NU Hosts Minnesota, Northwestern to Start Big Ten Play

Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska wrestling team (4-2, 0-0 Big Ten) is set to host Minnesota on Friday and Northwestern on Sunday at the Devaney Center. Action is slated to begin at 8 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. NU’s dual with Minnesota will air on BTN and competition against Northwestern will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).

Friday night will feature a high school dual between Lincoln East and Lincoln Southeast beginning at 5:30 p.m. (doors open at 4:30 p.m.), as well as a crewneck giveaway and Pepsi Pack the House ($1 tickets and $1 Pepsi products).

NU’s dual against Minnesota will potentially feature seven matchups between ranked wrestlers and Sunday against Northwestern could have six. Six Huskers enter the weekend ranked in the Top 25, including returning All-Americans No. 1 Peyton Robb (157) and No. 2 Mikey Labriola (174). The All-American duo boasts an undefeated meet record (12-0) and has scored 47 dual meet points for the Big Red this season.

Nebraska and Minnesota meet for the 73rd time in series history. The Gophers lead the all-time series 52-20 and won last year’s matchup (19-13). However, NU has won five of the last six meetings. The Huskers have defeated the Wildcats in each of their previous 15 meetings.

Last Time Out: NU used 12 bonus-point victories to sweep the day and claim two dual victories, defeating both Gardner-Webb and Campbell on Saturday, 37-6. The Huskers improved to 4-2 on the season, as NU tallied four pins, four technical falls and three major decisions. 

Up Next: The Huskers travel to No. 2 Iowa (9-0, 2-0 Big Ten) for an 8 p.m. dual on Jan. 20. The meet will be televised on BTN.

Nebraska’s Projected Lineup*:

*InterMat rankings used        
 
Minnesota’s (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) Projected Lineup*: 

*InterMat rankings used 

Scouting the Gophers:

• Minnesota swept its non-conference schedule, including wins over ranked South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Oklahoma State and Cal Poly.
• The Gophers fell in their first conference dual of the season last weekend against Northwestern. The Wildcats won five of the six ranked matchups in the dual to claim the 18-11 victory.
• Last season, the Gophers went 4-6, defeating three ranked opponents in South Dakota State, Northwestern and Nebraska, and finished 11th at the NCAA Tournament.
• Coached by Brandon Eggum (seventh season at Minnesota); Record at UM: 56-31

Northwestern’s (2-0, 1-0 Big Ten) Projected Lineup*: 

*InterMat rankings used 
 
Scouting the Wildcats:

• Northwestern opened its season with a 20-13 victory over Virginia and has started conference play with a 18-11 victory over Minnesota.
• The Wildcats also took home the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships title last month with three wrestlers claiming individual titles.
• Last season, Northwestern went 7-4 and 4-4 in conference play. At the NCAA Championships, the team finished sixth.
• Coached by Matt Storniolo (eight season at Northwestern); Record: 42-52

Back Points
Quick Notes

• Nebraska won its fifth Cliff Keen Invitational team title in program history on Dec. 3.
• Labriola was named the NCAA Wrestler of the Week and the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week honor, when the award winners were announced last month.
• In this week’s Intermat NCAA Wrestling Rankings, Husker junior Robb takes the top spot at 157 pounds. Senior Labriola and redshirt sophomore Hardy join Robb in the top five rankings as Labriola sits in second at 174 pounds and Hardy is in fifth at 141 pounds. Additionally, Cronin (125) and Pinto (184) are ranked #10, Allred (197) is #25 and Wilson (165) is #29.
• Last month, the Big Red finalized its 2023 recruiting class. Weston Dalton, Ethan DeLeon, Cooper French, Tanner Frothinger, Hampton Kaye-Kuter, Alan Koehler, Kael Lauridsen, Camden McDanel, Matthew Moore, Griffin Ray, Ethan Stiles and Dominic Thebeau will be joining the team for the 2023-24 season.
• Team leaders by category among starters:

  • Dual Record: Robb/Labriola (6-0)
  • Dual Points: Robb (24)
  • Dual Takedowns: Labriola (23)
  • Pins:  Hardy (6)
  • Technical Falls: Robb (5)
  • Major Decisions: Nate Wemstrom/Labriola/Pinto (5)
  • Quickest Pin: Cronin (0:30)