After placing second last year at its conference tournament, Nebraska is seeded to succeed this weekend at Big Tens.
Nebraska is heading to State College, Pa. this weekend to compete in the Big Ten Championships where it has six wrestlers seeded in the top 3. The Huskers have two top seeds in Antrell Taylor and Christopher Minto and three more 2-seeds in Brock Hardy, Camden McDanel and AJ Ferrari.
Action starts Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and will conclude with Sunday’s finals at 3:30 p.m. Both evening
sessions (semifinals Saturday night at 6 p.m. and the finals) will be televised on the Big Ten Network, while the morning and afternoon sessions will stream on B1G+.
Of note, these seeds are the pre-seeds. The Big Ten used a formula for the first time this season to determine seeds, and the algorithm spit out some interesting results. The coaches are now allowed to challenge seeds as long as the two wrestlers are 15 or fewer points apart in scoring (but the scoring has not been released publicly), so I’m not entirely sure what challenges will be permitted or not. The long and short of it is that there are a couple really atrocious and obvious mistakes made that will be changed when the final seeds are announced on Friday.
One of those mistakes is Minto’s 1-seed at 174 pounds where he is seeded above the undefeated top-ranked Levi Haines of Penn State who beat Minto head to head — those two will most certainly flip spots. Another Husker whose seed may change is LJ Araujo at 165 who will likely move from the 5 to the 4-seed.
The top two seeds in each bracket will receive first-round byes which are monumental in a tournament as tough as the Big Ten Championships. This means that only five Huskers will be wrestling in the opening round.
Here are the Husker pre-seeds that came out Monday morning:
Two of Nebraska’s wrestlers have already won Big Ten titles in their careers — Hardy and the 3-seed Silas Allred at 184. Hardy won his first conference title last season with a pin over Vance Vombaur of Minnesota in the final, while Allred won up at 197 pounds as a redshirt freshman in 2022 when he beat national champion Max Dean of Penn State.
I interviewed Allred and Nebraska’s Associate Head Coach Bryan Snyder this week for my bi-weekly Husker Insider for FloWrestling which you can find below, but I will be including some unused quotes from those interviews here. Also, if you use Twitter and like Nebraska wrestling news, give me a follow.
One thing is sure — Nebraska will be seeded on the opposite end of the bracket from top-ranked Penn State in eight of ten weight classes, setting up a number of potential Nittany Lion-vs-Husker matches in Sunday’s finals.
“Our narrative all year is that we’re all unfinished products and we’re all just trying to get better and get tested and be ready to be our best in March,” Snyder said.
Now, I’m going to break down these guys’ paths to a conference title, but I’m going to do so assuming a few significant changes to the bracket, so these paths might not even be accurate when Friday rolls around.
Weight-By-Weight Preview
125 pounds
11-seed Kael Lauridsen
After a seemingly season-long competition between #32 Kael Lauridsen and sophomore Alan Koehler, Nebraska elected to go with Lauridsen who allocated an NCAA spot for the Big Ten with a couple key wins. Lauridsen got the 11-seed this weekend.
Asked about the decision to go with Lauridsen who is 10-9 on the year over Koehler who went 10-13, Snyder said that Lauridsen’s quality wins over guys like #19 Mack Mauger of Missouri, #28 Dedrick Navarro of Northwestern and #33 Bridger Ricks of Utah Valley were the deciding factor.
“Just a few more quality wins. You see that Kael allocated a spot for the Big Ten which is a big deal,” Snyder said. “It was a hard-fought battle and at the end of the day it was a coach’s decision, and we felt like both guys were good options for us, but Kael had three quality wins within the Top 30 – and that puts him in a pretty good position.”
As the 11-seed, Lauridsen will start with a match against 6-seed Ayden Smith of Rutgers who Lauridsen didn’t see this season. Smith is 14-8 this year with a notable recent win over #12 Jore Volk of Minnesota, but he did lose to Northwestern’s Navarro who Lauridsen beat. This match will be tough for Lauridsen, but it’s winnable.
If Lauridsen pulls the upset over Smith, he’ll likely draw Illinois’ Spencer Moore in the quarterfinal round. Moore is currently the 2-seed, but as I understand it there will be a challenge between him and 3-seed Nick Bouzakis of Ohio State. One of the best in the country, Bouzakis owns a win over Moore as well, so I expect them to swap seeds. Regardless, Lauridsen will be up against it here having lost to both Moore (pinfall) and Bouzakis (16-4 major decision) this season.
If Lauridsen pulls the major upset, he’d likely go on to face Bouzakis in the semis and 1-seed Luke Lilledahl of Penn State in the final. With the Big Ten having nine allocations at 125 pounds, Lauridsen will eventually need an upset or two to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament — I would expect that to likely happen on the back side although a first-round upset would go a long way in him potentially out-placing his seed and earning a spot in the national tournament.
133 pounds
6-seed Jacob Van Dee
In a loaded weight class in the Big Ten, Van Dee goes in as the 6-seed after going 15-4 this season. Three of his losses came to guys seeded ahead of him in 1-seed Marcus Blaze of Penn State, 3-seed Ben Davino of Ohio State, and 5-seed Drake Ayala of Iowa. To give you an idea how hard this weight class is, Ayala is a former two-time NCAA finalist and 2-seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois is the undefeated returning NCAA Champion and Big Ten Champion at this weight.
In the first round, Van Dee draws Caleb Weiand of Michigan State, an opponent he never faced this season. Weiand is 12-11 on the year, so I expect Van Dee to get through him without much resistance.
In the quarters, Van Dee will likely take on 3-seed Davino who beat him 7-2 in their dual match. A redshirt freshman, Davino is elite and only took one loss this year (21-1 record) to the undefeated Blaze. Van Dee is a heavy underdog here, but I do believe he has what it takes to edge out Davino if he wrestles a great match.
With a win over Davino, Van Dee will then draw Byrd in the semis — Byrd is extremely elite and could be on a collision course with Blaze in the finals unless Van Dee (or Davino) disrupts that. These two didn’t wrestle this year and have never faced each other in their careers, so anything could happen.
In a potential final, Van Dee would most likely face either Blaze or Ayala who each beat Van Dee this year.
Realistically, Van Dee may need to do most of his damage on the back side as he faces top guys from the quarters on. With the top-8 earning NCAA qualifications, I’m confident Van Dee will qualify fairly easily though.
141 pounds
2-seed Brock Hardy
After winning his Big Ten crown last year, Hardy is looking to join the likes of Ridge Lovett and Robert Kokesh as the only Huskers to win multiple Big Ten titles.
Hardy is 18-4 on the year with his only conference losses coming to two-time NCAA Champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State — the 1-seed this weekend. Hardy is 1-5 in his career against Mendez, but he did beat him last year in the Big Ten semifinal 9-8. Hardy then jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the NCAA final over Mendez before eventually dropping the match 12-9.
Before worrying about Mendez, Hardy will need to get through either 7-seed Greyson Clark of Purdue or 10-seed Joey Olivieri of Rutgers in the quarters —Clark is currently the 6-seed, but it seems he and 7-seed Braeden Davis of Penn State will be flipped. Regardless, it’s Olivieri who is ranked #7 nationally who may be the threat here. Olivieri hasn’t wrestled a conference opponent this year, but he’s a perfect 15-0.
Hardy should get through the quarters and will likely face 3-seed Vombaur. Hardy hasn’t faced Vombaur this year but he did beat him twice last year, including that pin in the Big Ten final.
With a likely win over Vombaur, Hardy will get his third crack at 1-seed Mendez. Hardy lost to Mendez at National Duals 4-1 but fell in their dual 14-3 by major decision. Hardy is obviously capable of beating Mendez — he has in the past — but it’ll take a near perfect match to repeat as conference champ against the Buckeye hammer.
149 pounds
6-seed Chance Lamer
A guy who’s kind of flown under the radar this year for the Huskers — especially for a transfer portal add — Chance Lamer has a manageable path this weekend. Lamer is 13-5 on the year and won his final three Big Ten duals this year.
In the first round, Lamer will face 11-seed Joey Buttler of Indiana — Lamer beat Buttler a few weeks ago 5-3. This will be a match, but Lamer is the favorite.
With a win in the first round, Lamer will likely take on 3-seed Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin in the quarterfinal round. Zargo is 15-4 on the year with a 7-4 win over 2-seed Ethan Stiles of Ohio State to his name — Zargo also lost to Buttler in a dual, so he can be up and down. This match is a total coin flip in my opinion.
In the semis, Lamer would likely face Stiles, a former Husker who transferred away a couple years ago. Stiles is 12-4 on the year with a win over Lamer coming via 6-3 decision in sudden victory. It was a razor-thin match last time, so I would expect more of the same here.
If Lamer takes out Stiles, he’ll face 1-seed Shayne Van Ness of Penn State in the final. Lamer earned the first takedown in their dual match, but Van Ness came back and beat the Husker senior 12-5. It’ll be an uphill battle, but Van Ness has proven he’s not untouchable, and Lamer has proven he can take him down.
157 pounds
1-seed Antrell Taylor
Nebraska’s best wrestler this season, the returning NCAA Champion Antrell Taylor has his sights set on winning his first Big Ten title. After placing fourth last year at conferences, Taylor is looking to add conference champ to his resume this weekend as the top seed.
Taylor went 8-0 in Big Ten duals, earning the top seed.
After a first-round bye, Taylor will face either 8-seed Luke Mechler of Wisconsin or 9-seed Stoney Buell of Purdue. Taylor didn’t face Mechler this year and pinned Buell in their dual match, so I don’t expect Taylor to stumble here.
In the semifinal, Taylor will take on either 4-seed Anthony White of Rutgers or 5-seed Cam Catrabone of Michigan. Taylor beat Catrabone this year 20-5 via technical fall and didn’t face White. Catrabone is 15-6 this season while White is 14-6 after winning seven of his last eight matches. Catrabone beat White earlier this year via 13-3 major decision, so I think Taylor will take on the Wolverine he’s already teched this year.
After breezing into the final, Taylor will take on any number of opponents — 2-seed PJ Duke of Penn State, 3-seed Kannon Webster of Illinois or 6-seed Brandon Cannon of Ohio State (Cannon is currently the 7-seed and set for a quarterfinal match against Duke, but he’s likely to be elevated to the 6-seed on Friday). Duke is an incredible freshman whose only loss came to Taylor in tiebreakers, Webster is 16-3 this year and a former Big Ten finalist at 149, and Cannon is an undefeated 13-0 this year. Despite beating Taylor by major decision at National Duals, Cannon was severely hurt in the seeding process for missing the last five weeks of the season due to injury — Cannon only wrestled in two Big Ten duals.
No matter the opponent, this match will be a battle, but Taylor should be fresh going into the final against an opponent who will likely be beaten up.
I got Taylor bringing home his first conference title.
165 pounds
5-seed LJ Araujo
Ever since losing to #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink in January, Araujo got a lot done in February. He went 3-0 in duals and traveled to Brazil to earn his third U20 World Team spot — he won a U20 World bronze medal in 2024 for Brazil.
“There’s a couple guys that come to mind,” Snyder said when asked who has improved the most this season. “I think LJ’s starting to kind of come into his own – he’s elite, and I think he’s starting to scratch the surface on how good he can really be.”
Currently, Araujo is the 5-seed, but I think he’ll be the 4-seed after a challenge because of his head-to-head win over the 4-seed Andrew Sparks of Minnesota. It won’t change much because the 4 and 5-seeds meet in the quarterfinal anyway — it just gives Araujo a slightly easier opening matchup against 13-seed AJ Rodrigues rather than 12-seed Justin Gates of Michigan. Rodrigues is 9-12 on the year and should be an easy win for Araujo.
In the quarterfinal round, Araujo will take on Sparks regardless — Araujo won the dual match 9-2, and I’d expect more of the same here.
In the semis, Araujo will get another look at 1-seed Mesenbrink. The Penn State national champion Mesenbrink beat Araujo 20-5 by tech in their dual match, so it would be an all-time upset if the Husker redshirt freshman is able to pull off the upset.
Araujo will likely be wrestling back for 3rd place in this one, but that would yield a great seed at NCAAs in two weeks.
174 pounds
1-seed Christopher Minto
If we’re being honest, Minto getting the 1-seed this weekend was a mistake — the Husker sophomore lost to undefeated Levi Haines in their dual matchup. Minto is 18-4 on the year with losses to the 2, 3 and 4-seeds this weekend.
Minto is likely to get the 2-seed after a coaches’ challenge, so I’ll operate under that assumption here.
After a first-round bye, Minto will take on either 7-seed Ethan Riddle of Minnesota or 10-seed Lenny Pinto of Rutgers, a former Husker who transferred for his senior season. Minto beat Riddle earlier this year 11-4, so I think we can all agree that the matchup we NEED to see is Minto vs. Pinto — the former Husker against the current Husker.
With a likely win in the quarters, Minto will face 3-seed Patrick Kennedy of Iowa who he lost to 2-1 in tiebreakers. Obviously, this match was razor thin last time, so I expect another coin flip here — either guy could win and I wouldn’t be surprised.
In the final, Minto would take on Haines — the Penn State senior is 18-0 on the year and beat Minto 8-6. Minto held a second-period lead in that match and proved he can take Haines down — if anyone can beat Haines, it’s Minto.
After placing fourth at NCAAs as a redshirt freshman last year at 165 pounds, Minto moved up to a much more natural weight class at 174 this year, and he’s won four straight matches since his narrow loss to Haines.
Regardless, Minto will cement his spot as one of the top seeds going into NCAAs in a few weeks.
184 pounds
3-seed Silas Allred
Nebraska’s #6 Silas Allred has taken a few losses this year, but he’s looking to get to his offense in March. Already a Big Ten Champion and an All-American, the Husker senior is looking to come back with his shield or on it. After wrestling a tentative style for most of the season, keeping matches close and winning late or in overtime, Allred is ready to just shoot and see what happens.
“It’s very easy to just keep a match close. I’m good enough and talented enough and know enough about the sport to where I can keep a match close, and I know how to wrestle stingy,” Allred said. “I know pretty much all of my opponents, and I know how to make things difficult for them, so the challenging part for me is not doing that because that’s easy. If I want to get my hand raised and I want to accomplish really cool things, I gotta go out there and make it hard.”
In the first round, Allred will take on 14-seed Cale Anderson of Wisconsin — Anderson is 4-8 this season. Allred will cruise easily here.
In the quarters, Allred will likely take on 6-seed Dylan Fishback of Ohio State. Allred beat Fishback in their dual match 2-1 in tiebreakers. This match is a tough one, but Allred is a slight favorite.
If he gets past Fishback, Allred will likely take on Minnesota’s 2-seed Max McEnelly. Allred is 0-2 career against McEnelly. After losing a major decision last year, Minto narrowed the gap this season, dropping the match 4-1 in sudden victory. Allred beating McEnelly would be a big upset.
With an upset win, Allred would likely take on 1-seed Rocco Welsh of Penn State, 4-seed Brock Mantanona of Michigan, or 8-seed Angelo Ferrari of Iowa. Honestly, the top side of the bracket here is pretty crazy with Ferrari at the 8-seed due to an injury in January that caused him to miss a lot of conference dual action.
I would expect Allred to likely contend for third place here, setting himself up for a solid NCAA seed.
197 pounds
2-seed Camden McDanel
He’s not too flashy, but McDanel has been one of Nebraska’s best this year — he’s 18-5 on the year and went 7-1 in Big Ten duals with his only loss coming to #1 Josh Barr of Penn State via 21-9 major.
As the 2-seed, McDanel will get a first-round bye before likely taking on 7-seed Kael Wisler of Michigan State — Wisler is 22-7 this year with some solid results, but I think McDanel will be too much for him.
In the semifinal round, McDanel will likely face 3-seed Remy Cotton of Rutgers. At Michigan State last year, Cotton lost to McDanel twice (15-6 major decision and pinfall). Despite being at Rutgers now, I expect another win for McDanel here.
In the final, McDanel will take on 1-seed Barr who should cruise into the final. McDanel did lose to Barr this year, but he did score the only takedown of the season against the Nittany Lion.
I wouldn’t put my money on McDanel in this matchup, but the result isn’t an absolute certainty.
Regardless, a Big Ten finals appearance would lead to a great NCAA seed for McDanel who placed 8th last year as the 20-seed at NCAAs. McDanel has shown he peaks in March, so I have high hopes for him over the next few weeks.
285 pounds
2-seed AJ Ferrari
In his first season at Nebraska, #3 AJ Ferrari is 13-2 with both of his losses coming against Ohio State’s Nick Feldman. Against everyone else, Ferrari has been great.
After a first-round bye, Ferrari will take on 7-seed Koy Hopke of Minnesota or 10-seed Ben Kueter of Iowa in the quarterfinal round — Ferrari beat Hopke 2-1 and Kueter 4-1 this year in their dual matchups.
With a win against Hopke or Kueter, Ferrari would probably take on 3-seed Feldman in the semifinal round. Given his third crack at Feldman, I really think Ferrari gets past him, setting up a finals matchup against either 1-seed Taye Ghadiali of Michigan, 4-seed Cole Mirasola of Penn State, or 5-seed Braxton Amos of Wisconsin.
Ferrari beat Ghadiali at National Duals via 11-3 major decision and defeated Mirasola 2-1 in their dual match, but he hasn’t faced Amos.
If Ferrari can get past Feldman in the semis, he should be considered a big favorite to win a Big Ten title.
