Wrestling: Labriola Earns Second Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Honor of Season

Nebraska junior Mikey Labriola took out No. 2 Michael Kemerer Sunday night in Nebraska’s near comeback against No. 2 Iowa.

Labriola rose to No. 3 in the rankings with the win and earned his second Big Ten Wrestler of the Week award of the year after winning it on Dec. 8 as well. It’s also his third time winning the award in his career.

The Pennsylvania native is already a three-time All-American for the Huskers and finished third at the NCAA Championships in 2021. He owns an 83-23 career record (wins while redshirting are not eligible for career record) for the Huskers, so he’s essentially a lock to go over 100 wins early in his senior year. After going 50-19 combined as a freshman and sophomore, Labriola has a 33-4 record as a junior (With the free year of eligibility in 2021, Labriola was technically a junior last season as well as this season. Next year, he’ll be a senior). Labriola finished 2021 with a 17-2 record and is currently 16-2 this year going into the postseason.

Labriola picked up his first career win over Kemerer, a seventh-year senior for Iowa. After giving up the 2-0 lead, Labriola scored a quick reversal before the period ended. Then both Kemerer and Labriola scored escapes before Labriola scored the match-winning takedown on the way to the 5-4 decision victory.

Labriola will next take the mat at the Big Ten Championships on March 5-6 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln