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Nebraska wrestling advances seven to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals

by: Bobby Schneider03/20/26bschneider33

Nebraska wrestling made a statement as it wrapped up Day 1 of the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday.

Seven of the 10 Huskers on head coach Mark Manning’s squad qualified for the quarterfinals on Friday. The other three NU wrestlers who lost their opening-round matches won their wrestlebacks to stay alive, as the Big Red went 10-for-10 in its session II bouts.

The Huskers’ 27 team points have them in second place, just trailing leading Penn State’s 40.5.

Here is what we learned from Day 1 of the NCAA Championships…

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Nebraska’s top title contenders take care of business

All four of Nebraska’s most likely gold medal contenders took care of business to advance to the quarterfinal round.

In his first NCAA title-defense match, Antrell Taylor (157) obliterated his competition. The No. 2 seed rolled past No. 31 Garrett McChesney of EDIN with a 20-4 tech fall at 5:30. Similar to Taylor’s first bout, No. 3 Christopher Minto (174) secured a 20-4 tech fall for himself over Riley Davis of Wyoming.

With the quarterfinals looming, each Big Red wrestler remained composed. After a tight bout against No. 15 Cameron Catrabone of Michigan, Taylor landed a third-period takedown to seal his 5-3 decision. Next, the defending national champion faces No. 7 Kannon Webster of Illinois. Taylor squeaked by the Illini grappler 4-2 in February.

Moments later, Minto hammered an 11-3 major decision over No. 19 Logan Messer of GMU. He will bout against No. 11 MJ Gaitan of Iowa State in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, No. 3 Brock Hardy (141) rolled past No. 30 Dario Lemus of Maryland by an 18-1 tech fall. After a scoreless first period, the 2025 NCAA runner-up exploded in the second and third periods with takedowns and near falls to land the dagger at 5:46.

In his second bout of the day, Hardy defeated familiar foe No. 14 Braeden Davis of Penn State. Trailing 4-3 in the second period, the three-time All-American delivered a takedown and held the PSU grappler off for a 9-4 decision. Next for Hardy, he will face No. 6 Vince Cornella of Cornell.

AJ Ferrari joined the tech fall club with his 17-2 first-round win over No. 29 Luke Rasmussen of South Dakota State. The No. 4 seed heavyweight also cruised in his second-round bout. He delivered a 12-0 major decision over No. 20 Dayton Pitzer of Pitt.

Lamer puts the 149-pound division on notice

No. 20 Chance Lamer was the surprise of the day by proceeding to the 149-pound quarterfinals.

The Cal Poly transfer was the only NU wrestler to not auto-qualify after finishing 10th place at the Big Ten Championships. However, Lamer displayed the high potential that many expected for him as a Husker on Thursday.

He pulled off a 4-1 upset over No. 13 Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin in the first round. Locked at one apiece with only eight seconds on the clock, the Nebraska 149-pounder scored a takedown to secure the win. Lamer also avenges his 9-6 loss to Zargo at the Big Ten Championships a few weeks ago.

With a shot to shock the 149-pound division, Lamer just did that by defeating No. 4 Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech in a 3-1 decision. After taking down Gaj in the first frame, Lamer consistently scrambled to hold off the ACC champion. Lamer bouts against No. 12 Carter Young of Maryland — a clear path to the semifinals.

Allred, McDanel join the quarterfinal club

No. 8 Silas Allred (184) and No. 11 Camden McDanel (197) joined the other five Huskers in the quarterfinal club. While they may appear to be long-shot gold contenders, it was some of their best wrestling all season.

Allred racked up a 3-1 decision over No. 25 Malachi DuVall of GMU in his first-round bout. He rode out DuVall the entire third period to leave no doubt. In his second round bout, Allred was the clear aggressor in his 15-5 major decision over No. 9 Chris Moore of Illinois. The senior faces No. 1 Rocco Welsh of Penn State tomorrow, who has already beaten him twice this season.

Meanwhile, in the first round match, McDanel took down No. 22 Devin Wasley of North Dakota State. Wasley appeared to have the upper hand during the first six minutes. Moments later, McDanel landed two takedowns in the final minute to secure the 7-2 decision.

With the quarterfinals on the line, the Nebraska 197-pounder decisively beat No. 6 Justin Rademacher of Oregon State. The bout featured three blood timeouts. After a scoreless first period, multiple McDanel takedowns scored him a 13-5 bonus-point victory. The sophomore All-American is set to face No. 4 Stephen Little of Little Rock.

Consolation Results

***No. 25 Kael Lauridsen (125) fell by a 9-1 major decision in his inaugural bout to No. 8 Dean Peterson of Iowa. Facing elimination, he took down No. 24 Ayden Smith of Rutgers in his first wrestleback match by a 5-1 decision.

***No. 13 Jacob Van Dee (133) dropped his opening bout by a 5-4 decision to No. 20 Julian Farber of Northern Iowa. After leading 4-2 and carrying over a minute of riding time, the 2025 All-American surrendered a late takedown to fall to the consolation bracket.

Van Dee bounced back to stay alive in wrestlebacks, but it didn’t come easy. Tied 7-7, the junior Husker landed a takedown in sudden victory to defeat No. 29 Luke Willochell of Wyoming 10-7.

***No. 6 LJ Araujo (165) folded late in the first round to lose an 8-7 decision to No. 27 EJ Parco of Stanford. Leading 6-3 entering the final 10 seconds, a locked-hands call on Araujo, Parco’s escape and a takedown sealed the 8-7 upset over the No. 6-seeded Husker.

Yet the redshirt freshman’s NCAA run is not over. In his wrestleback bout, Araujo throttled No. 22 Matthew Olguin of Oregon State by a 16-0 tech fall.

Team Standings

1 — Penn State 40.5
2 — Nebraska 27
3 — Iowa 25.5
4 — Oklahoma State 25
5 — Ohio State 23
6 — Iowa State 21.5
7 — Arizona State 17
8 — Stanford 15
T9 — Cornell 14
T9 — Michigan 14
T9 — Virginia Tech 14

Nebraska returns to the mat on Friday at 11 a.m. CT for Day 2 and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships, and it may be seen on ESPNU. The semifinals will begin at 7 p.m. CT and may be seen on ESPN2. Each session will also feature full mat coverage on ESPN+.

Live updates and premium information are available throughout the tournament for HuskerOnline subscribers on Red Sea Scrolls.

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