ISU upsets No. 2 NU wrestlers
AMES, Iowa — The Nebraska wrestling team entered the final weekend of the regular season with a chance to make history by going unbeaten in the Big 12 Conference.
But it was apparent early on in Sunday’s dual that there would be no milestones for the second-ranked Huskers.
With losses in the first three matches, including an upset of seventh-ranked Craig Brester at 197 pounds, Nebraska fell behind in a big way and never recovered, falling 22-12 to No. 6 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.
Nebraska coach Mark Manning said he was “a little bit disappointed and shocked” with the way his team wrestled.
“We didn’t wrestle our best, that’s for sure,” Manning said. “Iowa State did a good job and they had their guys way better prepared than we did, and that’s on me.”
Iowa State got off to a fast start when top-ranked Jake Varner dominated NU’s Vince Jones at 184, scoring a 4-1 decision that included more than five minutes of riding time advantage.
The Huskers had counted on squaring things up at 197, but Brester never could get any momentum against ISU’s David Bertolino. Brester, ranked sixth in the nation, gave up a pair of takedowns to his 18th-rated opponent and trailed 6-4 late in the second period.
With a pair of escapes, Brester forced the match to extra time, where Bertolino won in the third period by scoring an escape with 20 seconds left. That put the Cyclones ahead 6-0.
Husker heavyweight Jon May had a shot at upsetting ISU’s sixth-ranked David Zabriskie, but was taken down with only seven seconds remaining in the match and lost 3-1.
Manning said those losses were indicative of Nebraska’s problems on Sunday.
“We were a little too defensive. We were a little more disappointed more on the defensive end of things in some weight classes rather than taking the fight to them,” Manning said.
Defending national champion Paul Donahoe scored a close 5-4 decision against Tyler Clark at 125 to give the Huskers their first team points and cut Iowa State’s lead to 9-3.
But Iowa State won the next two matches, including Nick Gallick’s pin of Mike Rowe at 141 to take an 18-3 lead and ruin the Huskers’ dream of perfection.
Wins by Jordan Burroughs at 149, Stephen Dwyer at 165 and Brandon Browne at 174 made the final score more respectable, but it wasn’t enough to take the sting out of the loss.
“I thought we’d all been wrestling well,” Browne said. “Last weekend (on the road against Rider and Hofstra), everybody was wrestling well. … Brester, I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
Browne called Brester’s loss at 197 “a big swing” and said it showed just how tough it is to rebound from an early deficit.
“I think that was the turning point although it was only the second match. A lot of people don’t realize it’s all about momentum, just like college football is,” Browne said. “When guys start losing it’s hard to stay focused and keep wrestling good.”
Dwyer and Browne finished off the dual with wins and joined Donahoe and Burroughs in likely securing good seeds for themselves in the Big 12 Championships on March 8 in Stillwater, Okla.
This loss, Dwyer said, is something that will change things for each individual Husker.
“The biggest thing in wrestling is to improve. I don’t know anyone who stays the same, they either get better or they get worse.”
“Part of the excitement of duals is that it’s a team competition, too. It’s always good to be a deciding factor, and most of the guys on our team don’t run away from that pressure,” Dwyer said. “We will learn from our mistakes.”
Reach Karl Vogel at 473-7432 or kvogel@journalstar.com.
But it was apparent early on in Sunday’s dual that there would be no milestones for the second-ranked Huskers.
With losses in the first three matches, including an upset of seventh-ranked Craig Brester at 197 pounds, Nebraska fell behind in a big way and never recovered, falling 22-12 to No. 6 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum.
Nebraska coach Mark Manning said he was “a little bit disappointed and shocked” with the way his team wrestled.
“We didn’t wrestle our best, that’s for sure,” Manning said. “Iowa State did a good job and they had their guys way better prepared than we did, and that’s on me.”
Iowa State got off to a fast start when top-ranked Jake Varner dominated NU’s Vince Jones at 184, scoring a 4-1 decision that included more than five minutes of riding time advantage.
The Huskers had counted on squaring things up at 197, but Brester never could get any momentum against ISU’s David Bertolino. Brester, ranked sixth in the nation, gave up a pair of takedowns to his 18th-rated opponent and trailed 6-4 late in the second period.
With a pair of escapes, Brester forced the match to extra time, where Bertolino won in the third period by scoring an escape with 20 seconds left. That put the Cyclones ahead 6-0.
Husker heavyweight Jon May had a shot at upsetting ISU’s sixth-ranked David Zabriskie, but was taken down with only seven seconds remaining in the match and lost 3-1.
Manning said those losses were indicative of Nebraska’s problems on Sunday.
“We were a little too defensive. We were a little more disappointed more on the defensive end of things in some weight classes rather than taking the fight to them,” Manning said.
Defending national champion Paul Donahoe scored a close 5-4 decision against Tyler Clark at 125 to give the Huskers their first team points and cut Iowa State’s lead to 9-3.
But Iowa State won the next two matches, including Nick Gallick’s pin of Mike Rowe at 141 to take an 18-3 lead and ruin the Huskers’ dream of perfection.
Wins by Jordan Burroughs at 149, Stephen Dwyer at 165 and Brandon Browne at 174 made the final score more respectable, but it wasn’t enough to take the sting out of the loss.
“I thought we’d all been wrestling well,” Browne said. “Last weekend (on the road against Rider and Hofstra), everybody was wrestling well. … Brester, I wasn’t expecting that at all.”
Browne called Brester’s loss at 197 “a big swing” and said it showed just how tough it is to rebound from an early deficit.
“I think that was the turning point although it was only the second match. A lot of people don’t realize it’s all about momentum, just like college football is,” Browne said. “When guys start losing it’s hard to stay focused and keep wrestling good.”
Dwyer and Browne finished off the dual with wins and joined Donahoe and Burroughs in likely securing good seeds for themselves in the Big 12 Championships on March 8 in Stillwater, Okla.
This loss, Dwyer said, is something that will change things for each individual Husker.
“The biggest thing in wrestling is to improve. I don’t know anyone who stays the same, they either get better or they get worse.”
“Part of the excitement of duals is that it’s a team competition, too. It’s always good to be a deciding factor, and most of the guys on our team don’t run away from that pressure,” Dwyer said. “We will learn from our mistakes.”
Reach Karl Vogel at 473-7432 or kvogel@journalstar.com.
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