Nebraska wrestling takes third place at Big Ten Championships
Nebraska wrestling brings a third-place Big Ten Championship trophy to Lincoln, with nine of its ten athletes punching tickets to the NCAA Championships.
However, all five Huskers in the conference finals stumbled in their gold medal opportunities in State College, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
The Big Red finished with 116.5 points, falling behind second-place Ohio State’s 148.5 and conference champion Penn State’s 184.
Here is what we learned from NU on championship Sunday…
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Late takedown sinks Ferrari
No. 2 AJ Ferrari lost a heartbreaker to No. 1 Taye Ghadiali of Michigan in the heavyweight finals by a 5-2 decision.
Ferrari beat Ghadiali in an 11-3 major decision at the National Duals in November, but it was the polar opposite with a Big Ten title on the line. After a scoreless first period, Ferrari rode the Michigan wrestler the entire second period to build 1:57 of riding time entering the final period.
However, Ghadiali landed the lone takedown of the bout with 23 seconds left and forced a stall call to defeat what appeared to be Nebraska’s lone Big Ten gold medalist.
Hardy, Taylor let down
It was another match for the ages between No. 2 Brock Hardy and No. 1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. Mendez had won the previous three meetings, but Hardy — the defending Big Ten champion at 141 pounds — defeated the Buckeye in last year’s Big Ten semifinal.
Still, Hardy fell this time around in a 7-2 decision to place runner-up. It was back-and-forth scrambling the entire bout. However, Mendez’s first-period takedown and constant leverage were the deciding factors. He picked up another in the final 10 seconds of the match, yet the match was all but over.
Of Hardy’s five losses this season, three have been at the hands of the undefeated Buckeye. The two arch-nemesis will likely meet at the NCAA Championships for one final bout between the college grapplers.
Meanwhile, No. 1 Antrell Taylor lost his first bout since November in the 157 finals by a 12-4 major decision to No. 2 PJ Duke. Taylor defeated the Penn State freshman in the regular season 2-1, but Duke was the clear aggressor at the Big Tens by delivering three takedowns on the 2025 NCAA champion.
Don’t be surprised to see the trilogy between them at the NCAAs finals.
Rising stars fold
No. 2 Christopher Minto (174) lost a heartbreaker to No. 1 Levi Haines of Penn State 2-1. Constant scrambles across the match kept it low-scoring, while an illegal hold penalty called on Minto in the second period was the difference.
Of the five runner-up finishes, the Nebraska sophomore displayed the most promise, especially going against an undefeated senior. This is another bout that projects as a likely rematch at the NCAA Championships.
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Meanwhile, No. 2 Camden McDanel (197) met No. 1 Josh Barr of Penn State for the second time this season. In their initial meeting, Barr crushed McDanel 21-9 in January.
Similar to the first bout, Barr commanded the mat of the Husker 197-pounder and defeated McDanel with a 20-4 tech fall.
Consolation Results
***In the third-place match at 165, No. 5 LJ Araujo took fourth place after medically forfeiting in the second period due to a lower-body injury against No. 2 Joey Blaze of Purdue. Blaze led 5-1 before the redshirt freshman surrendered.
***No. 11 Kael Lauridsen (125) finished his Big Tens strong by placing seventh. After losing his opening-round bout on Saturday, the redshirt freshman won three of his final four bouts and secured seventh by defeating No. 5 Ayden Smith of Rutgers in a 6-3 decision.
***No. 6 Chance Lamer (149) made it to the ninth-place match with a chance to auto-qualify for the NCAAs against No. 8 Ryder Block of Iowa. The Husker senior came out hot in the first period by landing a takedown and racked up over a minute of riding time.
However, Block recovered and defeated Lamer 8-7 in sudden victory off a stall penalty. Lamer now hopes for an at-large bid for the NCAA Championships.
***Jacob Van Dee (133) and Silas Allred (184) did not wrestle on Day 2 due to injuries. Van Dee finishes eighth, while Allred takes sixth. Both qualified for NCAAs.
Nebraska returns to the mat for the NCAA Championships from Mar. 19-21 in Cleveland, Ohio. It can be seen on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU with full coverage on ESPN+.
