Nebraska dominated the elite division, sweeping first place from 157 pounds to heavyweight, and placing 11 wrestlers in the top six. The amateur division was no different, as five Huskers placed and two earned crowns. Overall, NU wrestlers posted a 69-26 record at the event, including 29 bonus-point wins and 13 pins.
Wrestling in his first tournament since moving to the 157-pound weight class, Burroughs posted a 4-0 mark with two bonus-point wins. He earned his first pin of the season in his opening match against Northern Iowa Area's Tim Kirkwood, notching the fall in 2:07. Burroughs followed with a decision over Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich, before claiming a 24-10 major decision versus Northern Illinois' Bryan Deutsch. His most impressive win of the day was a 6-4 defeat of No. 6 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota in the final.
Burroughs had plenty of competition for the spotlight, including fellow junior Craig Brester at 197 pounds. Brester won the Manuel Gorrarian Award for recording the most pins in the least amount of time, after falling three of his opponents. He pinned Iowa State's Kyle Simonson in 1:27 to start the day and followed with a 2:54 pin of Chattanooga's Ethan Winel in the second round. Brester also pinned Winel in Nebraska's dual with the Mocs on Thursday night. Brester advanced with a 14-3 major decision against Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold and capped the day with a 1:49 fall against Northern Iowa's Andrew Anderson. Brester is now 5-0 on the season, with four of his wins coming by pin.
The Huskers also dominated the 184-pound weight class, with three NU wrestlers finishing in the top four. Senior Vince Jones posted two pins to advance to the final, where he earned an 8-2 decision over fellow Husker Romero Cotton for first place. The freshman Cotton won a 14-9 match against Husker junior Levi Wofford in the second round, but Wofford rebounded to place fourth.
Senior Brandon Browne and junior Stephen Dwyer (165) also went 4-0 on the day to claim crowns for Nebraska. Browne successfully defended his title at 174 pounds, after winning the event last year. Redshirt freshman Tucker Lane placed first at heavyweight in the amateur division last year, and moved up to the elite division with the same result this season.
In the amateur division, freshmen Ridge Kiley at 125 pounds and Tyler Koehn at 157 took home titles for Nebraska. Kiley topped off his showing by pinning Iowa Central's Patrick Hunter in 2:21 in the final. Koehn sandwiched three straight decisions after opening and ending the day with major decisions. Fellow freshmen Jon Burns (141) and Josh Ihnen (184) lost in their respective final to take second, while Matt Ashton (133) placed fourth.
Full results of Nebraska's wrestlers at the Kaufman-Brand Open are below. The Huskers continue their season with duals against Augustana (S.D.) and Oregon State at 4 and 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28. Fans can get into either dual for free with a valid Nebraska-Colorado football ticket.
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