Wrestling: Roster Updates and New Commits

During the offseason, there are a lot of moving parts in all of college athletics. You have people graduating, people transferring away, people transferring in, and incoming recruits to keep track of.

In some sports, such as football, there is an enormous amount of information out there. If the Huskers get a football recruit, you know about it right away. If they get a transfer or lose someone to the portal, you know about it.

But in sports without that level of media coverage, such as wrestling, changes to a roster can sometimes happen without anyone really noticing. Recruits can commit and it doesn’t get reported.

But we’re here to try to remedy that with a look at the Huskers’ updated roster as well as taking a look at some new additions.

First … Who’s Not on the Roster?

With the recent update to the official Husker roster, there is really only one name missing that I expected to be there. That would be 2022 commit Danny Nini out of Florida. Formerly ranked No. 14 at 152 pounds in high school, Nini committed to the Huskers in April.

Without Nini, who projected to 149 pounds, the Huskers are left with only returning NCAA finalist Ridge Lovett listed at that weight. Not only does that make 149 Nebraska’s biggest weight of need for its 2023 class, it also makes keeping Lovett healthy Nebraska’s biggest concern this season.

Roster Additions

Ismael Ayoub

Incoming freshman Ismael Ayoub is a very athletically gifted wrestler from Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio. The former Wisconsin commit is listed at 141 pounds on the Husker roster.

Ayoub is a four-time Ohio state qualifier and two-time placer. He finished his prep career with a 133-23 record.

With the apparent loss of Nini, maybe that’s why the Huskers went ahead and added Ayoub to the fold.

Reese Davis

Former teammate of incoming freshman heavyweight Harley Andrews out of Tuttle High School in Oklahoma, Reese Davis was a late addition to the Husker roster. The freshman just finished up helping Tuttle win four Oklahoma state team titles along with Andrews.

Davis is a two-time Oklahoma state champion and was a four-time finalist. He’s listed on the Husker roster at 157 pounds.

New Commits

2022 Class

Dez Gartrell

Not listed on the Husker roster is Dez Gartrell, although he’s recently shown up as a new Husker commit on FloWrestling’s 2022 commitment list.

Just like Ayoub, Gartrell comes from Dublin Coffman HS in Ohio and is listed at 165 pounds for the Huskers. As a senior, Gartrell went 47-3 but had to miss the state tournament after injuring his elbow in the district final. He finished with a 136-36 career record.

2023 Class

Weston Dalton

The Huskers continue to put together an impressive 2023 recruiting class, which is currently ranked No. 16 in the country. They already had No. 39 overall Kael Lauridsen and No. 43 Alan Koehler in the fold as well as Griffin Ray out of Missouri.

But they recently picked up a commitment from Weston Dalton out of Pueblo East HS in Colorado. Dalton is a Top-100 recruit in this class, checking in at No. 86, giving the Huskers three commits in the Top 100.

Currently at 145 pounds, Dalton is fresh off winning a Colorado 4A state title in March with a 41-3 record on the year. As a freshman, Dalton won a state title at 120 pounds. As a sophomore, he bumped up to 132 where he took an undefeated record into the state final only to be upset. This coming season, Dalton has the chance to become a three-time state champ and four-time finalist.