2023-24 Wrestling Awards: Nebraska’s MVP, Best Pin, Top Newcomer, Stat Leaders

Now that the 2023-24 season is in the books, let’s give out some postseason Corn Nation hardware.

Nebraska had another Top-10 finish at NCAAs (9th to be exact) this season while also finishing third at Big Tens. The Huskers crowned five All-Americans and another Big Ten champion this season. With nine starters coming back next year, Nebraska is set up pretty well going forward.

Before we move on to looking ahead to next season (and we will), let’s award some guys for their performances this year.

MVP

Ridge Lovett (Jr.) – 149 pounds

Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett burst back onto the scene this year after redshirting a year ago. The 2023 NCAA finalist, Lovett went 27-4 this year and secured his second All-American honor, finishing sixth.

After winning his first 21 matches, Lovett took a close loss to Kyle Parco of Arizona State in the last dual of the season but came back to go 3-0 at Big Tens while capturing Nebraska’s second Big Ten title in as may years (Silas Allred won at 197 as a redshirt freshman in 2023).

As the 1-seed at NCAAs, Lovett made it to the semifinal round, securing All-American honors, but he fell to eventual champion Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech 1-0. Lovett went on to lose in the consolation semis and the 5th-place match to end his season on a sour note, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that he was consistently Nebraska’s most valuable wrestler throughout the season. The fact that he wasn’t on the final day of the season is unfortunate, but his body of work throughout the season speaks for itself.

Now a two-time All-American, Lovett returns for his senior season and I imagine he has some unfinished business after not winning a national title as the favorite going in.

Regardless, he was this team’s MVP.

Best Pin

Nash Hutmacher over Mason Ding (Wyoming)

It wasn’t so much the pin itself, but the circumstances in which it happened.

Star defensive lineman Nash Hutmacher had joined the wrestling team a month earlier and cut over 40 pounds to make the 285-pound weight limit at heavyweight. He took the mat for the first time since winning four state titles in South Dakota in high school, pinning his final 73 opponents.

A huge contingency of Husker football players (and recruits) were in the house. The fans showed up at Devaney for a dual against Wyoming. The Polar Bear truly moved the needle for the wrestling team, hopefully creating a few more wrestling fans in the process.

All he did in his Division I debut was get the stick like old times.

Hutmacher went on to finish the year with a 7-8 record. After going 3-2 at Big Tens to place sixth as the 10-seed, Hutmacher qualified for the NCAA tournament. He went 0-2 in Kansas City, but his impact on the wrestling program was noticeable.

Most Improved

Lenny Pinto (So) – 184 pounds

Compared to last season, Lenny Pinto really did improve the most out of Nebraska’s returning starters.

As a redshirt freshman a year ago, Pinto went 22-11 on the year with a 5th-place finish at Big Tens. He qualified for NCAAs last year but went 1-2 and didn’t find the podium.

Pinto again fell short of the podium this year, but he made major strides. He finished the year 24-6 and was ranked #3 for most of the year. He also improved his conference finish to third this season, earning him the 5-seed at nationals. At NCAAs, he went 2-2 and fell in the blood round just short of All-American.

He had a win this year over NCAA finalist Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State 12-10 at Cliff Keen. Pinto later fell to Plott 11-7 in that same tournament.

I’ve talked to Pinto, and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about how his season ended one win away from All-American honors, but I think he’s on a rapidly improving trajectory right now. Next season, I expect to see an even better Lenny Pinto. I fully expect him to make it on the podium as a junior.

Best New Starter

Antrell Taylor (R-Fr.) – 165 pounds

As a redshirt freshman up a weight (he’s a more natural 157-pounder), Antrell Taylor was also wrestling in one of the country’s deepest and best weight classes.

All he did was find the podium at 8th place and collect a 23-10 record along the way.

Throughout the season, Taylor almost always beat who he was supposed to and showed flashes in losses to the top guys. He even beat three-time All-American Cam Amine of Michigan in their dual matchup in a gritty tiebreaker match.

Even in his losses, Taylor showed he belongs. Against eventual NCAA finalist Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State, Taylor took him down with a beautiful throw-by for the first time in Messenbrink’s career early in the first period (see below). Against two-time champ Keegan O’Toole of Missouri in the NCAA quarters, Taylor scored a takedown late in the first period to battle back before succumbing to the Tiger great.

Now, Taylor has some things he needs to improve on, and he knows that and has acknowledged that, but this kid’s potential is pretty high. The in-state product will certainly improve as a sophomore next season as he takes over at 157 for the graduating Peyton Robb. Going against smaller competition, Taylor could be a threat to finish much higher on the podium.

Redshirt of the Year

Christopher Minto (Fr.) – 174 pounds

With an 18-4 record on the season, Minto was impressive for the Huskers.

In the early-season Navy Classic, Minto wrestled in a field that had two of his teammates and made it to the final where he fell to Navy’s Danny Wask, an NCAA qualifier. Minto fell to Wask 5-0.

Minto then went on to win the Hastings Open and earn a number of nice wins at the Worthington Open and the Missouri Valley Open, taking his only loss there to teammate Elise Brown Ton 3-2. He beat Brown Ton earlier in the season at the Grandview Open.

More importantly, Minto was 8-2 against DI competition. With Nebraska seeking answers at both 165 and 174 next season, I expect Minto to be in the conversation, likely at 174.

Stat Leaders

Stats in wrestling are hard to come by, except for win-loss and bonus-points. Stats like takedowns, takedowns given up, reversals, near-fall and riding-time points are not something that can be found.

So, I decided to tally some of those stats this year on my own. Admittedly, I didn’t chart reversals and riding-time, but I’m considering it for next season.

As for bonus-point victories (pins, tech falls and major decisions), the Huskers were led on the year by Silas Allred with 17. Lovett was second on the team with 16. Here’s the Husker leaders in bonus points:

Silas Allred – 197 pounds – 17 total (6 pins, 8 TF, 3 MD)

Ridge Lovett – 149 pounds – 16 total (8 pins, 3 TF, 5 MD)

Brock Hardy – 141 pounds – 14 total (7 pins, 5 TF, 2 MD)

Peyton Robb – 157 pounds – 14 total (2 pins, 9 TF, 3 MD)

Lenny Pinto – 184 pounds – 9 total (3 pins, 3 TF, 3 MD)

Caleb Smith – 125 pounds – 9 total (5 TF, 4 MD)

Jacob Van Dee – 133 pounds – 8 total (1 pin, 5 TF, 2 MD)

Diving deeper, there’s takedowns scored, takedowns given up and near-fall points scored. Here’s the breakdown there.

Silas Allred — 91 takedowns/27 given up/14 near-fall points

Lenny Pinto — 69/20/31

Antrell Taylor — 67/18/8

Brock Hardy — 60/25/42

Caleb Smith — 60/22/26

Ridge Lovett — 53/13/49

Peyton Robb — 52/15/83

Jacob Van Dee — 52/18/31

Obviously, a lot can be learned from those numbers. The first thing that jumps out at me was Allred’s huge lead in takedowns on the year — 91 with second-place on the team at 69. Allred also gave up 27 takedowns on the year to top this list. Next was Robb’s ability to score near-fall points, leading the team in that category by a wide margin of 34 points with 83 near-fall points on the year.

As for defensively, some of the usual suspects on the team were stingy in giving up takedowns, but the redshirt freshmen also showed what they can do — Lovett led the team with 13 given up, while Robb (15), Taylor (18) and Van Dee (18) weren’t far behind.

Obviously, Taylor needs to work on his top game with just eight near-fall points on the year, but he’s more of a defensive and neutral dynamo for Nebraska, a true freestyler. If he could add a top game to his current arsenal on the feet though, watch out. Especially as he drops down to wrestle smaller guys at 157.