Nebraska will look to keep its momentum going this weekend in a road trip through Illinois and Indiana on Friday night and Sunday morning.
The 5th-ranked Huskers just beat Northwestern 47-0 this past weekend after giving both #1 Penn State (27-12 loss) and #2 Ohio States (17-16) their closest duals of the season. On Friday night, the Huskers will take on #10 Illinois at 7 p.m. on the B1G+ app before taking on Indiana Sunday at 11 a.m. on the Big Ten Network.
Nebraska is 10-6 on the season with all six losses coming to teams ranked in the Top-6 nationally. Illinois has won three straight and is 11-4 on the year in duals, while Indiana is 8-4 and coming off a big 30-9 win over Wisconsin.
Despite these duals being against teams outside the upper echelon of Big Ten teams (Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa and Nebraska), there are a number of interesting matchups to be had this weekend.
Weight-By-Weight Preview
125 pounds
Nebraska still hasn’t made a decision as to who will start here, but I think redshirt freshman #33 Kael Lauridsen made a move for the job last week against Northwestern when he beat then-#26 Dedrick Navarro 11-6 and earned a national ranking. Nebraska has also used sophomore Alan Koehler here. Lauridsen is 9-7 this season against D1 opponents, while Koehler is 10-12. Lauridsen is now 1-1 in Big Ten duals with a loss to #4 Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State, while Koehler is 1-4.
If Lauridsen did indeed earn the spot, he should get the start in both duals for both experience and seeding purposes, but if Koehler is still in the conversation, I’d expect each guy to get a start with both opponents ranked similarly.
Illinois will send out #13 Spencer Moore, while Indiana has #14 Jacob Moran. Moore recently beat Moran 6-3 in sudden victory. Both guys have made it to the round of 16 at NCAAs previously and should be considered favorites against either Lauridsen or Koehler at this point, but Lauridsen has shown to maybe have a higher ceiling. While Koehler is great at keeping matches close, Lauridsen seems to have a better chance at beating guys like Moore and Moran.
For a young guy like Lauridsen, facing a pair of seasoned seniors provides him a major opportunity to win the job and improve his potential postseason seed.
133 pounds
Nobody has a bigger challenge and opportunity this weekend than Nebraska’s #9 Jacob Van Dee (13-4) does — he’ll take on returning NCAA Champion #1 Lucas Byrd of Illinois on Friday night. After falling to #8 Drake Ayala of Iowa, #2 Ben Davino of Ohio State, and #4 Marcus Blaze of Penn State in successive matches in conference action — all via decision — Van Dee will get another shot at some top competition.
Byrd is 15-0 this year but hasn’t hit any of the top freshmen like Davino and Blaze, but he did beat Ayala 7-2 at National Duals. He went 23-1 last year on the way to his national title with his only loss coming to Ayala in their dual matchup. Byrd is a wrestler who maintains perfect positioning and is able to sting his opponents on re-attacks, so he’ll be a major challenge for Van Dee Friday night.
Against Indiana, Van Dee will likely face freshman Jackson Blum who is 4-6 on the year against D1 competition — he recently kept his match with Byrd to an 8-1 decision. Last time out, Blum beat #14 Zan Fugitt of Wisconsin 4-1, showing he may be hitting his stride and shouldn’t be overlooked.
At 133 pounds this year, the infusion of a number of top freshmen has been the story, but Van Dee could insert some chaos this weekend with a win over the top-ranked Byrd.
141 pounds
Nebraska’s #3 Brock Hardy (15-4) will have a pair of ranked opponents this weekend in #16 Danny Pucino of Illinois and #31 Henry Porter of Indiana.
Pucino is 5-4 this season, while Porter is 12-4. Hardy is 3-0 in his career against Pucino with a pin and two wins via technical fall. The Husker senior is 2-0 against Porter, winning via pinfall and tech fall.
I would imagine these two matches being bonus-point wins for Hardy as he finishes out his final Big Ten dual schedule.
149 pounds
Nebraska’s #14 Chance Lamer (13-4) lost three straight to top guys before getting a dominant 22-6 win via tech fall against Northwestern.
This weekend, he’ll face two more unranked opponents in Illinois’ Michael Gioffre and Joey Buttler of Indiana. Gioffre is 12-6 on the year and 3-3 in Big Ten duals — he did fall to Lamer earlier this season at the RoadRunner Open 8-1.
Buttler is 10-10 this season and 1-5 in Big Ten duals. In his last two matches, Buttler fell to Gioffre 4-3 before going to overtime against #12 Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin, dropping the match 4-1.
I don’t expect them to be easy wins, but I would anticipate wins here from Lamer in both duals.
157 pounds
Looking to be in mid-season form, #2 Antrell Taylor (17-2) has won ten straight but has one more big-time matchup before he can turn his attention to the postseason. The returning NCAA Champion at this weight, Taylor will take on Illinois’ #10 Kannon Webster Friday night.
Webster is up this year from 149 where he fell to Ridge Lovett in the 2025 Big Ten final 1-0. Webster notably beat Taylor 6-4 in the 2024 U20 World Team Trials in freestyle — but Taylor has made a habit of avenging freestyle losses in folkstyle with wins over both PJ Duke of Penn State this year and Meyer Shapiro of Cornell last season. Webster is 15-2 this year with a 3-1 conference dual record — his only loss was a medical forfeit due to a concussion against Minnesota’s #19 Charlie Millard.
Make no mistake, Webster is a true contender at this weight class, so this match may be a close one.
On Sunday, Taylor will face Indiana’s #28 Bryce Lowery. A sophomore, Lowery is 9-7 this year — he’s 3-3 in Big Ten duals with a pinfall loss to #1 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State and tech-fall losses to Webster and #4 PJ Duke.
If Taylor can get through the weekend unscathed, he’ll be in line for a top postseason seed.
165 pounds
Last weekend, Nebraska’s #7 LJ Araujo (11-6) took the week off to go compete in Brazil’s U20 Open, earning his third consecutive spot on the U20 World Team for Brazil — he earned a U20 World bronze medal in 2024 at 79 kg.
This weekend, he’ll take on a pair of contenders at the weight in #8 Braeden Scoles of Illinois and #18 Tyler Lillard of Indiana.
A sophomore, Scoles is 13-5 on the year with a 5-1 mark in Big Ten duals. He beat Lillard 11-9 recently and split matches with Lehigh’s #9 Max Brignola this season — Araujo pinned Brignola at National Duals. His one conference loss was a 3-0 decision to #4 Joey Blaze of Purdue. Scoles also lost to #6 Ryder Downey of UNI 11-2 by major decision, while Araujo lost to Downey 3-0 in sudden victory.
Lillard is 11-4 this season with a 3-3 mark in Big Ten duals. A two-time NCAA qualifier, Lilllard fell to Ohio State’s e’Than Birden 2-1, while Araujo beat Birden 1-0 in their dual match.
Araujo tends to wrestle close matches, so I would expect both of these matches to be decided by one exchange, but Araujo’s prowess in the top position could be the difference here like it has been in so many of his matches this season.
174 pounds
For Nebraska’s #4 Christopher Minto (15-4), he’ll see two more ranked opponents this weekend in Illinois’ #25 Colin Kelly and Indian’s #31 Derek Gilcher.
A redshirt freshman, Kelly is 13-7 this season. He’s won his last two matches, including a 4-1 win in sudden victory over Gilcher. He also wrestled Iowa’s #3 Patrick Kennedy tough in a 5-3 decision loss at National Duals.
Gilcher is 11-6 this season with a 2-2 mark in Big Ten duals, including an 11-7 loss to #5 Carson Kharchla of Ohio State — Minto beat Kharchla 4-1 in sudden victory.
Both Kelly and Gilcher are tough opponents, but Minto is the heavy favorite in both matchups.
184 pounds
No rest for the wicked.
After going 1-3 against four of the best 184-pounders in the country over a three-week stretch in January, Nebraska’s #6 Silas Allred (13-6) earned a tech fall against Northwestern, but it’s back to the Big Ten grind this week.
Allred will face both #13 Chris Moore of Illinois and #14 Sam Goin of Indiana this weekend.
Moore is 13-7 this year after qualifying for nationals last year as a true freshman, while Goin is 8-4 as a redshirt freshman. Moore recently beat Goin 5-3 and has a 4-2 win over #7 Brock Mantanona of Michigan to his name. Goin is 3-3 in Big Ten duals but lacks a signature win.
Both guys represent a challenge at 184 pounds, but Allred should be able to take care of business and improve his resume going into the postseason.
197 pounds
After making the NCAA podium as a true freshman last year, Nebraska’s #10 Camden McDanel has improved a lot this year — he’s 15-5 on the year and 5-1 in conference duals.
This weekend, he’ll face a pair of ranked guys in #31 Dylan Connell of Illinois and #22 Gabe Sollars of Indiana.
Connell is 6-9 this season and 1-4 in Big Ten duals — he’s lost four straight including a 6-0 decision to Sollars. A senior, Sollars is 10-7 this season, but he fell to McDanel four times last year. The Husker won two of those matches via major decision, including a 17-4 win in their dual match.
McDanel looks to be hitting a new level, so I expect him to dispatch of both Connell and Sollars fairly easily this weekend.
285 pounds
Nebraska’s #4 AJ Ferrari is 10-2 this year with a 5-1 mark in conference duals. This weekend, he’ll face another top guy in Illinois’ #14 Luke Luffman.
Luffman is 11-3 this year and 2-0 in Big Ten duals — he missed some of the season in January before returning to the lineup on Jan. 30 when he beat Indiana’s Caleb Marzolino 16-4 by major decision. A three-time NCAA qualifier and a round of 12 finisher last season, Luffman is an established veteran at the weight and will hold a significant size advantage over the undersized Ferrari.
Indiana’s Marzolino is 3-16 this year and will be of little resistance to Ferrari.
A win over Luffman however will go a long way towards a top postseason seed for Ferrari.
