"We got better from Friday night to today's performance," Head Coach Mark Manning said. "I believe this team we wrestled today was every bit as good as the team we wrestled on Friday."
The team needed to get off to a strong start, and that's just what they did in winning the first two bouts to take a 6-0 lead.
No. 3 Taylor Venz started the action off with a 7-1 win over Careless Looney at 184 pounds. He went up 3-0 in the first period and never took his foot off the gas. Eric Schultz (197) followed up Venz' performance with a hard-fought 7-3 decision.
Adversity hit in the next two matches when Brian Andrews of Wyoming pinned Christian Lance in the heavyweight battle and Cole Verner upset No. 6 Zeke Moisey to put Wyoming up 9-6.
In the final match before intermission, redshirt freshman Tucker Sjomeling responded with a breakout performance and upset No. 8 Montorie Bridges with a 13-11 decision. Bridges earned All-America honors last season after going 35-7 in 2017-18. He made it all the way to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals before being eliminated.
Coming out of the intermission tied at nine, returning All-American Chad Red Jr. (141) helped his team tack on three more points as he held off Sam Turner in a victory by decision, 6-2. Red Jr. did not compete on Friday night against Wisconsin.
Jordan Shearer got the nod at 149-pounds and responded with a workmanlike effort in a 5-0 decision victory over Wyoming's Jaron Jensen. Shearer looked to be in control the entire match as he accumulated 2:30 of riding time. The win brings Shearer to 6-2 overall on the year.
Two-time All-American Tyler Berger (157) continued his dominance in the early stages of his senior year. Berger moved to 5-0 on the season after winning by major decision for the fifth time in as many matches. His 14-1 victory put Nebraska up 19-9 with just three bouts remaining.
In one of the most anticipated matches of the night, #10 Branson Ashworth of Wyoming defeated #11 Isaiah White in a 3-0 decision. White defeated Ashworth in two separate matches last season.
No. 10 Mikey Labriola responded to a tough loss on Friday night against Wisconsin's Ryan Christensen by defeating Hayden Hastings, 14-11. The win brings Labriola to 8-1 on the season.
"What changed from Friday night was the mentality we competed with and pushing the pace," Manning said. "We need to take another jump with our team before heading out to Las Vegas in two weeks."
Results:
184: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) dec. Careless Looney (WYO), 7-1 (NEB 3, WYO 0)
197: Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. Cale Davidson (WYO), 7-3 (NEB 6, WYO 0)
HWT: Brian Andrews (WYO) FALL (4:53) Christian Lance (NEB) (WYO 6, NEB 6)
125: Cole Verner (WYO) dec. #6 Zeke Moisey (NEB), 5-2 (WYO 9, NEB 6)
133: Tucker Sjomeling (NEB) dec. #11 Montorie Bridges (WYO), 13-11 (WYO 9, NEB 9)
141: No. 11 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) dec. Sam Turner (WYO), 6-2 (NEB 12, WYO 9)
149: Jordan Shearer (NEB) dec. Jaron Jensen (WYO), 5-0 (NEB 15, WYO 9)
157: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) major dec. Dewey Krueger (WYO), 14-1 (NEB 19, WYO 9)
165: #10 Branson Ashworth (WYO) dec. #11 Isaiah White (NEB), 3-0 (NEB 19, WYO 12)
174: #10 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. Hayden Hastings (WYO), 14-11 (NEB 22, WYO 12)
Up Next:
Nebraska heads to the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. on Nov. 30 for the two-day tournament. After duals at North Carolina and NC State on Dec. 15 and 16, NU will be off until Jan. 6, 2019, when they return home for a dual against Northwestern.
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