Husker wrestling had its best day
Plus, my three biggest questions as Nebraska begins spring football
“I think we were the second-best team last year, but we didn’t get that trophy,” Nebraska coach Mark Manning said in an interview with FloWrestling Friday. “I think our guys understood that. Nobody else in the country believed that.”
This year, anyone can believe it after what was probably the best day in the history of Nebraska wrestling. Three Huskers competed for national titles at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia Saturday.
That was just one of the program records the Huskers tied or set at the tournament. They scored the most team points (117.0) in program history to finish second, tied for the best finish at Nebraska. Eight earned All-America honors (school record) with three making the finals and two winning national titles, tying single-season program records.
Senior Ridge Lovett (149) earned the first championship, taking down 1-seed Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech as the second seed in a stunning match that was scoreless after two periods. Lovett scored on an escape in the third and was able to hold on. A four-time All-American, Lovett wrestled for a national title as a sophomore in 2022, falling by decision to the almost impossible Yianni Diakomihalis, a four-time national champion for Cornell.
Lovett’s individual title was Nebraska’s first since Jordan Burroughs’ in 2011.
Sophomore Antrell Taylor (3-seed, 157) made it two titles with a 4-2 decision over 8-seed Joey Blaze of Purdue. The sophomore from Millard South became the first Nebraskan to win an individual title for the Huskers since 2000. It was the first time NU claimed two titles in the same season since 1984.
Nebraska had a shot at another championship at 141 pounds with junior 1-seed Brock Hardy building a 5-0 lead over 3-seed Jesse Mendez of Ohio State after the first period. Mendez ripped off a 10-1 run after that, claiming a 12-9 decision.
Penn State took the team title going away, setting an NCAA record with 171.0 points for its fourth straight championship and 12th in the past 14 tournaments. (If you think college football and basketball always feel like the usual suspects, they’re often nothing compared to some of the sports1 that get less TV attention.) Given the Nittany Lions’ inevitability, Nebraska was largely the talk of the tournament for its better-than-expected finish.
Manning earned the NCAA Tournament Coach of the Year award with the following Huskers earning All-America honors2 based on their tournament finish:
125: senior Caleb Smith, 7th (9 seed)
133: sophomore Jacob Van Dee, 7th (17 seed)
165: redshirt freshman Christopher Minto, 4th (12 seed)
184: junior Silas Allred, 7th (12 seed)
197: freshman Camden McDaniel (20 seed)
Two things there: The seeds show just what an attention-grabbing performance this was, and the classes show this team should have a lot of talent returning for 2025–26.
3 areas of intrigue for spring football
Just me or does excitement for spring football, which gets underway this week, feel somewhat dulled? Maybe that’s just natural for the start of Year 3 under a staff that has made some clear progress while also clearly not having exorcised whatever program demons said staff inherited. Maybe the lack of a traditional spring game3 has a subconscious effect, but I suspect interest will ramp up as we get into the typical news cycle.
Along those lines, I’m going to offer a quick breakdown of three things I’m curious about this spring (feel free to do the same in the comments), knowing we’ll probably explore these topics at length as we get into practices and press conferences:
1. Does NU have the RBs it needs? I thought the Huskers did a year ago while knowing there weren’t a lot of sure things in the room. There might be more certainty at the top this year—depending upon how you weight a small-but-strong sample size for Emmett Johnson—but there’s probably less certainty after that. I need another NU back to show me something in the practices ahead not to think the Huskers won’t be active in the spring portal at this position.
2. How will the Huskers stop the run? This is a big, broad question that won’t be fully answered in the spring, but I think it’s vital for 2025. Nebraska ranked sixth nationally in yards per rush allowed in 2023. It lost two veteran inside linebackers for 2024—but notably returned the guts of the defensive line, which was even better than the season before—and finished 17th last season. Now NU has to replace the top two inside linebackers and LOS-movers Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson. It’s a lot, man. And, if you were to ask me the quickest way Nebraska has another “not bad” season (instead of something better), my first answer is “it wasn’t as good against the run.” That was a given in the first two years under Rhule.
3. Does NU have the CBs it wants? The Huskers return plenty of experience in the secondary with 45 combined starts last year between Marques Buford Jr., Malcolm Hartzog Jr., DeShon Singleton and Ceyair Wright. Only Wright from that group is a dyed in the wool corner, and he was thrust into the role (and excelled) only after Tommi Hill was injured. Assuming he holds down one side, who claims the other? You’ve got the long guy, Blye Hill (6-4), who was perhaps close to winning that job last spring before an injury limited him to two November games. After that things get young quickly—with redshirt freshmen Amare Sanders and Caleb Benning among the first up for first-team reps—or unfamiliar with transfers Jamir Conn (SIU) and Andrew Marshall (Idaho) looking to claim a spot.
Probably don’t need to remind anyone, but Trinity College won 13 straight men’s squash championships from 1999–2011. The Bantams have either won the title or been runner-up every season since 1999. Every college dynasty should be described as “the Trinity College of (insert sport here).” Nobody will get it, but you will and that’s what matters.
In addition to the three finalists mentioned above.
The longer I sit with it, the less I buy Matt Rhule’s explanation for why NU isn’t having a spring game, which is neither here nor there. I just wish he’d said something closer to “don’t see the same upside in it we once did,” than a headline-grabbing commentary on the way college football is today. The former seems more realistic.
My curiosities:
1) How do the Cornhuskers make it through the April(?) portal? If the coaches are going to after-action report each individual, an exodus of the #2 and #3 in the depth chart could very well occur.
2) How many Nebraskans are on the team when the 105 kicks in? I assume there will be some rumors of who is in and not come May, especially if the Huskers try to ADD some players then.
3) And now, and most importantly, how offensive is Raiolas line? When push comes to shove, (see what I did there?) How do the Huskers balance out the value Teddy and Turner have with 1 more year left versus the potential value someone like Maciejczak or Markway have with 3ish years left? I have some level of confidence that both could find a team over the summer, but for what $?
I think Rhule and the AD think they have plenty of interest from the state without the enormous pep rally the spring game created. We had two knee injuries during the game and had 6 kids go into the portal. I think the James Williams is so painful in so many ways. James was developed here, granted his coach went to FSU but then for James to speak poorly of his former mates is really low.