Husker Wrestling: Nebraska Taking on Nation’s Best at Natonal Duals With Over $1 Million On The Line

The #2 Nebraska wrestling team is headed to Tulsa this weekend to compete in the inaugural National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom on Saturday and Sunday.

The field will include 16 of the best teams

in the country in a dual tournament format — the only team that declined their invitation was #1 Penn State.

The top four teams were seeded — 1-seed Iowa, 2-seed Nebraska, 3-seed Ohio State, and 4-seed Oklahoma State — and the other 12 were randomly placed through a ball draw. Nebraska drew #8 Lehigh for the first round, a team that’s really dangerous, especially in the lighter weights, but they are unfortunately coming in without a number of key guys.

The tournament starts Saturday morning and concludes on Sunday evening with the final on ESPN2. Every dual except for the finals will stream live on FloWrestling.

Not only will the winner this weekend earn major bragging rights, they will also receive some cash with over a million dollars in payouts coming — the team champion takes home $200k, the runner-up and 3rd-place teams each get $150k, and 4th place gets $75k.

Let’s get into Nebraska’s potential path to a team title. I’m not going to get into every possible scenario here, but I will break down each round and Nebraska’s most probable opponents.

Round 1

Vs. #8 Lehigh

Normally in a dual against Lehigh, things would be tough for any team — especially at the lower weights — but the Mountain Hawks are limping into this weekend’s tournament with four starters and a key backup out of action.

With each team able to bring 16 wrestlers, this may give Nebraska the chance to plug in a few key backups and true freshmen as they likely cruise for the win. This would allow some key Nebraska starters to recover from weigh-ins and prepare for the quarterfinal round. With a brutal stretch coming up later in the tournament, resting some starters here could be monumental.

At 125 pounds, Nebraska has both redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen and sophomore Alan Koehler. Lauridsen is 5-2 this year, while Koehler is 4-3 and just had a good weekend at the Bison Open, finishing as runner-up to #7 Jore Volk of Minnesota.

Either Lauridsen or Koehler will start the dual with a tough test against #5 Sheldon Seymour. Seymour finished as an All-American last year taking 6th place at NCAAs. As for common opponents, Seymour is 3-0 against Army’s #29 Charlie Farmer — Lauridsen just fell to Farmer 4-1 in sudden victory this past Friday. Seymour also picked up a signature win in last year’s NCAA quarterfinal against #3 Luke Lilledahl of Penn State. He’s certainly a heavy favorite against either Husker, but an upset in this one would certainly turn some heads nationally and presents a big opportunity for whomever toes the line for Nebraska.

With #2 Ryan Crookham and his talented backup Matty Lopes injured at 133 pounds, Lehigh will be going with Mason Ziegler in this one, a redshirt freshman who is up from 125. This could be a good opportunity for Nebraska to insert redshirt freshman Omar Ayoub into a dual and give #11 Jacob Van Dee a rest off the scale.

Similar story at 141 pounds with #3 Luke Stanich out of commission, so #2 Brock Hardy could get a rest as well here with veteran backup Blake Cushing making the trip to Tulsa. Either way, Nebraska is the favorite here.

The 149-pound matchup could be interesting with true freshman Nikade Zinkin taking on Lehigh freshman Anthony Evanitsky. Zinkin is 2-2 on the year and just had a big win in sudden victory against Army in his dual debut. Evanitsky is 4-0 this season after winning the Journeymen Classic.

Top-ranked Antrell Taylor will take on #23 Logan Rozynski for Lehigh at 157 pounds. A national qualifier last year as a true freshman with a 20-7 record, Rozynski is 1-0 on the year after winning via technical fall against Duke. The returning NCAA Champion Taylor should cruise in this matchup though.

The matchup of the dual for the Huskers may be at 165 pounds where redshirt freshman #18 LJ Araujo takes on #8 Max Brignola, a senior for Lehigh. Araujo is 5-0 this year with three wins over ranked opponents already, including a 5-3 win over Army’s #19 Gunner Filipowicz in his first dual in the starting lineup. Brignola is a two-time NCAA qualifier — he redshirted last year and went 22-0 in open tournaments — earning an overtime win over #12 Nicco Ruiz of Arizona State along the way. He’ll be the best opponent Araujo has faced in college so far, so it’s a new benchmark for the young Husker if he can get the win.

Both of Lehigh’s top guys at 174 pounds are out, leaving Zeke Dubler as the option here — he’s 3-1 on the year. This is another weight where Nebraska could afford to sit starter #4 Christopher Minto in favor of true freshman Ty Eise — Nebraska’s top recruit in its 2025 class who is 2-2 on the year with a ranked win (8-5 decision) at the Navy Classic over #31 Carter Baer of Binghamton. He also wrestled Minto really tough in a 4-2 loss in their wrestle-off.

At 184 pounds, #6 Silas Allred will take on #29 Rylan Rogers. Rogers is 6-0 so far this season, but he’s just 22-14 for his career — he transferred last season from Michigan to Lehigh. Last season, he went 13-11 at 174 for the Mountain Hawks. Allred will be a heavy favorite in this one.

At 197 pounds, #7 Camden McDanel will face #20 JT Davis, a senior with a 40-36 career record. He’s 4-2 this season with a 7-3 loss to #18 Wolfgang Frable of Army — McDanel beat Frable 6-1 on Friday night. The Husker sophomore should win this one comfortably.

At heavyweight, Lehigh’s #8 Nathan Taylor will not be wrestling, so I think the Huskers will send out true freshman Cade Ziola instead of #1 AJ Ferrari to face redshirt freshman Calvin Lachman who is 0-2 on the year. Ziola just went 2-1 at the Bison Open, recording an 8-7 win over then-#15 Koy Hopke of Minnesota.

Quarterfinals

Vs. #11 Michigan -OR- Arizona State

I’m fairly certain that the Wolverines will prevail in the opening round against the Sun Devils, but it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion — both teams have some really good guys but also have some holes in their lineups.

At 125, Michigan has #21 Diego Sotelo, while Arizona State has Damian Moreno, a sophomore who’s 5-1 this season. A senior transfer from Harvard, Sotelo is 1-0 this season — he’s also a two-time NCAA qualifier, finishing in the round of 16 as a sophomore. He’s 56-34 for his career. Moreno is in his first year as the starter after going 3-3 last year and 4-4 during his redshirt year.

Sotelo is by far the superior opponent here, and he’d be a nice win for either Lauridsen or Koehler.

At 133, there are a pair of highly-recruited true freshmen — the Wolverines have freshman Gauge Botero while ASU has Kyler Larkin. Botero was a 2025 Big-Boarder and a key recruit for Michigan coming in at #22 overall in the class of 2025, while Larkin was #17 overall in 2024. Both were Fargo national champions in high school, and Larkin competed on the 2022 U17 World Team.

Both matches will test #11 Van Dee, but the junior All-American should be considered the favorite against either guy.

For #2 Hardy at 141, he’ll face either #10 Dylan Ragusin of Michigan or #33 Pierson Manville of ASU. Ragusin is a senior up from 133 pounds last season — he was an All-American in 2024 with a 5th-place finish at 133, but this will be his first action up a weight class. A redshirt freshman, Manville is 4-0 on the year — he was another highly-touted recruit coming in at #10 on the Flo Big Board in 2024. In high school, Manville won titles at some of the toughest tournaments and events out there — Ironman, Powerade, Fargo and Who’s Number One. He was also on the 2022 U17 World Team — he’s a legitimate blue-chip recruit.

I expect Hardy to handle either Ragusin or Manville pretty comfortably though.

This is where we find out what Nebraska really has with true freshman Nikade Zinkin at 149 pounds — he’ll face either Michigan’s #2 Lachlan McNeil or ASU’s Kaleb Larkin. A three-time All-American for North Carolina, McNeil transferred into Michigan with a 75-23 career record. He’s one of the best in the country at this weight. Kaleb Larkin — the older brother of Kyler — is equally talented. A sophomore, Kaleb won the 2023 Bill Farrell, a senior-level freestyle event where he beat guys like two-time NCAA Champion Jesse Mendez and All-Americans Pat Lugo and Matt Kolodzik, earning a bid to the Olympic Trials. He’s another extremely electric prospect that the Sun Devils will be bringing with them to Tulsa.

Both guys are serious tests and present a great opportunity for the highly-regarded Zinkin — a win against either guy would really elevate the Husker freshman’s profile.

At 157 pounds, top-ranked Taylor will take on either #30 Cam Catrabone or #24 Chance McLane. Catrabone is a talented redshirt freshman, and McLane is a senior who’s lost to Taylor in the past. Neither guy presents any real threat to Taylor this weekend.

For the Huskers at 165, Araujo will face either Dylan Gilcher of Michigan or #12 Nicco Ruiz of ASU. Gilcher qualified for NCAAs last year but ended the season with a 10-12 record, while Ruiz was also a qualifier as a redshirt freshman and got a quality overtime win over All-American Cam Amine of Oklahoma State — he went 14-9 on the year.

For #18 Araujo, I think he should be favored against either opponent despite Ruiz being ranked ahead of him.

At 174 pounds, #4 Christopher Minto could face either #8 Beau Mantanona of Michigan or Cael Valencia of ASU. Mantanona was a top recruit and made it to the blood round at NCAAs last season down at 165. Minto and Mantanona met last year at 165 pounds with Minto taking the win via 7-2 decision. Valencia is a senior with a 27-36 career record and is 3-1 to start the year.

Another win over Mantanona would be a nice feather in Minto’s cap as he establishes himself up at 174, while a match against Valencia could get ugly for the Sun Devil veteran.

Nebraska’s 184-pounder #6 Allred will take on either #14 Brock Mantanona of Michigan or Aziz Fayzallaev of ASU. A redshirt freshman and younger brother to Beau, Brock Mantanona went 12-3 last year while redshirting at 165 pounds. Now up two weight classes, this will be his first real test at 184 pounds, and I don’t think you want your guy’s first real test to be against Allred. A senior, Fayzallaev went 1-1 last year for the Sun Devils after transferring in from Northwest College.

A former 197-pounder, I expect the senior Allred to be too much for either Brock Mantanona or Fayzallaev.

Another weight class where Nebraska will be favored regardless of opponent is at 197 — #7 McDanel will take on either #32 Hayden Walters of Michigan or ASU’s Max Acciardi. Walters went 13-5 as a redshirt freshman backup last season but is largely untested, while the sophomore Acciardi is taking the place of injured #28 Colton Hawks — Acciardi is 3-2 so far this year and 7-11 for his career. McDanel should win here fairly easily.

Against Michigan at 285 pounds, the matchup of the dual is top-ranked Ferrari against #4 Taye Ghadiali of Michigan. Ghadiali has been one of the best heavyweights in college for years at Campbell — he’s since transferred to Michigan for his senior season and packed on a good 30 pounds. An All-American in 2024, Ghadiali has wrestled the who’s who of heavyweights over the years, and he’ll be the first serious test for Ferrari as he acclimates to the 285-pound weight class. If not Ghadiali, Ferrari will face #33 David Szuba of ASU — an NCAA qualifier in 2024.

One of the best potential matches in the entire tournament, I hope we get that Ferrari-Ghadiali match here.

Semifinals

Vs. #4 Ohio State -OR- #9 Minnesota

I would be surprised if Nebraska’s semifinal opponent isn’t the Buckeyes, but I wouldn’t be shocked — Minnesota has a team that’s solid top to bottom with no real holes.

At 125 pounds, Ohio State will send out either #19 Brendan McCrone or Nic Bouzakis — both juniors. McCrone has been Ohio State’s starter the past two seasons and qualified for NCAAs both years, while Bouzakis is coming down from 133 where he was also a two-time NCAA qualifier — neither guy has found the podium yet. McCrone beat Bouzakis at the Clarion Open earlier this year, so he could get the nod here — he’s a pinner with 15 career sticks in two seasons in the lineup.

Both McCrone and Bouzakis will be favorites against either Lauridsen or Koehler, so a win here would be monumental for the Huskers in a dual format.

Against Minnesota, Nebraska would take on All-American #8 Jore Volk who just beat Koehler 3-0 in the final of the Bison Open on Sunday — he’s 7-0 on the year and poses a significant challenge.

Against the Buckeyes at 133, Van Dee will take on another highly-regarded freshman in #8 Ben Davino. After going 19-1 in his redshirt year, Davino is 6-0 to start his career as a starter. His only loss last season was a 3-2 decision in tiebreakers against Big Ten Champion Dylan Shawver of Rutgers. An elite blue-chip recruit, Davino has lived up to the billing and will be a serious threat to Van Dee in this match.

In a matchup against Minnesota, things are much easier against Chris Cannon, a former two-time All-American for Northwestern who is 1-2 to start the year.

Either way you slice it, Hardy will have a tough match here at 141 pounds. Ohio State has two-time NCAA Champion #1 Jesse Mendez, and Minnesota has two-time All-American #5 Vance Vombaur. Hardy is 1-3 in his career against Mendez and 4-0 against Vombaur. Last season at Big Tens, Hardy beat Mendez 9-8 in the Big Ten semifinal before pinning Vombaur in the final, but Mendez got his revenge in the NCAA final where he beat Hardy 12-9.

In a likely match against Mendez, Hardy will be the underdog, but you should never count the Husker senior out against the Buckeye as they continue their long rivalry — this could be the first of four potential matches between these two this season.

For the freshman Zinkin at 149 pounds, Ohio State has former Husker #10 Ethan Stiles while Minnesota has senior Jager Eisch. An All-American last year for Oregon State, Stiles transferred this summer to Ohio State and is 3-2 on the year after a down performance at the Clarion Open, while Eisch is 5-2 on the year.

I expect Zinkin to compete with both guys — especially considering the Husker staff’s familiarity with Stiles from his time redshirting in Lincoln. Maybe that will give Zinkin the leg up in this matchup.

For Taylor at 157, he’ll face either #9 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State or #20 Charlie Millard of Minnesota. Cannon was a Big Ten finalist last year as a redshirt freshman and finished the year in the round of 12 at NCAAs with a 24-5 record on the year. Millard, a redshirt freshman, went 13-2 last year and was #30 on the Class of 2024 Big Board.

I have a hard time believing that either Cannon or Millard can beat Taylor at this point despite being really talented.

At 165, this is another big test for Araujo as he’ll face either #16 Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State or #10 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota. Gallagher is a two-time NCAA qualifier with a 51-26 career record, while Sparks is a four-time qualifier with a 69-36 career mark.

Both Sparks and Gallagher present tough veteran tests for Araujo — a win here would be monumental for both Araujo and the Huskers.

We could get a great matchup here at 174 if #4 Minto takes on Ohio State’s #9 Carson Kharchla — the Buckeye senior is 64-19 for his career and was an All-American in 2022 at 165 pounds. A guy who’s battled injuries throughout his career, Kharchla is 1-0 this year. If it’s Minnesota, Minto will take on #22 Ethan Riddle, a sophomore who went 16-6 last year as a backup.

I think Minto is a slight favorite over Kharchla, but if he’s healthy he’s an incredibly tough out.

Facing an incredibly tough field at 184, Allred will take on either #7 Dylan Fishback of Ohio State or #1 Max McEnelly of Minnesota here. Fishback twice finished one win shy of the podium at NCAAs for NC State before transferring to Ohio State this summer — he lost to Allred 4-0 last season at NCAAs. McEnelly finished third last year at NCAAs as a redshirt freshman and went 25-2 with his only two losses coming to NCAA Champions Carter Starocci of Penn State and Parker Keckeisen of UNI — both in sudden victory. McEnelly beat Allred in their dual match last year via 16-6 major decision.

Both are tough matches, but the Fishback one is much more winnable.

At 197 pounds, McDanel will face either #10 Luke Geog of Ohio State or #22 Gavin Nelson of Minnesota. Geog is 6-0 to start the year, while Nelson is 4-1. Geog faced Allred three times at 197 when he was up there and went 0-3 against him, boding well for McDanel who should be considered the favorite against either guy here.

In another tough heavyweight matchup, top-ranked Ferrari will take on #6 Nick Feldman or #18 Koy Hopke. Feldman was an All-American as a redshirt freshman but fell short of the podium last year — he’s 54-15 for his career and has career wins over Ghadiali and NCAA finalist Lucas Davison.

As for Hopke, he’s 6-1 this year with his only loss an 8-7 decision against Nebraska freshman Ziola at the Bison Open. The week prior, he dominated #19 Jimmy Mullen of Virginia Tech 12-1 by major decision.

I think Ferrari should be too much for either Feldman or Hopke.

Finals

Vs. #3 Iowa -OR- #5 Oklahoma State

In all honesty, the semifinal dual between Iowa and Oklahoma State could be the dual of the weekend — there are so many coin-flip matches that it could really go either way. Interestingly enough, Nebraska will host both Iowa and Oklahoma State later this season for duals.

Things naturally start off rough for the Huskers at 125 pounds where they’ll face either #10 Dean Peterson of Iowa or #2 Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State.

A Rutgers transfer, Peterson is a three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time round-of-12 finisher with a 62-29 career record, while Spratley is 48-13 for his career after making it to the NCAA final as a sophomore this past season. Both guys are podium threats this year with Spratley being a legit title contender, so this will be a tough match to start the dual for the Huskers.

At 133 pounds, Van Dee will face either #3 Drake Ayala of Iowa or #12 Richard Figueroa of Oklahoma State. Ayala is a two-time NCAA finalist — at both 125 and 133 pounds — while Figueroa was a 125-pound NCAA Champion in 2024. In fact, Figueroa beat Ayala in the national final 7-2 that year while at Arizona State.

Ayala beat Van Dee 4-2 last season, and Figueroa beat Van Dee 8-1 in 2022 during Van Dee’s redshirt year at 125 pounds. Ayala will be favored over Van Dee, but not Figueroa after he struggled in his first match up at 133, dropping a 13-9 decision to Stanford’s #5 Tyler Knox after being up big early on.

The tables turn at 141 where Hardy is the favorite over both #9 Nasir Bailey of Iowa and Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State. A junior, Bailey is a Little Rock transfer who is up from 133 pounds, while Vega is a blue-chip true freshman who started his career with a 16-1 win via tech against Stanford. Bailey was an All-American as a true freshman in 2024, while Vega was the #6 overall recruit on the 2025 Big Board.

I expect Hardy to be too much for both guys despite their pedigrees and bright futures.

Things could be interesting at 149 if the Huskers face Iowa as the Hawkeyes have a hole here in their lineup with unranked starting sophomore Kael Voinovich — he’s 1-0 this year after a decision win against Bellarmine. Iowa also has Ryder Block at this weight — he’s 2-4 for his career. For the Cowboys, they have #4 Casey Swiderski — an Iowa State transfer who was an All-American in 2024 as a sophomore.

Zinkin can certainly beat Voinovich, but Swiderski will be a big hill to climb for the true freshman.

At 157 pounds, Taylor will face either #7 Jordan Williams of Iowa or #4 Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State. Another Little Rock transfer, Williams is a two-time NCAA qualifier who is up from 149 pounds a year ago, while Robideau is a true freshman who just beat #5 Daniel Cardenas of Stanford 11-2 by major decision in his first career match.

I think Williams may be too small to deal with Taylor who spent his redshirt freshman season up at 165 and still made the podium, and Taylor has a 12-2 win in freestyle over Robideau from 2024. Taylor is a heavy favorite in both matchups despite both guys’ impressive season debuts — Williams had an impressive win via pinfall.

Nebraska’s Araujo will face one of two very different tests in the finals at 165 pounds against either Iowa senior #2 Michael Caliendo or Oklahoma State true freshman #4 Ladarion Lockett. Caliendo is a three-time All-American and an NCAA finalist who has only lost to NCAA champions over the past two seasons, while Lockett was a top recruit in 2025 who just beat #5 Hunter Garvin of Stanford in his collegiate debut.

Both Caliendo and Lockett will be heavy favorites over Araujo, but the young Husker has the pedigree to get a win here — it may come down to Araujo’s ability on top.

In one of my most anticipated matches of the tournament, #4 Minto could take on #2 Patrick Kennedy of Iowa here at 174 pounds — or #10 Alex Facundo of Oklahoma State. Kennedy placed fourth last year at NCAAs, while Facundo transferred to Oklahoma State from Penn State this summer — both are 1-0 to start the season.

I really like Minto at a more natural weight class this year, and I expect him to contend for an NCAA title right away after placing fourth last year down at 165 as a redshirt freshman. I would pick him to win either of these matchups. I honestly think Minto could go into his dual match with #1 Levi Haines of Penn State undefeated.

In another really tough matchup at 184 pounds, Allred will take on either #2 Angelo Ferrari or #4 Zack Ryder of Oklahoma State. The top recruit in 2024, Ferrari redshirted last year and went 10-1 with his only loss a 3-1 decision to five-time NCAA Champion Carter Starocci, while Ryder redshirted for Penn State last year and went 8-0. Ryder transferred to Oklahoma State after Penn State brought in transfer #3 Rocco Welsh from Ohio State.

Both Ferrari and Ryder are serious title contenders this year — with Ryder notching an impressive 14-4 major decision win over All-American Jaxon Smith of Maryland at the All-Star Classic — so an Allred win here could really solidify a team win for the Huskers.

Nebraska’s McDanel could face either Massoma Endene of Iowa or #9 Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State here at 197. Endene was a three-time D3 National Champion for Wartburg with a 72-1 record, while Merrill was a talented recruit who redshirted a year ago — he went 12-2. Both Endene and Merrill are 1-0 this year after close decision wins in their season debuts.

Both of these matches are winnable for McDanel who should probably be favored against either wrestler — Nebraska may need a win here to be in a position to win the dual.

Finally, at heavyweight, Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari will take on either #5 Ben Kueter of Iowa or #9 Konner Doucet of Oklahoma State in a match that could decide the dual. Kueter placed eighth at NCAAs last season, while Doucet is a two-time NCAA qualifier. Both are 1-0 to start the year.

Ferrari should be favored in both matchups and could prove why the Huskers brought him in to shore up the heavyweight spot.