Nebraska Cornhuskers wrestling

Nebraska Cornhuskers wrestling
Nebraska Cornhuskers wrestling
Founded	1910; 114 years ago
University	University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Athletic director	Troy Dannen
Head Coach	Mark Manning (24th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	Lincoln, NE
Arena	Bob Devaney Sports Center; (Capacity: 7,907)
Nickname	Cornhuskers
Colors	Scarlet and cream;
NCAA individual champions
	11
All-Americans
	131
Conference Tournament championships
	WIAA: 1911, 1915 MVIAA: 1924 Big Seven: 1949 Big Eight: 1993, 1995 Big 12: 2009

The Nebraska Cornhuskers wrestling team represents the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. Since its inception in 1910, the program has an all-time record of 773–576–29 with seven conference tournament titles and eleven individual NCAA champions. The team has been coached by Mark Manning since 2000.^[2]

Coaches

Coaching history

No.	Coach	Tenure	Overall	Accomplishments
1	R. G. Clapp	1910–26	17–17–1 (.500)	WIAA champion (1911,1915,1924)
2	John Kellogg	1927–31	13–15–1 (.466)
3	R. G. Lehman	1931–32	2–3 (.400)
4	Harold Ecklund C. E. Thomas	1932–33	0–2 (.000)
5	Jerry Adam	1933–47	16–72–4 (.196)
6	B. R. Patterson	1947–50	13–18–1 (.422)	Big Seven champion (1949)
7	Al Partin	1950–54	15–24–4 (.395)
8	Don Strasheim	1954–57	3–25–0 (.107)
9	Bill Smith	1957–60	2–31–1 (.074)
10	Mickey Sparano	1960–61	5–3–1 (.611)
11	Robert Mancuso	1961–64	15–23–1 (.397)
12	Orval Borgialli	1964–78	72–106–6 (.408)
13	Bob Fehrs	1978–85	95–51–2 (.649)
14	Tim Neumann	1985–2000	199–77–6 (.716)	Big Eight champion (1993,1995)
15	Mark Manning	2000–	283–104–3 (.725)	Big 12 champion (2009)

Coaching staff

Name	Position	First year	Alma mater
Mark Manning	Head coach	2000	Omaha
Bryan Snyder	Associate head coach	2011	Nebraska
Terval Dlagnev	Assistant coach	2021	UNK
James Green	Assistant coach	2023	Nebraska

All-Americans

Nebraska has produced 131 All-Americans.^[3]

Newt Copple – 1942 (145 – 4th)

Herb Reese – 1949 (175 – 3rd)

Max Kitzelman – 1954 (HWT – 3rd)

Dan Brand – 1958 (HWT – 4th)

Harold Thompson – 1962 (147 – 3rd)

Mike Nissen – 1962 (123 – 2nd); 1963 (123 – 1st)

Joe George – 1971 (167 – 6th)

Al Freeman – 1981 (142 – 8th); 1983 (142 – 2nd)

Johnnie Selmon – 1982 (142 – 5th)

Jim Scherr – 1982 (177 – 6th); 1984 (177 – 1st)

Bill Scherr – 1982 (190 – 4th); 1983 (190 – 3rd); 1984 (190 – 1st)

Gary Albright – 1982 (HWT – 7th); 1984 (HWT – 2nd); 1986 (HWT – 3rd)

Ray Oliver – 1983 (167 – 4th)

Gil Sanchez – 1987 (134 – 2nd)

Jason Kelber – 1989 (126 – 2nd); 1990 (126 – 2nd); 1991 (126 – 1st)

Scott Chenoweth – 1989 (167 – 8th); 1990 (167 – 7th); 1991 (177 – 7th)

Paul Herrera – 1990 (142 – 7th)

Corey Olson – 1990 (177 – 3rd); 1992 (177 – 2nd); 1993 (177 – 2nd)

Chris Nelson – 1990 (190 – 5th); 1992 (190 – 6th)

Joe Malecek – 1990 (HWT – 7th)

John Buxton – 1993 (118 – 8th)

Tony Purler – 1993 (126 – 1st)

Frank Velazquez – 1993 (134 – 7th)

Mike Eierman – 1993 (142 – 5th)

Rulon Gardner – 1993 (HWT – 4th)

Scott Gonyo – 1994 (118 – 6th)

Brad Canoyer – 1995 (118 – 6th)

Steve Baer – 1995 (126 – 5th)

Temoer Terry – 1995 (150 – 4th); 1996 (158 – 3rd); 1998 (158 – 6th)

Ryan Tobin – 1995 (190 – 8th); 1996 (190 – 3rd); 1998 (190 – 4th)

Tolly Thompson – 1995 (HWT – 1st); 1996 (HWT – 3rd); 1997 (HWT – 3rd)

Chad Nelson – 1996 (167 – 8th)

Jose DeAnda – 1999 (141 – 8th)

Bryan Snyder – 1999 (157 – 4th); 2000 (157 – 5th); 2001 (157 – 2nd); 2002 (157 – 2nd)

Brad Vering – 1999 (184 – 4th); 2000 (197 – 1st); 2001 (197 – 7th)

Paul Gomez – 2000 (125 – 8th)

Todd Beckerman – 2000 (133 – 5th); 2001 (133 – 4th)

Ati Conner – 2001 (174 – 8th)

Jason Powell – 2002 (118 – 6th); 2003 (125 – 3rd); 2004 (125 – 1st)

Justin Ruiz – 2002 (197 – 5th); 2003 (197 – 5th)

Matt Murray – 2004 (141 – 2nd)

Travis Shufelt – 2004 (149 – 7th)

Jacob Klein – 2004 (165 – 7th); 2006 (174 – 5th)

Travis Pascoe – 2005 (184 – 6th)

B. J. Padden – 2005 (197 – 5th); 2006 (197 – 3rd)

Paul Donahoe – 2007 (125 – 1st); 2008 (125 – 3rd)

Jordan Burroughs – 2008 (149 – 3rd); 2009 (157 – 1st); 2011 (165 – 1st)

Stephen Dwyer – 2008 (165 – 8th); 2010 (174 – 4th)

Brandon Browne – 2008 (174 – 4th); 2009 (174 – 4th)

Craig Brester – 2008 (197 – 4th); 2009 (197 – 2nd); 2010 (197 – 2nd)

Vince Jones – 2009 (184 – 6th)

James Green – 2012 (157 – 7th); 2013 (157 – 7th); 2014 (157 – 3rd); 2015 (157 – 3rd)

Josh Ihnen – 2012 (184 – 8th)

Robert Kokesh – 2013 (174 – 3rd); 2014 (174 – 4th); 2015 (174 – 3rd)

T. J. Dudley – 2015 (184 – 8th); 2016 (184 – 2nd); 2017 (184 – 3rd)

Eric Montoya – 2016 (133 – 5th); 2017 (133 – 6th)

Austin Wilson – 2016 (165 – 7th)

Tyler Berger – 2017 (157 – 5th); 2018 (157 – 3rd); 2019 (157 – 2nd)

Aaron Studebaker – 2017 (197 – 5th)

Chad Red Jr. – 2018 (141 – 7th); 2019 (141 – 8th); 2020 (141); 2021 (141 – 6th)

Taylor Venz – 2018 (184 – 4th); 2020 (184)

Isaiah White – 2019 (165 – 5th); 2020 (165)

Mikey Labriola – 2019 (174 – 6th); 2020 (174); 2021 (174 – 3rd); 2022 (174 – 7th); 2023 (174 – 2nd)

Ridge Lovett – 2020 (133); 2022 (149 – 2nd); 2024 (149 - 6th)

Collin Purinton – 2020 (149)

Peyton Robb – 2020 (157); 2022 (157 – 4th); 2023 (157 – 6th); 2024 (157 - 7th)

Eric Schultz – 2020 (197); 2022 (197 – 7th)

Christian Lance – 2022 (HWT – 8th)

Liam Cronin – 2023 (125 – 5th)

Brock Hardy – 2023 (141 – 6th); 2024 (141 – 3rd)

Caleb Smtih – 2024 (125 – 6th)

Antrell Taylor – 2024 (165 – 8th)

Seasons

Conference tournament champion

Year	Coach	Record	Conference	Postseason^[a]	Final rank^[b]
WIUFA (1910–1915)
1910–11	R. G. Clapp	0–0	1st
1911–12	Did not compete^[c]
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15	R. G. Clapp	1–0	1st
MVIAA (1915–1928)
1915–16	R. G. Clapp	0–1–1
1916–17	Did not compete
1917–18	Did not compete
1918–19	R. G. Clapp	0–1
1919–20	Did not compete
1920–21	Did not compete
1921–22	R. G. Clapp	2–1
1922–23		4–1
1923–24		2–3	1st
1924–25		1–4	5th
1925–26		4–2	3rd
1926–27		3–4	4th
1927–28	John Kellogg	3–4	5th	NCAA 5th
Big Six Conference (1928–1947)
1928–29	John Kellogg	3–3–1	3rd
1929–30		5–3	3rd
1930–31		2–5	4th
1931–32	R. G. Lehman	2–3	4th
1932–33	Harold Ecklund C. E. Thomas	0–2	5th
1933–34	Jerry Adam	1–4–1	T–5th
1934–35		1–7	5th
1935–36		2–6	6th
1936–37		4–4–1	5th
1937–38		1–7–1	4th
1938–39		3–6–1	4th
1939–40		1–7	4th
1940–41		0–9	4th
1941–42		0–8	Canceled^[d]	NCAA T–12th
1942–43	Did not compete^[e]
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46	Jerry Adam	0–8	Canceled^[f]	NCAA T–9th
1946–47	Jerry Adam	3–7	3rd
Big Seven Conference (1947–1957)
1947–48	B. R. Patterson	2–8	2nd
1948–49		6–4–1	1st	NCAA T–7th
1949–50		5–6	2nd
1950–51	Al Partin	4–6–1	T–4th
1951–52		0–9–1	4th
1952–53		9–1	T–4th
1953–54		2–8	5th	NCAA University Division T–14th
1954–55	Don Strasheim	0–12	5th
1955–56		2–6	5th
1956–57		1–7	5th
Big Eight Conference (1957–1996)
1957–58	Bill Smith	1–9	6th	NCAA University Division T–17th
1958–59		1–9–1	6th	NCAA University Division T–39th
1959–60		0–13	6th
1960–61	Mickey Sparano	5–3–1	6th	NCAA University Division T–21st
1961–62	Robert Mancuso	9–2–1	4th	NCAA University Division 9th
1962–63		2–14	6th	NCAA University Division 13th
1963–64		4–7	7th
1964–65	Orval Borgialli	5–11–1	6th
1965–66		2–13	5th
1966–67		3–10	6th
1967–68		4–12–1	7th
1968–69		4–9	7th
1969–70		6–5–2	5th
1970–71		8–5	4th
1971–72		9–5–1	4th
1972–73		4–10	4th	NCAA University Division 21st
1973–74		7–6	6th
1974–75		8–3	4th	NCAA Division I T–45th
1975–76		6–6	5th
1976–77		2–6	6th
1977–78		4–6–1	6th	NCAA Division I T–55th
1978–79	Bob Fehrs	9–10	6th
1979–80		16–9–2	6th	NCAA Division I 39th
1980–81		16–4	4th	NCAA Division I 32nd
1981–82		14–5	4th	NCAA Division I 6th	16
1982–83		17–4	3rd	NCAA Division I 6th	6
1983–84		15–5	4th	NCAA Division I 4th	14
1984–85		8–14	4th	NCAA Division I 41st
1985–86	Tim Neumann	16–5	4th	NCAA Division I 12th	13
1986–87		12–6	4th	NCAA Division I 14th
1987–88		8–9–1	4th	NCAA Division I 39th
1988–89		12–6–2	4th	NCAA Division I 17th	9
1989–90		21–2–1	2nd	NCAA Division I 5th	4
1990–91		11–6	3rd	NCAA Division I 10th	9
1991–92		13–4	3rd	NCAA Division I 11th	8
1992–93		10–2	1st	NCAA Division I 3rd	2
1993–94		12–6	3rd	NCAA Division I 29th	7
1994–95		17–3	1st	NCAA Division I 6th	3
1995–96		15–3–1	2nd	NCAA Division I 5th	3
Big 12 Conference (1996–2011)
1996–97	Tim Neumann	15–6	4th	NCAA Division I 12th	10
1997–98		10–6	3rd	NCAA Division I 21st	10
1998–99		17–6	4th	NCAA Division I 15th	4
1999–00		10–7–1	4th	NCAA Division I 8th	11
2000–01	Mark Manning	11–6	4th	NCAA Division I 8th	9
2001–02		8–9	4th	NCAA Division I 8th	9
2002–03		16–7	4th	NCAA Division I 13th	17
2003–04		19–3	2nd	NCAA Division I 5th	2
2004–05		19–2–1	3rd	NCAA Division I 19th	3
2005–06		12–5	3rd	NCAA Division I 16th	5
2006–07		10–7–1	4th	NCAA Division I 16th	18
2007–08		14–3	2nd	NCAA Division I 4th	4
2008–09		17–3–1	1st	NCAA Division I 4th	4
2009–10		9–11	5th	NCAA Division I T–12th
2010–11		14–5	4th	NCAA Division I 12th	13
Big Ten Conference (2011–present)
2011–12	Mark Manning	15–4	8th	NCAA Division I T–21st	8
2012–13		11–6	7th	NCAA Division I 13th	12
2013–14		12–2	5th	NCAA Division I 11th	8
2014–15		14–1	7th	NCAA Division I 9th	11
2015–16		11–6	4th	NCAA Division I 8th	12
2016–17		12–4	4th	NCAA Division I 9th	5
2017–18		10–4	5th	NCAA Division I 9th	13
2018–19		12–5	5th	NCAA Division I 10th	8
2019–20		11–3	2nd	Canceled^[g]	4
2020–21		7–1	3rd	NCAA Division I 12th	3
2021–22		6–5	7th	NCAA Division I 5th	11
2022–23		12–3	3rd	NCAA Division I 8th	4
2023–24		12–2	3rd	NCAA Division I 9th	3

^[4]

Olympians

Nebraska wrestlers in the Olympics
Year	Name	Country	Style	Weight Class	Place
1920 Antwerp	Adrian Brian	United States	Greco-Roman	60 kg	DNP
1960 Rome	Daniel Brand	United States	Freestyle	87 kg	5th
1964 Tokyo	Daniel Brand	United States	Freestyle	79 kg	Bronze
1964 Tokyo	Bob Pickens	United States	Greco-Roman	+97 kg	6th
1988 Seoul	Bill Scherr	United States	Freestyle	100 kg	Bronze
1988 Seoul	Jim Scherr	United States	Freestyle	90 kg	5th
2000 Sydney	Rulon Gardner	United States	Greco-Roman	130 kg	Gold
2000 Sydney	Matt Lindland	United States	Greco-Roman	76 kg	Silver
2004 Athens	Rulon Gardner	United States	Greco-Roman	120 kg	Bronze
2004 Athens	Brad Vering	United States	Greco-Roman	84 kg	11th
2008 Beijing	Brad Vering	United States	Greco-Roman	84 kg	12th
2012 London	Jordan Burroughs	United States	Freestyle	74 kg	Gold
2016 Rio de Janeiro	Jordan Burroughs	United States	Freestyle	74 kg	9th

Notable wrestlers

Gary Albright – professional wrestler, three-time NCAA All-American
Daniel Brand – Olympic bronze medalist at 1964 Summer Olympics in freestyle wrestling, World bronze medalist in 1962, NCAA All-American
Jordan Burroughs – Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at 2012 Summer Olympics, seven-time World and Olympic level champion, two-time NCAA champion and three-time All-American
Iron Mike DiBiase – professional wrestler
Rulon Gardner – Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 2000 Summer Olympics and bronze medalist in 2004, World Champion in 2001, NCAA All-American
James Green – two-time World medalist in freestyle wrestling, four-time NCAA All-American
Ed Husmann – former NFL defensive tackle and Nebraska wrestler
Matt Lindland – former UFC fighter, Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 2000 Summer Olympics, World silver medalist in 2001
Hugo Otopalik – collegiate wrestling head coach at Iowa State from 1924 to 1953
Bob Pickens – Olympian at 1964 Summer Olympics
Baron von Raschke – former professional wrestler, World bronze medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling
Bill Scherr – five World and Olympic level medals, Olympic bronze medallist at 1988 Summer Olympics and World champion in freestyle wrestling, NCAA champion and two-time All-American
Jim Scherr – three-time World medallist in freestyle wrestling, NCAA champion and two-time All-American
Brad Vering – Olympian and World silver medalist in 2007 in Greco-Roman wrestling, NCAA champion and three-time All-American

Notes

^ The first NCAA Wrestling Championship was held in 1928
^ The NWCA began weekly polling of collegiate wrestling coaches in 1981
^ Nebraska's wrestling program competed sporadically in its early years, often playing only a single meet per season and sometimes none at all
^ Canceled due to World War II
^ Nebraska did not field a team from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II
^ Canceled due to World War II
^ Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

References

^ "The Power of Color" (PDF). Nebraska Athletics Brand Guide. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
^ "Mark Manning - Head Coach". Huskers.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
^ "NEBRASKA'S 131 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS". Huskers.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
^ "2020 Media Guide". Huskers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-11.

[4] The first NCAA Wrestling Championship was held in 1928

[5] The NWCA began weekly polling of collegiate wrestling coaches in 1981

[6] Nebraska's wrestling program competed sporadically in its early years, often playing only a single meet per season and sometimes none at all

[7] Canceled due to World War II

[8] Nebraska did not field a team from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II

[9] Canceled due to World War II

[10] Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

[1] "The Power of Color" (PDF). Nebraska Athletics Brand Guide. Retrieved June 17, 2024.

[2] "Mark Manning - Head Coach". Huskers.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016.

[3] "NEBRASKA'S 131 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS". Huskers.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.

[11] "2020 Media Guide". Huskers.com. Retrieved 2020-07-11.

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