Nebraska Travels to Penn State for 2021 Big Ten Championships

The third-ranked Nebraska wrestling team begins its postseason push this weekend as it heads to Penn State for the 2021 Big Ten Championships. The two-day event kicks off on Saturday, March 6 at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa. 

Session I starts at 9 a.m. (CT) on Saturday and Session II semifinal and consolation matches begin at 6:30 p.m. (CT). Wrestling continues Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) with consolation rounds before the championship coverage begins at 3 p.m. (CT). 

The Huskers (7-1) have five wrestlers seeded fifth or higher in their conference championship lineup, led by top-seeded Eric Schultz at 197 pounds. All-American Mikey Labriola (174) and Liam Cronin (125) are two-seeds in their weight classes, while All-American Chad Red Jr. (141) is seeded fourth and Christian Lance (HWT) is seeded fifth. 

The Huskers’ Big Ten Championship lineup features three grapplers set to make their first career appearance at the event, including Lance, Caleb Licking (157) and Tucker Sjomeling (133).

The Big Ten Network will televise Sessions I, II and IV of the championship event. Coverage of Session III, as well as additional mat coverage, can be streamed on BTN+ (additional subscription required). Live stats and brackets will be available on TrackWrestling.com. Updates will also be posted to the Nebraska wrestling Twitter (@HuskerWrestling) throughout the weekend.

Last time out: Nebraska finished the 2021 regular season with a 25-9 win over Illinois at the State Farm Center on Feb. 21. The Huskers closed the season on a six-match win streak. 

Up Next: NU has two weeks to prep for the 2021 NCAA Championships which are set for March 18-20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo. 

Nebraska’s Big Ten Championships Lineup

Including preliminarily seeding 

125: #2 Liam Cronin • Sr. • Orange, Calif.

133: #11 Tucker Sjomeling • Jr. • Delano, Minn.

141: #4 Chad Red Jr. • Sr. • Indianapolis, Ind. 

149: #7 Ridge Lovett • So. • Post Falls, Idaho

157: #10 Caleb Licking • Sr. • Norfolk, Neb.

165: #7 Peyton Robb • So. • Owatonna, Minn.

174: #2 Mikey Labriola • Jr. • Easton, Pa.

184: #6 Taylor Venz • Sr. • Farmington, Minn. 

197: #1 Eric Schultz • Sr. • Tinley Park, Ill. 

285: #5 Christian Lance • Sr. • Nixa, Mo.

*Team rankings according to Trackwrestling

QUICK NOTES

• Earning the top seed at 197 pounds, Eric Schultz becomes the Huskers’ first one-seed at the Big Ten Championships since Robert Kokesh was seeded first at 174 pounds for the 2015 Big Ten Championships. 
• Schultz, Mikey Labriola and Ridge Lovett finished undefeated in duals for the 2020-21 season. Both Schultz and Labriola started and won at every dual this season and Lovett earned wins in both his starts this year and finished 3-0 in extra matches. 
• After losses against Iowa earlier this season, Liam Cronin and Chad Red Jr. closed the season on a six-match win streak to finish 7-1 in duals this year. 
• Nebraska won 56 of 80 (70%) individual dual meet matches this season. The team outscored its opponents 212-89 through seven duals this season. 
• Stat leaders among starters:
  

FIVE SEEDED FIFTH OR BETTER AHEAD OF BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Huskers Big Ten Championships lineup features five wrestlers seeded fifth or better. Eric Schultz leads the group with the top seed at 197 pounds. All-American Mikey Labriola (174) and Liam Cronin (125) are two-seeds in their weight classes, while All-American Chad Red Jr. (141) is seeded fourth and Christian Lance (HWT) is seeded fifth. 

The NU lineup features three grapplers set to make their first career appearance at the event, including Lance, Caleb Licking (157) and Tucker Sjomeling (133).

EIGHT HUSKERS RANKED IN SECOND NCAA COACHES’ PANEL RANKINGS

In the second NCAA Division I Coaches Rankings released this season, eight Huskers earned ratings. The rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each conference.

125: Liam Cronin             7th

141: Chad Red Jr.            5th

149: Ridge Lovett            25th

165: Peyton Robb            18th

174: Mikey Labriola           2nd

184: Taylor Venz               10th

197: Eric Schultz               1st

HWT: Christian Lance       11th 

CRONIN SHINES IN FIRST SEASON AT NEBRASKA

In his first season at Nebraska, Liam Cronin posted a 7-1 dual record for the Huskers, including two wins over ranked opponents. Cronin will make his second consecutive appearance at the Big Ten Championships at 125 pounds, having competed at the championship event last season for Indiana, and looks to improve off last year’s fifth place finish. 

SJOMELING EARNS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TRIP

For the first time in his career, Tucker Sjomeling earned the spot in the Huskers’ Big Ten Championships lineup at 133 pounds after finishing the regular season 3-3 overall and 1-2 in duals this season.  In addition to two extra match victories, he picked up a varsity dual win in a 10-4 decision over Michigan State’s Jordan Hamdan.

RED JR. LOOKS FOR THIRD TOP-THREE FINISH AT BIG TENS

Headed into the 2021 Big Ten Championships, Chad Red Jr. has left the conference championship with top-three finishes in both his previous appearances. He placed second in 2019 and third in 2020, and aims to improve on those finishes again this season. Red Jr. is a combined 10-4 at the conference tournament. This season, the junior closed the season on a six-match win streak, highlighted by a season finale win over Illinois’ then-ranked No. 14 Dylan Duncan. He finished the regular season 8-1 overall and 7-1 in duals. 

LOVETT CARRIES UNDEFEATED SEASON INTO B1G WEEKEND

Ridge Lovett is one of three Nebraska wrestlers to finish undefeated in the 2020-21 campaign. The sophomore earned three wins in extra matches against grapplers from Iowa, Northwestern and Michigan State. In varsity duals, he added bonus points for the Huskers, with a major decision over Michigan State’s Peyton Omania and a technical fall over Danny Pucino.

LICKING RIDES RECENT WIN STREAK INTO FIRST B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS APPEARANCE

After a slow start to the 2020-21 season, Caleb Licking looks to continue his recent success into the conference tournament. Earning the starting spot at 157 pounds this season, Licking makes his first Big Ten Championships appearance for his career this weekend. Following an 0-3 start to the season, the Norfolk, Neb. native earned his first win of the season against Maryland on Jan. 23.  Licking enters the conference tournament riding a two-match win streak with victories over Indiana and Illinois in his last two outings. The senior finished the regular season with a dual record of 3-4. 

ROBB SET FOR SECOND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Peyton Robb returns to the Big Ten Championships this season, this time at 165 pounds. Last year, he finished third in the 157-pound bracket, earning an upset victory over No. 2 seed Kaleb Young (Iowa) in the quarterfinals. This year, Robb enters the championship event seeded seventh and looks to improve on his 6-3 overall season record. The sophomore picked up two bonus point wins for the Huskers this season, including pinning Joshua Otto (Wisconsin) and defeating Nick South (Indiana) by major decision. 

LABRIOLA AIMS TO EXTEND 2020-21 SUCCESS INTO THE POSTSEASON

Mikey Labriola will make his third appearance at the Big Ten Championships and looks to improve on last year’s sixth-place finish. He earned a career-high fourth-place finish at the 2019 event and is 7-5 overall at the tournament. He finished the 2020-21 regular season undefeated in eight duals, including four major decisions and one fall, improving his overall career record to 58-19 and 31-8 in duals. 

VENZ MAKES FOURTH BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP TRIP

Taylor Venz is the most veteran Husker when it comes to experience at the Big Ten Championships. He has made three prior trips to the conference championship, never finishing lower than fourth. After two consecutive seasons finishing in fourth place, Venz earned a third place finish at the 2020 event. He is 10-5 overall at the conference championships. The senior finished the 2020-21 regular season 4-2 overall and leads active Nebraska wrestlers with 77 career wins. 

SCHULTZ AIMS TO EXTEND WINNING SEASON

Following an undefeated regular season, Eric Schultz enters the conference tournament with the top seed at 197 pounds. Schultz has extended his His regular season dual win streak to 12 matches dating back to 2019. The Tinley Park, Ill. native has made three previous appearances at the Big Ten Championships, improving each year after placing seventh his sophomore season and most recently placing second last season. Schultz is 8-5 overall in his three seasons competing at the event. 

LANCE MAKES B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS DEBUT 

As the Huskers’ starter at heavyweight this season, Christian Lance has earned himself a spot in the Nebraska Big Ten Championships lineup.  This will be his first Big Ten Championships appearance. After splitting time at starter with David Jenson last season, Lance emerged as the front-runner for the Huskers this season and finished the regular season 5-3 in duals. Highlighting his regular season wins includes a sudden victory 4-2 decision against  then-ranked No. 7 Trent Hillger to secure the Huskers’ win over Wisconsin on Jan. 31. 

MANNING CONTINUES NEBRASKA WRESTLING’S EXCELLENCE IN DECADE NO. 3 AT THE HELM

In his third decade at the helm of the Huskers, Nebraska wrestling Head Coach Mark Manning has amassed a 264-97-3 record at Nebraska with seven wins this season. Manning led Nebraska to yet another successful season as the team earned its most conference wins in a single season since winning seven duals against Big Ten foes in 2017-18. The Huskers’ seven victories this year ties the team’s most conference victories since joining the Big Ten Conference. Though abbreviated compared to years past, this season is the first time since 2014-15 that the Huskers have only given up one dual loss on the year. 

HUSKERS’ RATED IN NCAA COACHES’ RANKINGS

In the second NCAA Division I Coaches Rankings released Feb. 25, eight Huskers made the list which is determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each conference. Eric Schultz is the top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds while Mikey Labriola follows close behind at No. 2 at 174 pounds. Rounding out the top-10 for the Huskers are Chad Red Jr. (141 pounds) at No. 5, Liam Cronin (125 pounds) at No. 7, and Taylor Venz (184 pounds) at No. 10. Christian Lance (285 pounds), Peyton Robb (165 pounds) and Ridge Lovett (149 pounds) complete the field of Huskers in the rankings at No. 11, No. 18 and No. 25, respectively.  

NCAA TOURNAMENT PRE-ALLOCATIONS ANNOUNCED

On Feb. 11, the NCAA announced the pre-allocations for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The weight class champion in each qualifying tournament will automatically qualify for the national championships. In addition, the Big Ten Conference will have 66 pre-allocation spots available, including seven spots at 125, 133, 141, 157, 165, 174 and 184 pounds; six spots at 149 and 258 pounds; and five spots at 197 pounds. Following the conference tournaments, the Division I Wrestling Committee will meet to select the remaining at-large qualifiers.

Conferences are awarded additional pre-allocations based on the five-year average of pre-allocations earned by the conference for each weight class. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a decrease in overall matches, the NCAA Wrestling Division I Wrestling Committee transitioned to using the five-year historical average to determine pre-allocations for the 2021 championships. 

At-large qualifiers will be announced March 9, while brackets and seeding will be announced at 6 p.m. March 10 on NCAA.com. 

SIX NU WRESTLERS RANKED TOP 10 HEADED INTO THE POSTSEASON

Led by top-ranked Eric Schultz, the No. 3 Nebraska wrestling team boasts six grapplers rated top 10 nationally across major Division I rankings as it heads into the postseason. Schultz holds on to his No. 1 ranking and remains in the top spot in the latest NCAA coaches rankings. Mikey Labriola follows Schultz at No. 2 in the nation by InterMat, Trackwrestling and FloWrestling. Ranking as high as fourth at 141 pounds by Trackwrestling and FloWrestling, Chad Red Jr. comes in at fifth in the second NCAA coaches rankings. Liam Cronin’s highest ranking of the week has Trackwrestling tabbing him at No. 6 nationally at 125 pounds. Christian Lance enters the Big Ten Championships ranked No. 8 at heavyweight by Trackwrestling while Taylor Venz rounds out the Huskers in the top 10, ranking as high as tenth in the second NCAA coaches rankings.

Also earning rankings this week are Tucker Sjomeling, Ridge Lovett and Peyton Robb. Lovett, who ranks tenth at 149 pounds by Trackwrestling, burst into the national rankings after a technical fall win over Illinois’ Danny Pucino in the regular season finale. Robb (165 pounds) holds steady at No. 18 across numerous rankings, including the latest NCAA coaches ranking. Sjomeling comes in at No. 33 nationally by Trackwrestling at 133 pounds after finishing the regular season 3-3 overall.

UNDEFEATED AT HOME

The win over Wisconsin on Jan. 31 closed the Huskers’ 2021 regular season home schedule. Nebraska finished 4-0 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center this season, including wins over the Badgers, Minnesota, Northwestern and Maryland. The team finished undefeated at home for the first time since the 2007-08 season during which NU also hosted four duals.