Husker wrestlers second at Big 12 Championships
Nebraska took home three individual titles on Saturday, but it was Iowa State that dominated the medal stand at the Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, Okla.
The Cyclones had four champions and two second-place finishes to wrap up their second straight team title with 75½ points. The Huskers were second at 62½ for their best finish in the conference meet since 2004 and qualfied eight wrestlers for the NCAA Championships March 20-22 in St. Louis.
“There were a lot of close matches in the whole tournament, lots of one-pointers and overtimes,” NU coach Mark Manning said. “There were a lot of weights where that determined whether a guy got fifth or third place.
“We left some points on the board today, I think,” Maning said. “Iowa State won a lot of close ones and we lost some. That hurt us winning the championship.”
The Huskers started the finals on a high note with defending national champion Paul Donahoe rallying from an early deficit to beat Oklahoma State’s Tyler Shinn 7-4 at 125 pounds.
After a pair of Iowa State titles, NU’s Jordan Burroughs continued his dominance with a 15-6 major decision against Iowa State’s Mitch Mueller. Earlier in the day, Burroughs won his semifinal match with a 24-9 technical fall against Oklahoma’s Will Rowe.
“I didn’t underestimate the guys I was going to wrestle,” said Burroughs, who was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler. “It was great to do this, but now my only focus is to prepare for nationals and get better.”
Third-seeded Husker Stephen Dwyer battled Missouri’s Nick Marable, ranked second nationally, to the final period before dropping a 3-2 decision at 165.
Junior Brandon Browne, another top seeded Husker, got into a back-and-forth battle with OSU’s Brandon Mason and trailed late in the third period. But Browne scored a takedown with seven seconds left and held on for a 7-6 victory.
In his semifinal match, Browne needed to go to overtime to beat Missouri’s unranked Emanuel Brooks. After the meet, Browne said Saturday’s experience gave him some needed perspective.
“No matter how far down I get this season, I seem to do a pretty good job of fighting back and win the close ones,” Browne said. “This tells me I need to go out and wrestle every match hard and not take anyone lightly.”
Browne improved his season record to 31-2, and his .939 winning percentage ranks ninth in Husker history.
At 197, NU’s Craig Brester was taken down early and never could overcome his disadvantage, losing to Missouri’s Max Askren 8-3.
The Huskers’ title hopes were bolstered by four wrestlers — Kenny Jordan (133), Mike Rowe (141), Chris Oliver (157) and Jon May (heavyweight) — winning consolation semifinals, but all four lost in their third-place matches, leaving their NCAA fates in the hands of a coaches’ vote to determine the eight wild-cards that are allotted to Big 12 teams.
“We didn’t take care of business like we should have and didn’t get some places in some weight classes,” Manning said. “Now we have to leave it up to the other coaches to determine how many we’re going to get to nationals.”
In the end, Jordan, May and Vince Jones, who lost both of his matches and finished fifth at 184, were given NCAA wild cards.
Jordan lost 4-0 to top-seeded Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State, and Rowe lost 3-2 to Oklahoma’s Zack Bailey.
Oliver had a chance to avenge a first-round loss but again fell to OSU’s Newly McSpadden, this time 7-1.
Heavyweight May took Missouri’s Mark Ellis to overtime, but the Tigers’ big man scored a takedown in the sudden-victory period to win the match 3-1.
The championship matches from the Big 12 meet will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest (Time Warner Channel 37) at 12:30 p.m. March 16.
— Karl Vogel
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