I thought you guys would enjoy this piece about former Cornhusker Jordan Burroughs.

By Craig Sesker USA Wrestling
06/10/2011


OKLAHOMA CITY – Jordan Burroughs was nervous.

He was tight, tense and just wasn’t himself in his first match against Andrew Howe in the first match of the best-of-3 final-round series at the U.S. World Team Trials.

But Burroughs, the two-time NCAA champion and reigning Hodge Trophy winner, found a way to rally to win the first match on Friday night at the Cox Convention Center.

The explosive Burroughs looked more relaxed in the second match as he defeated Howe to make his first World Team in freestyle wrestling at 74 kg/163 lbs. He won the first match 1-0, 1-2, 3-2 before taking the second 3-1, 1-0.

Burroughs was one of eight champions crowned Friday who advance to September’s World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

“I was tense, and you could see it in that first match,” Burroughs said. “I gave up a lot of takedowns, but I just opened up more in the second match. Howe is a real tough wrestler. Coach (Mark) Manning just told me to relax and do what I came here to do and what got me to this point. I wrestled hard and stayed in good position in the second match.”

The physical, hard-nosed Howe, a 2010 NCAA champion and U.S. Open champion, made Burroughs work for his title.

Howe won the Challenge Tournament to earn a shot at Burroughs in the finals.

http://themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=23713