Wrestlers with Husker ties — including Jordan Burroughs — get chance to make Senior World Team at PBA event this weekend | Wrestling

“Wrestling has become so popular, being the third biggest viewership on the Big Ten Network, behind football and men’s basketball, that viewership is just off the charts right now,” Nebraska wrestling coach Mark Manning said. “The popularity of (Team USA) took five wrestlers to the Olympics and all five of them medaled. The popularity of women’s wrestling is really growing at a great rate. … We hosted Final X here, which has been the World Team Trials in the past. It’s been a hit and people love Lincoln, Nebraska.”

Team USA women’s freestyle had four Tokyo medalists, with pioneers of the sport, Tamyra Mensah Stock (gold, 68 kg), Sarah Hildebrandt (bronze, 50 kg) and Adeline Gray (silver, 76 kg) all taking automatic bids. Helen Maroulis also earned an automatic bid with a bronze finish at 57 kilograms.

Mensah Stock, Hildebrandt and Gray were past participants in Lincoln, when the 2017 Team USA Freestyle World Trials were hosted at the Devaney Sports Center.

“This is going to be a high-level event,” Manning said. “I’d say get a ticket after the football game (Nebraska vs. Buffalo) and come over.”

With an event this big, it’d be a perfect recruiting tool for Manning and the Huskers, but he just wants to soak in the atmosphere of Pinnacle Bank Arena this weekend.

“We have dates for guys coming in October, but I think a lot of people realize that in the last 10 years, James and Jordan have been on World teams and Olympic teams,” Manning said. “James has been a five-time World Team member and two-time World Team medalist. Which is unheard of in our sport; it’s tough to make one team, let alone five. And Jordan has been on nine consecutive Olympic or World teams. It’s a great opportunity to see Jordan and James, and TJ Dudley and Tyler Berger and Christian Lance wrestle.