassett is doing incredible things — he wrestled Seniors in addition to U20 this weekend and won both brackets in dominant fashion. In Seniors, he beat some of the best guys in the country by tech, including a 10-0 over Joey McKenna in the final, punching his ticket to Final X. If he beats Real Woods there, he could be America’s 65 kg rep on the Senior, U23 and U20 World teams. Bassett went on to win the U20 title as well Sunday afternoon.
Hockaday wrestled Bassett under an hour after his win over McKenna in the Senior final, but it didn’t matter. Bassett did to Hockaday what he does to pretty much everyone — he beat him 11-0 in 50 seconds.
Hockaday dropped down and beat 33-seed Jackson Butler by pinfall before downing 9-seed Dawson Youngblut in a wild back-and-forth 14-12 decision. Youngblut is the #34 overall recruit in the class of 2027 and is committed to Iowa.
In the blood round, Hockaday faced 10-seed Matthew Martino. In a match where both guys were trading takedowns and exposures, Hockaday scored a late takedown to go up 10-7, but Martino rolled him over to his back, cutting Hockaday’s lead to 10-9, but Martino got the stick with 17 seconds to go, ending Hockaday’s podium hopes.
With his Round of 12 finish and 5-2 record on the weekend, Hockaday showed that he’ll be a solid starter for the Huskers if he wins the job at 141.
70 kg
75-seed Nikade Zinkin
One of the lead contenders for the 149-pound spot this next season, Zinkin had a solid showing this weekend, showing his ability to bounce back from defeat.
Zinkin won his first match in the Round of 128 14-3 by tech, but he fell in the Round of 64 to 11-seed Wyatt Medlin 7-2. Medlin is an incoming recruit for Illinois who’s rated #38 overall in the 2026 class.
Zinkin then won two matches 10-0 to start his back-side run before facing 13-seed Thomas Gibbs. Zinkin fell behind 8-2 in this match but was able to score a 4-pointer, putting the future Indiana Hoosier on his back for the pin.
In his next match, Zinkin beat 29-seed Beau Hickman 13-11 before falling to Medlin again, ending his tournament with a 5-2 record on the weekend. Zinkin was down 5-4 in the final seconds and got what was called the winning takedown, but it was waived off after the officials reviewed the call and determined it was after time expired.
The two starting spots at 141 and 149 will likely be filled by a combination of Sledzianowski, Hockaday, Zinkin and Omar Ayoub, a U20 World bronze-medalist last year at 61 kg for Puerto Rico. Ayoub will be a sophomore, Hockaday and Zinkin will be redshirt freshmen, and Sledzianowski is an incoming freshman.
57 kg
29-seed Elijah Collick
The incoming freshman coming off his fourth Maryland state title, Collick won his first two matches, including an 11-1 tech over 36-seed Derion Williams, but he dropped his first match 9-0 against 4-seed Antonio Mills — a freshman-to-be at Ohio State.
Collick then picked up two more wins on the back side before falling to 14-seed Alex Rozas 9-2, ending his tournament with a 4-2 record — three wins shy of the podium. Rozas is headed to Virginia Tech this fall after winning four Louisiana state titles.
Collick will most likely redshirt this coming year as he sits behind Vincent Robinson and Jacob Van Dee. I think Collick could start his career at 125 but will eventually be a 133-pounder. He’ll be a contender to take over after Van Dee graduates.
70 kg
6-seed Noah Bull
A former Fargo freestyle champion and incoming freshman for Nebraska, Bull went 3-2 on the weekend.
Bull won his first match 10-0 in 44 seconds and picked up another tech 14-4 in the Round of 64 against 70-seed Jayden Dela Rosa, but he lost via 10-0 tech in the Round of 32 against 38-seed Charles Vanier.
Bull dropped down and pinned 61-seed Parker Reynolds before getting pinned by 22-seed Gabriel Delgado, ending his tournament.
Likely a 157-pounder in college, Bull will likely redshirt this season behind National Champion Antrell Taylor, a senior this next season. Bull will compete to take over that spot in 2027 as a redshirt freshman.
74 kg
8-seed Nolan Fellers
An incoming freshman from Nebraska’s 2026 class, Fellers went 3-2 on the weekend.
Fellers pinned his first opponent and won his second match 10-0 in the first period, but he fell to 25-seed Adrien Reyes 6-5 in the Round of 32.
Fellers won his first consolation match 18-12 before falling 5-5 on criteria against 24-seed Liam Crook, ending his tournament.
Fellers will likely start his Husker career in redshirt at 165 pounds where he could back up LJ Araujo along with Petersen.
74 kg
Niko Rotella
An incoming commit out of Omaha Skutt, Rotella went 2-2 this weekend.
Rotella lost his first match 12-2 in the first period to Ryan Lawler, but he bounced back with a win via pinfall and a 14-3 tech over 45-seed Klint Miller on the back side. Rotella then fell to Nick Campagna 10-0, ending his tournament.
Rotella arrives in Lincoln this fall and will likely redshirt at either 165 or 174 pounds for the Huskers.
57 kg
20-seed Abdi Unle
Unle just finished his redshirt year for Nebraska, going 9-8 in open tournaments.
This weekend at the Open, Unle won his first match 17-6 by tech over 45-seed Tyler Harper. In his second match, he faced 13-seed Cruzer Dominguez out of Creighton Prep in a matchup of Nebraska prep stars.
In that match, Unle jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead with a takedown and multiple leg lace turns, but Dominguez took the match over from there, scoring 18 unanswered points before pinning Unle with a minute left in the match.
Unle must have injured his right hand in that match because he came out in his next match against 47-seed Keyan Hernandez with his hand taped up. After wrestling the first period, Unle injury-defaulted the match.
Unle ended his weekend with a 1-2 record and will likely take some time away to heal up from his injury before next season when he will be a backup at 125 pounds as a redshirt freshman.
86 kg
24-seed Jason Singer
An incoming 184-pounder for Nebraska, Singer struggled to a 1-2 record this weekend at the Open.
After losing his first match 12-6, Singer won his first consolation match 11-0 in the first period, but he dropped his next match 10-0 to Landon Jones.
Nebraska has a big hole at 184 this season that it hopes to fill through the transfer portal. It appears that Singer may need some time to adjust to college wrestling before contending for a starting spot.
