Stones of the Yarra Valley

Husker Wrestling: Nebraska Ends Dual Season With 32-6 Win Over Utah Valley

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Nebraska's #3 Brock Hardy is a Utah native and got to wrestle his final dual match in his home state. | Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The 5th-ranked Nebraska wrestling team finished its dual season with a dominant 32-6 win over Utah Valley out of the Big 12. The Huskers finish the dual season with a 13-6 record.

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Starting the dual at 157 pounds, Nebraska was dominant from the start as it turns its attention toward the postseason. Of note, Nebraska’s #3 Brock Hardy is a Utah native who is one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of Utah, so he was shown a lot of love in this dual from the crowd.

With the Big Ten Championships in less than two weeks, Nebraska has won at least eight matches in each of its last four duals.

Weight-By-Weight Recap

157 pounds

The dual started here, so Nebraska’s #1 Antrell Taylor didn’t waste a lot of time. Despite his opponent Ian Fritz shooting in early and getting in deep, Taylor fought it off and collected four takedowns and four near-fall points in the first period alone.

Up 16-3 going into the second, Taylor chose neutral and shot in for a quick takedown, ending the match with the 19-3 technical fall.

Taylor is now 20-2 going into the Big Ten Championships where he will likely be the 1-seed with his 8-0 record in Big Ten duals. The only Big Ten wrestler to beat Taylor this year was Ohio State’s #3 Brandon Cannon who is just 2-0 in Big Ten duals — he’s been out of action since Jan. 23.

165 pounds

Nebraskas #7 LJ Araujo took on Utah Valley’s Zyon Trujillo in a match between freshmen here.

Araujo scrambled off a Trujillo shot in the first for the takedown before putting on a hard ride before locking up a late cradle that scored four near-fall points and nearly ended the match with a pin.

In the second, Araujo scored on a reversal before adding four near-fall points to go up 13-0. Araujo then used an arm bar to put Trujillo to his back, ending the match with his second stick of the season.

Going into his first postseason as a redshirt freshman, Araujo is 14-6 after going through one of the toughest schedules on the team — he seems to be pretty battle-tested to me. Looking at things, Araujo is a shoe-in for the 4-seed at Big Tens.

174 pounds

Riding an 11-0 dual lead, Nebraska’s #4 Christopher Minto took the mat against Hudson Rogers, a redshirt freshman who was game.

Rogers shot in early and got in deep, but Minto locked through the crotch to defend the takedown and worked around for a takedown of his own, taking a 3-0 lead. In the second, Minto scored an escape and a takedown before Rogers dropped down late for a late takedown. Rogers was called for a late locked hands call, giving Minto the 8-5 lead going into the third.

Minto cut Rogers loose to start the final period, but Rogers again got in deep on Minto who again worked his defense and came out on top for the takedown. Minto then cut Rogers again and collected another takedown late. With the riding-time point, Minto won the match 15-7 for the major decision.

Going into his second postseason, Minto is now 18-4 on the year and the likely 3-seed at Big Tens.

184 pounds

Nebraska elected to give All-American #6 Silas Allred the night off and gave true freshman Ty Eise a shot. Eise took on Utah Valley’s Caleb Uhlenhopp in this match.

A junior, Uhlenhopp held Iowa’s #2 Angelo Ferrari to a 4-1 decision earlier this season, so he’s a quality opponent.

After a scoreless first period, Eise took the initial lead with a second-period escape before giving one up in the third, tying the match 1-1. Late in the match, Eise used a slide-by for what looked like a takedown, but Uhlenhopp rolled through at the last second, eventually collecting the takedown for the 4-1 win over Eise.

Eise has wrestled at 174 almost the entire season (he’s 13-6 on the year), but his only two matches this year up at 184 have come in duals — he’s 0-2 in duals but faced tough opponents in both matches spelling Allred this year. With Allred graduating after this season, Eise wrestling up at 184 in duals as a redshirt probably means he’ll be the man to start at 184 next season.

Honestly, I could also see a scenario where Minto moves up to 184 next year and Eise stays at 174 to start there., but that’s a conversation for the offseason.

197 pounds

Nebraska’s #10 Camden McDanel faced a guy in #29 Kael Bennie who didn’t back down.

McDanel scored the first takedown after shooting a single-leg that led into an extended scramble — McDanel eventually got a leg, elevated it and scored the takedown.

In the second, McDanel scored a reversal on a roll, but Bennie reversed him back almost immediately. McDanel then escaped off a roll for the 7-3 lead.

In the final period, McDanel cut Bennie for an escape before scoring another takedown where he momentarily had a cradle locked up, putting him ahead 10-4. Bennie got the escape shortly after, giving McDanel the win 10-5.

With the win, McDanel improves to 18-5 on the year and the likely 2-seed at Big Tens in a couple weeks — he went 7-1 in Big Ten duals, losing his only match against #1 Josh Barr of Penn State.

285 pounds

This was the most exciting match of the night. Nebraska’s #3 AJ Ferrari took on Utah Valley’s #27 Jack Forbes. A senior and a team leader, Forbes was a formidable heavyweight — he was tall and certainly built for the weight.

In the first period, Ferrari got in on a single leg and used his incredible power to lift Forbes off the ground for the takedown.

In the second, Ferrari got riding time over a minute while running Forbes out of bounds multiple times before giving up the escape point.

In the third period, Ferrari scored an escape to go up 4-1 to start the period. Ferrari then got in on a low single before locking up a cradle momentarily for the takedown and two near-fall points, giving him a 9-1 lead.

Ferrari then hit a re-attack for a takedown to go up 12-2, but the real highlight came late when Ferrari snapped Forbes’ face to the mat before blasting through him for the double-leg takedown with 10 seconds left. Ferrari then cut Forbes loose and hit another blast double for a last-second takedown and the win via 19-4 tech fall with the riding-time point.

Ferrari goes into Big Tens with a 13-2 record on the year and a real case for the top seed.

125 pounds

Going into this dual, this was the most interesting match to me because #33 Kael Lauridsen has shown flashes at times. Lauridsen responded to earning the starting spot with his third ranked win of the season against Utah Valley’s #25 Bridger Ricks.

After a scoreless first period, Ricks earned a second-period escape after his reversal to Lauridsen’s back was called out of bounds. Lauridsen then hit a late re-attack, putting Ricks to his back last in the second period to go up 7-1. Ricks’ finger got caught in Lauridsen’s shoelace in a strange exchange late, giving Ricks a penalty point.

Lauridsen then scored an escape to start the third and held on for the 8-2 win, although he did nearly score a takedown at the buzzer.

A redshirt freshman, Lauridsen enters his first postseason with a 10-9 record against D1 competition (he’s 13-9 overall).

133 pounds

Nebraska’s #10 Jacob Van Dee took on freshman Geronimo Rivera here. A four-time Utah state champion, Rivera gave Van Dee a match.

After a scoreless first period, Van Dee scored first with an escape in the second. In the third, Rivera chose neutral, but Van Dee got the late takedown with a go-behind for the 4-1 decision win.

Van Dee is 15-4 going into his third postseason as the likely 5-seed at Big Tens.

141 pounds

In a homecoming of sorts, Nebraska’s #3 Brock Hardy took on #20 Haiden Drury of Utah Valley. The Utah native finished his dual career with a win in his home state.

Hardy earned a first-period takedown off a re-attack on the edge before rolling through with a cradle. Initially, it was called four near fall, but upon review the back points were waved off. It looked in-bounds to me, but you be the judge.

Hardy then gave up the escape before swapping escapes in the second and third period for the 4-2 win via decision.

Hardy is now 18-4 going into his final postseason where he’ll be the 2-seed at 141.

149 pounds

In the final match of the dual, Nebraska’s #15 Chance Lamer took on former Penn State backup #17 David Evans, now of Utah Valley.

Lamer scored first with a takedown in the first period, but Evans scored an escape. Lamer’ then started the second period with an escape before giving up a takedown to Evans on a re-shot where he ran through Lamer. After an escape, Lamer took a 5-4 lead to the third.

Evans scored an escape in the third to tie the match before hitting a late double on Lamer for the takedown, beating the Husker senior 8-5.

With the loss, Lamer is now 15-5 on the year going into Big Tens where he could be a 7 or 8-seed.

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