Nebraska senior wrestlers heads into final home dual

A small part of that Devaney Sports Center ovation was to give Robb a boost as he looked to snap a rare losing streak — he did that by racing to a 7-0 lead in the first 90 seconds with a takedown and a four-point near-fall. He eventually beat Roberts by major decision.

But the ovation mostly was an appreciation from Husker fans for what Robb has done during an All-America college career that is coming to a close.

Robb and No. 5 Nebraska will compete in their final home dual of the season against No. 9 Michigan at 6 p.m. Friday.

“Nebraska wrestling has been a piece of me for six years now,” said Robb, who has been NU’s starter at 157 pounds since 2019. “It will be a little sad at times because it’s the last one, but it will be exciting to have one last show in front of the home crowd.”

Three Husker seniors will be honored Friday: Robb, 197-pound backup Brandyn Van Tassell and heavyweight Nash Hutmacher, who joined the team in December.

Robb certainly is the most accomplished of the three. He’s looking to become a four-time All-American this season.

“No. 1, he’s a high-character young man. You love to coach kids like this because you know what you’re going to get. You know the work ethic and toughness. The right principles have already been established by his mom and dad,” coach Mark Manning said. “He knows what it means to represent your school.”

Robb’s first trip to nationals was supposed to be in 2020 when the NCAA meet was slated for Minneapolis. But the Minnesota native wasn’t able to compete after nationals were canceled by COVID-19. All national qualifiers were named All-Americans.

After not placing at nationals in 2021, Robb finished fourth in 2022. He went into last year’s nationals as one of the favorites at 157 — Robb and Mikey Labriola become the first Husker pair since 1961 to finish the regular season unbeaten.

Robb reached the semifinals before losing a decision to Penn State’s Levi Haines. He ended up taking a medical forfeit the next day in the fifth-place match because of a flesh-eating bacteria that in the coming days became a life-threatening situation.

“He’s just a blessing to have back on this team. I mean that wholeheartedly because he could have lost his leg or not been able to wrestle again,” Manning said. “We’re just thankful we got him back.”

Robb recovered from that health scare, rehabbed during the summer and has been in NU’s lineup ever since. Robb won his first 14 matches this season, most in dominant fashion with 10 bonus-point wins. Robb was ranked third nationally in his weight class.

But on Jan. 6 came a 6-5 loss to Northern Iowa’s Ryder Downey. A week later, second-ranked Jared Franek of Iowa edged Robb 5-4, then came two more losses to ranked opponents. Robb said it was the first time he could remember losing four matches in a row.

“Sometimes, the mental battle of that is as much as the physical battle of wrestling. I had to step back and work through that in my head,” Robb said. “Each individual match had reasons for losing. My coaches and family reminded me nothing’s going on, just had a couple of slip-ups.”

The win over Illinois’ Roberts got Robb back on the winning track.

“He just went through a rough patch. He’s come out the other end and now he’s ready to go,” Manning said.

Nebraska has three duals left in the regular season and Robb, ranked seventh nationally, is slated to see three top-10 opponents. That stretch begins Friday with Michigan’s Will Lewan, who is ranked 10th. Penn State’s Haines, ranked No. 1, will be next weekend’s opponent, then Arizona State’s Jacob Teemer, ranked third. After that, the Big Ten meet begins on March 9.

“People remember you for what you did in March, and Peyton understands that,” Manning said.

Michigan brings momentum into Lincoln after the Wolverines upset No. 2 Iowa 24-11 last weekend. Michigan has eight wrestlers ranked inside the top 10.

Friday’s duals could feature three matchups between top-10 opponents. Besides Robb and Lewan, the best matchup could be at 149 between Nebraska’s unbeaten and top-ranked Ridge Lovett and Michigan’s Austin Gomez, who is sixth. The 141-pound match will be NU’s Brock Hardy, ranked seventh, against No. 10 Sergio Lemley.

Nebraska and Michigan haven’t wrestled in a dual since 2022, when the Wolverines won 20-13. That night at 157, Lowan outlasted Robb 3-1 in sudden victory.