Wrestling: Tanner Farmer Punches Ticket to Final X

For this group of former Huskers looking to capture some world hardware, former offensive lineman Tanner Farmer was the one to advance to Final X.

Also competing as former Huskers at the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Coralville, Iowa were 8-seed Tyler Berger at 70 kg, 5-seed Collin Purinton at 74 kg, and 10-seed Christian Lance at 125 kg.

Tanner Farmer Dominates

A former mauler on the offensive line for the Huskers, Tanner Farmer has found himself as one of the best in the country in Greco-Roman wrestling at 130 kg (286 pounds). This weekend at the World Team Trials, Farmer blew through the bottom half of the bracket.

The way the WTT tournament works, if there is not a returning World or Olympic medalist returning, the two wrestlers that make the finals will wrestle a best-of-three series at Final X in early June.

Farmer will meet defending world-teamer Cohlton Schultz at Final X. Schultz was the 1-seed this weekend and navigated the top half of the bracket to earn his berth in Final X. But at the 2021 World Championships, Schultz lost his lone match, so obviously he’s not unbeatable.

This weekend, Farmer downed 7-seed Tom Foote 8-0 in the first period in the quarterfinal round before downing 3-seed West Cathart via pinfall in the first period. In all, Farmer didn’t give up a point and spent a total of 3 minutes, 48 seconds on the mat on the way to advancing to Final X.

Berger, Purinton and Lance fall short

Former NCAA finalist for the Huskers, 8-seed Tyler Berger fell just short of his quest to make Final X at 70 kg. After a first-round 12-4 win over 9-seed Anthony Ashnault, Berger faced 1-seed Alec Pantaleo but fell in a close 3-2 decision.

In the consolation bracket, Berger went on a run though. He reeled off wins over 10-seed Dayne Morton, 5-seed Doug Zapf, 2-seed Ryan Deakin, and 7-seed Sammy Sasso.

Berger showed he’s right up there with the best in the country at 70 kg as he finished in third place with a 5-1 record on the weekend.

Wrestling at 125 kg, 10-seed Christian Lance finished the weekend with a 2-2 record. After a 5-5 criteria win over 7-seed Demertius Thomas in the first round, Lance fell to 2-seed Nick Gwiazdowski 10-0. Then in the consolation bracket, Lance beat 8-seed Lucas Davison 6-0 before falling to 11-seed Derek White 2-1.

Collin Purinton, wrestling at 74 kg, failed to register a win at the tournament. The 5-seed Purinton fell to 4-seed David Carr 15-6 in the quarters before losing to 3-seed Tommy Gantt in the consolation semis.

Burroughs’ Opponent Set

Fresh off his 2021 World Championship at 79 kg, former Husker Jordan Burroughs has a bye to Final X. This weekend, his opponent was decided.

Burroughs will face off at Final X against Chance Marsteller, who beat Vincenzo Joseph in a best-of-three series. Burroughs is 2-0 against Marsteller, most recently beating him 8-0 at the Yasar Dogu Tournament earlier this year.

Burroughs will be a heavy favorite, but this Marsteller guy is a tough customer.