Wrestling: Non-Conference Schedule Announced

Nebraska’s non-conference schedule was announced Thursday on Twitter.

The Huskers will start the season like most others, with the Nebraska Duals on Nov. 11 where they’ll face off against in-state schools University of Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State.

A year ago, UNK finished just shy of a NCAA Division II National Championship with 105.5 points, falling to St. Cloud State who finished with 107 points. Chadron State, also a DII school, went 4-3 a year ago in dual action. Nebraska defeated UNK 47- -1 and Chadron State 37-3 in 2019.

After only competing against Big Ten Conference foes in 2021 due to Covid-19, Nebraska will get back to a normal schedule in 2021-22. After the Nebraska Duals, Nebraska will play host to North Carolina, one of the top ACC teams in the country.

North Carolina will be a solid foe, led by NCAA champion Austin O’Connor. O’Connor defeated Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso in the 149-pound final in March to win North Carolina’s first individual national title since 1995. He’s likely to move up to 157 pounds for his final year.

Photo by Scott Rovak/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Then Nebraska will travel to Brookings, S.D. to compete in the Daktronics Open. Two years ago, Nebraska saw both Ridge Lovett (133 pounds then) and Kevon Davenport (149) win titles, while Alex Thomsen (125) and Bubba Wilson (157) both finished second.

After that on Dec. 3-4, Nebraska will again compete at the Cliff Keen Invite.

Two years ago, Nebraska won the team title among a field of 32 schools, including Ohio St., Arizona St., Northern Iowa, Purdue, Iowa State, Minnesota, NC State, Oklahoma, Cornell, Virginia Tech and Michigan. That’s a stacked field.

Behind a title from then-senior Isaiah White at 165 pounds, Nebraska also had third-place finishes from Lovett and Mikey Labriola. Chad Red Jr., Taylor Venz and Eric Schultz all finished fifth.

Finishing off the non-conference schedule will be a home dual against South Dakota State The Jackrabbits finished 26th at the 2021 NCAA Championships and will be led by a trio of underclassmen. Sophomore Clay Carlson finished as an All-American at 141 pounds, while sophomores Zach Price (133) and Tanner Sloan (197) each finished one win away from All-American status.