Nebraska wrestling finishes third at Big Ten meet; Ridge Lovett wins individual title

Lovett had his turn Sunday in College Park, Maryland.

Lovett held off second-seeded Austin Gomez of Michigan in the third period for a 5-4 win in the 149-pound final. Lovett, ranked No. 1 nationally at his weight class, has handed Gomez his only two losses this season.

Gomez got a takedown to take a 3-0 lead, but Lovett got an escape and a takedown for a 4-3 lead after one period. An escape in the second period made it 5-3, then the only point in the third period was a stalling call on Lovett.​

Now, Lovett likely will be the top seed at the NCAA tournament this week in Kansas City, Missouri. He helped the Huskers finish third as a team at Big Tens with 118 points. Penn State rolled to the title with 170.5, Michigan was second with 123.5. After NU was Iowa with 110.5.

Nebraska showed its depth as nine Huskers finished in the top eight in their respective weight class.

Three Huskers – Peyton Robb (157), Lenny Pinto (184) and Silas Allred (197) – took third place. Robb won his last four matches after his loss in the quarterfinals. Pinto and Allred, last year’s winner at 197, each only loss in the semifinals.

Freshman Jacob Van Dee placed fourth at 133. He went 4-2 with both losses coming to Penn State’s Aaron Nagao.

Millard South grad Antrell Taylor won his fifth-place match by sudden victory over Chris Moore of Illinois. Brock Hardy at 141 also placed fifth as he won his final match with a first-period pin.

Nash Hutmacher, who joined the wrestling team after football season ended, placed sixth at heavyweight to earn his spot at nationals. Caleb Smith went 2-3 and placed eighth at 125 pounds.