Skip to main content
Nebraska
Join Now

3 Takes: No. 6 Nebraska wrestling hammers No. 16 UNI in first dual of the New Year

by: Bobby Schneider01/04/26bschneider33

Coming off a heartbreaking 22-12 loss to No. 5 Oklahoma State on Dec. 21 to close out 2025, No. 6 Nebraska wrestling (7-3) hammered No. 16 Northern Iowa (3-4) 30-6 to open the New Year.

The Huskers won eight of their 10 bouts in front of an electric crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Head coach Mark Manning’s squad made a statement of its offensive potential Friday night before Big Ten duals begin next week.

Sign up to get your first week of HuskerOnline for $1!

Here are the three biggest takeaways following NU’s seventh dual win of the season:

Offensive explosion

After landing only three takedowns the last time in action, Nebraska’s offense exploded to present its high ceiling as a hunter on the mat. In fact, the Huskers were in constant attack mode to land 20 as a whole.

Of those 20, defending national champion Antrell Taylor (157) had a team-high of a whopping seven in his 22-6 technical fall victory over RJ Weston, four of which came in the third period. Considering Taylor has been knocked for his lack of attack on the mat, the junior All-American proved his offensive potential against Northern Iowa.

Manning said the drastic improvement on the offensive end came from NU’s cognitive approach.

“Our guys just bought in a little bit more to the pace we want to wrestle, and just confidence in their attacks,” the Husker head coach said post-dual. “This game is man, it’s a mental game when you get out there. It’s like Harley Andrews at the end. He ended up getting a major (decision), which was really great…

“But sometimes you just need to be able to hit a move or get a little break where it opens up some leeway, where you know ‘hey, I’m confident in this.'”

Lamer shines; Minto earns another top-10 win

After losing a 7-2 decision in his Husker debut, No. 12 Chance Lamer (149) dominated UNI’s Ethan Basile. In fact, Lamer landed five takedowns himself over the three periods to pick up a 19-4 tech-fall. On the season, he improved to 9-1 and picked up his first win at Nebraska. Following his impressive showing, the senior Cal Poly transfer felt his debut loss in Lincoln unlocked a new fire.

“It was definitely a good awakening, feeling the energy and stuff,” Lamer said. “It definitely motivated me a lot to work harder at practice, and just get more ready for the dual.”

Meanwhile, No. 6 Christopher Minto (174) picked up another top-10 victory Friday night, crushing No. 10 Jared Simma. As a result, Minto finished strong by scoring two takedowns in the third period to secure the 10-1 major decision and improve to 11-2 on the year. The sophomore All-American felt his approach was exactly what his head coach demanded.

“I would say just buying into our process,” Minto said. “This whole week, we were talking about putting more points on the board. I feel like I was trying to do that the whole match, and it felt like (Simma) was opening up a little bit towards the third.”

Koehler battles, but 125 stays wide open

Friday night appeared to be a prime opportunity for a clear-cut grappler to emerge for NU to go with in the 125-pound division. Alan Koehler got the nod over Kael Lauridsen – who suffered a knee injury against Oklahoma State – and went neck-and-neck with No. 27 Trever Anderson.

With the bout scoreless entering the second period, Koehler hit a reversal to jump out to a 2-0 lead. However, Anderson escaped twice and landed a takedown with under five seconds remaining to win in a 5-2 decision. Koehler competed, and his head coach loved the effort. But the 125-pound division remains an open battle for Nebraska.

“Alan’s right there. He wrestled pretty good,” Manning said. “He’s going to be better because of that. And Kael’s biting at his heels. So, we’re not solidified there probably at that weight yet. But we’ll just see who emerges here in the next couple of weeks.”

Other Results

***No. 8 Jacob Van Dee (133) shut out No. 26 Julian Farber in a 5-0 decision to improve to 10-1 on the season.

***After being pinned his last time out, No. 3 Brock Hardy (141) bounced back to pick up a top-15 victory over No. 11 Cory Land in a 5-1 decision.

***No. 10 LJ Araujo (165) lost a heartbreaker 3-0 in sudden victory to No. 11 Ryder Downey. Araujo entered the third period with nearly a two-minute riding time advantage. However, Downey controlled the third and scored a takedown with 1:12 left in the fourth to hand the rising redshirt freshman his third loss of the season.

***No. 9 Silas Allred (184) beat Nick Fox by a 5-1 decision for the 10th win of his senior campaign.

***No. 12 Camden McDanel (197) kept NU’s cruise to victory going with a 7-3 decision over John Gunderson 

***Harley Andrews (HWT) defeated Adam Ahrendsen by an impressive 16-4 major decision.

This marked the second straight dual without No. 4-ranked heavyweight AJ Ferrari in action. Manning said that he hopes to have the All-American back for next week.

“He’s not ready to go. He’s not had enough training,” the NU wrestling coach said of Ferrari. “He’s had that toe injury that’s been bugging him, so we got some treatment. Hopefully, we’ll have him back next Friday.”

Nebraska opens Big Ten dual play when it returns to action at the Devaney Center on Friday, Jan. 9, against Purdue. It can be seen on B1G+.

Never miss breaking news or another HuskerOnline article again. Click HERE to sign up for our Daily and Breaking News Newsletters!

You may also like