A 4-1 Showing in the Quarterfinals Briefly Gives Nebraska NCAA Team Lead

All year, when the subject of the NCAA team race came up, it wasn’t whether or not Penn State would win - it was by how much and if they would set any records. Penn State still could, and probably should, win the team championship; however, Nebraska made the prospect extremely interesting with an excellent quarterfinal round. The Cornhuskers won four of five quarterfinal bouts and even briefly held the lead after a comeback win by Christopher Minto in the 165 lb quarterfinal. 

The lead was short-lived - Penn State ended up righting the ship and extending their lead to 25 by the end of the morning session (90.5 to 65.5 over Nebraska). For a few minutes, it gave fans a reason to grumble or, if you enjoyed the moment, to take a picture of the video board showing the scores. 

Nebraska’s surprising run through the quarterfinals started with top-seeded Brock Hardy, who continued his hot run of late. Hardy notched his third bonus-point win of the tournament as he disposed of Jacob Frost (Iowa State) by fall in the second period. Just a match earlier, Frost had upset 2023 NCAA champion Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado). Hardy will square off with longtime nemesis #5 Cael Happel in tonight’s semifinal. Happel has won their last three meetings, three of four, and their only one this season. 

Next up for the Huskers was 149 lber Ridge Lovett who had a rematch of the Big Ten finals with Illinois freshman Kannon Webster. In their conference championship bout, Lovett grinded out a 1-0 win. This time he was able to work from the top position and cruised to a 12-0 major decision. 

#3 Antrell Taylor kept the line moving with a 4-3 win over #11 Matty Bianchi (Little Rock). 

At 165 lbs, #12 Christopher Minto used a last-second takedown to score an 8-7 win over #4 Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley). For the first two months of the season, Minto wasn’t even the starter for Nebraska during the first two months of the season. His rise to the NCAA semifinals has been meteoric. 

Penn State still had a huge quarterfinal round as they pushed seven wrestlers through to the semifinals. The Nittany Lions won their final five bouts and put the entire back half of their lineup in the semis (Mesenbrink/65, Haines/74, Starocci/84, Barr/97, Kerkvliet/285). Additionally, Beau Barlett (141) and Shayne Van Ness (149) also punched their tickets to tonight’s semifinal round. 

Two of the day's biggest upset involved #1 seeds from Penn State. Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) was able to reverse the results of their early season dual and knocked off true freshman Luke Lilledahl (Penn State). Seymour was able to get the win in a tactical bout that was decided by riding time, with a 2-2 score. The bout was Penn State’s first loss of the entire tournament. It also set the tone for a wild quarterfinal round. 

Four matches later, Penn State saw another top-seed fall as Joey Blaze (Penn State) used a late takedown to knock off #1 Tyler Kasak (Penn State), 5-4. Though the two are in the Big Ten, they did not meet each other this season. 

Other notable lower-seeded wrestlers in the semifinals include #13 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin/133), #13 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State/149), #20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern/157), #12 Christopher Minto (Nebraska/165), #13 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State/174).