A year after setting multiple program records, Nebraska kept its foot on the gas at this year’s NCAA Championships, picking up its second straight team trophy.
The Huskers saw seven of their wrestlers earn All-American honors (top-8 finish). Nebraska set a program record last year with eight podium finishers, but this year’s seven sits alone as the second most Nebraska has had in a single tournament.
Nebraska placed third in the team race with 100.5 points, the second most scored in program history
after scoring 117 last season. Penn State set the NCAA team score record for the third consecutive year, winning its fifth straight National Championship team title with 181.5 points. Oklahoma State saw three freshmen win national titles and placed second with 131 points, while Iowa earned the fourth team trophy with 92.5 points.
In case you missed them and want to know what happened on Day and Day 2, here are those recaps:
After crowning two NCAA champions in Ridge Lovett and Antrell Taylor last year and having Brock Hardy in the finals, Nebraska sent a pair of wrestlers to the year’s finals, but Taylor and Christopher Minto both fell short of winning those matches.
Weight-By-Weight Recap
The National Finalists
157 pounds
2-seed Antrell Taylor
Taylor won four straight matches to get to the finals where he faced 5-seed Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State. Taylor did beat Robideau in December in tiebreakers, but the Cowboy true freshman got his revenge in this one.
After a scoreless first period where Taylor put his single-leg defense on display, the Husker started in the down position. After Taylor nearly escaped, Robideau was able to catch him and put him on his back for three near-fall points. After a Husker challenge, the call was changed to two near-fall points, giving Robideau the 2-0 lead. Taylor was then able to escape, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
In the third, Taylor started on top and eventually gave up the escape. Taylor was then called for his second stalling call on the edge, giving Robideau the 4-1 lead. Taylor put on a late sprint and forced two stall calls, but he wasn’t able to get in for the takedown, dropping the match 4-2.
With the loss, Taylor finished his junior year with a 2nd-place finish at both Big Tens and NCAAs and a 26-4 record on the year. He’ll take his 76-18 career record into his senior season.
165 pounds
3-seed Christopher Minto
In his third meeting with Penn State’s 1-seed Levi Haines, Minto again kept the match close but was unable to get the win.
After a scoreless first period that included a stalling call on Minto, Haines scored an escape in the second and added a stall point to go up 2-0. Minto scored an escape of his own in the third period, cutting the deficit to 2-1, but he was unable to score late despite putting on a heavy pace of attacks.
With the 2-1 loss, Minto finished his season as the national runner-up with a 24-6 record on the year. A junior next season, Minto is now 48-13 for his career.
Nebraska’s All-Americans
133 pounds
13-seed Jacob Van Dee
After battling his way back through the bracket following his first-round loss, Van Dee faced 7-seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois in the 7th-place match. Byrd won the NCAA title last year, but Van Dee was able to get it done, ending his season with a huge win.
Byrd scored a first-period takedown, but Van Dee tied things up in the third with a slide-by takedown. He then rode out Byrd for over 30 seconds to send the match to sudden victory. Van Dee got really close to finishing a takedown in overtime, but the match went to the tie breakers.
In the first tie-breaker period, Van Dee was able to ride Byrd for 14 seconds before giving up the escape. In the second, Van Dee started on bottom and reached back and went head hunting and got Byrds head, turning it into a reversal for the 6-5 decision win.
Van Dee finished his tournament with a 5-2 record and 7th-place finish. In fact, this is the second year in a row where Van Dee was one of the tournament’s road warriors (dropping your first match and coming back to place) — he did the same thing last year on the way to his 7th-place finish.
Van Dee finished his season with a 22-8 record and his second All-American finish. He’ll take a 64-29 career record into his senior season as he chases a third podium finish.
141 pounds
3-seed Brock Hardy
After losing his semifinal match Friday night, Hardy dropped to the consolation semifinal round where he was scheduled to face 4-seed Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State, but the Cyclone medically forfeited out, sending Hardy to the 3rd-place match.
In his match against 5-seed Luke Stanich of Lehigh, Hardy had an uncharacteristic knee sleeve on and was noticeably limping during the match. Stanich scored a pair of takedowns, beating Hardy 7-2 by decision. Hardy received an impressive standing ovation from the crowd in Cleveland after his last match.
Hardy ended his career as one of the most accomplished Husker wrestlers in history. With his 4th-place finish, he became just the fourth Husker to earn All-American honors at four NCAA tournaments, he was a three-time Big Ten finalist and won a conference crown in 2025, and he made it to the NCAA final in 2025.
Hardy finished his season with a 24-7 record and ends his career at 111-31 — his 111 career wins places him at #17 in program history.
One stat that really puts into perspective how good Hardy has been throughout his career at the NCAA tournament is his 65.5 career team points scored. I ran the numbers and it ranked #2 in Husker history, ahead of everyone in Nebraska history except for Jordan Burroughs.
149 pounds
20-seed Chance Lamer
Lamer’s Cinderella run continued on Saturday morning in the consolation semifinal when he again beat 4-seed Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech.
After a scoreless first period, Lamer got in on a second-period takedown and held on for the 4-2 decision win, advancing him to the 3rd-place match against 11-seed Lachlan McNeil of Michigan.
Lamer struck first with a takedown in the first period, but McNeil almost immediately reversed him. McNeil narrowed Lamer’s lead to 4-3 in the second period with an escape, but Lamer got his escape to start the third.
In the third, both wrestlers were exchanging re-shots that led to a scramble that McNeil won, earning the takedown and putting Lamer on his back for four near-fall points, blowing the match open for the 10-5 win.
With his 4th-place finish, Lamer ended his senior season with the Huskers with a 21-10 record. After falling short of the podium three times before, Lamer got over the hump in a big way this weekend and was one of the stories of the tournament.
Money well spent bringing Lamer in this past offseason.
197 pounds
11-seed Camden McDanel
After securing All-American status Friday night, McDanel faced 5-seed Joey Novak of Wyoming in the consolation semifinal round.
McDanel shot a low takedown in the first period to go up 3-0. After escaping in the first, Novak started on top in the second and rode McDanel the full period, preventing an escape point and racking up riding time along the way. Novak also scored a stalling point with McDanel in the bottom position, cutting the Husker’s lead to 3-2.
Novak then escaped quickly in the third to tie the match 3-3. With Novak having the riding-time point, McDanel needed a takedown and was in so close in one exchange. McDanel got behind Novak in rear standing and lifted him to return him to the mat, and Novak somehow hipped over after the return and came out on top for the takedown. With the riding-time point for Novak, McDanel dropped the match 7-3 and fell to the 5th-place match.
Wrestling for 5th, McDanel took on 9-seed Angelo Posada of Stanford. After giving up an early takedown, McDanel answered with a reversal and ride-out to end the first period. McDanel then took a 5-3 lead when he hit a slick duck-under takedown, but Posada tied the match with a pair of escapes.
In the third period, McDanel was in on a shot and locked up a cradle, rolling Posada through for the takedown and four back points. With the riding-time point, McDanel won the match 13-6 to earn 5th place.
After placing 8th last year as a freshman, McDanel showed real improvement this year in climbing up the podium for his second All-American finish. He finished the season with a 25-8 record and will bring a 49-22 record into his junior season.
285 pounds
4-seed AJ Ferrari
After losing to 1-seed Yonger Bastida of Iowa State via 15-7 major decision in Friday’s semifinal round, Ferrari medically forfeited out of the tournament to place 6th.
It was a disappointing end to the season for the transfer Ferrari.
