HUSKER WRESTLING: Four Nebraska Wrestlers Advance In NCAA Championships
DETROIT–(NU Athletics Mar. 17)– Ridge Lovett, Mikey Labriola, Eric Schultz and Christian Lance advance to the 2022 NCAA Championship quarterfinals after claiming victories in their respective second round matches on Thursday evening. All eight qualifying Nebraska wrestlers remain alive as the team ends the first day in seventh place with 14.5 points.
Lovett (149) was the first Husker to secure his spot in Friday’s quarterfinals, defeating Campbell’s #7 Joshua Heil by decision, 8-1. Lovett scored a takedown and four nearfall points in Period 2 to hold the 4-1 advantage. In the final period, Lovett recorded four more points en route to his first quarterfinal appearance.
Labriola (174) will make his third NCAA Championship quarterfinal as he advanced with a 3-2 decision over Purdue’s #25 Gerrit Nijenhuis. The conference rematch went in favor of Labriola this time as the junior scored three points in Period 2 to secure the win.
Schultz (197) also earned a spot in the quarterfinals as he defeated #14 Greg Bulsak of Rutgers. The pair wrestled a scoreless first period before Schultz tallied a takedown in each of the final two periods to claim the 4-3 victory by decision.
Rounding out the group as the fourth and final Husker to qualify for the quarterfinals was Lance at heavyweight. Lance faced Air Force’s #5 Wyatt Hendrickson in the Round of 16 and the two were tied 0-0 after Period 1. The senior then scored first in the second period with an escape and tallied two takedowns in the third on his way to the 5-4 decision.
Chad Red Jr., Peyton Robb and Taylor Venz fell in their respective second round bouts, but will wrestle back through the consolation bracket on Friday. Red Jr. (141) managed to come from behind and tie up his match with a pair of takedowns in Period 3 but was unable to come out on top in overtime against #3 Sebastian Rivera of Rutgers. Robb (157) held the 5-4 advantage over Lehigh’s #7 Josh Humphreys to start the final two minutes, but Humphreys attacked late and grabbed the 8-5 decision. At 184, Venz fell to Ohio State’s #7 Kaleb Romero, 5-1. Venz scored first with an escape in Period 2 before Romero scored five-straight points to send the Husker to wrestlebacks.
Bubba Wilson (165) ended the night by advancing in the consolation bracket. Wilson earned a 3-1 decision over Gardner-Webb’s #22 Rodrick Mosley in the first consolation round, scoring a takedown and an escape to earn his first win of the day.
Session III quarterfinals and consolation matches get started Friday at 10 a.m. (CT). Semifinals will be contested starting at 7 p.m. (CT).
2022 NCAA Championships
Detroit, Mich. | Little Caesar’s Arena
Individual Results – Sessions I and II
141 pounds: #19 Chad Red Jr. (1-1)
First Round: #19 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) dec. #14 Dresden Simon (CMU), 6-5
Second Round: #3 Sebastian Rivera (RUT) dec. #19 Chad Red Jr. (NEB), SV-1 7-6
149 pounds: #10 Ridge Lovett (2-0)
First Round: #10 Ridge Lovett (NEB) dec. #23 Jaden Abas (STAN), 4-2
Second Round: #10 Ridge Lovett (NEB) dec. #7 Joshua Heil (CAMP), 8-1
157 pounds: #10 Peyton Robb (1-1)
First Round: #10 Peyton Robb (NEB) pinned #23 Markus Hatman (ARMY) (1:51)
Second Round: #7 Josh Humphreys (LEH) dec. #10 Peyton Robb (NEB), 8-5
165 pounds: #27 Bubba Wilson (1-1)
First Round: #6 Cameron Amine (MICH) dec. #27 Bubba Wilson (NEB), 3-1
Cons. First Round: #27 Bubba Wilson (NEB) dec. #22 Rodrick Mosley (GW), 3-1
174 pounds: #9 Mikey Labriola (2-0)
First Round: #9 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. #24 Joel Devine (ISU). 5-2
Second Round: #9 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. #25 Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR), 3-2
184 pounds: #10 Taylor Venz (1-1)
First Round: #10 Taylor Venz (NEB) dec. #23 Travis Stefanik (PRIN), 9-2
Second Round: #7 Kaleb Romero (OHST) dec. #10 Taylor Venz (NEB), 5-1
197 pounds: #3 Eric Schultz (2-0)
First Round: #3 Eric Schultz (NEB) maj. dec. #30 Cole Urbas (PENN), 15-6
Second Round: #3 Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. #14 Greg Bulsak (RUT), 4-3
285 pounds: #12 Christian Lance (2-0)
First Round: #12 Christian Lance (NEB) dec. #21 Tyrie Houghton (NCST), 3-2
Second Round: #12 Christian Lance (NEB) dec. #5 Wyatt Hendrickson (AF), 5-4
Team Results (Top 10)
1 Penn State 27.5
2 Arizona State 22.0
3 NC State 21.5
4 Michigan 21.0
5 Iowa 20.5
6 Northern Iowa 15.0
7 Nebraska 14.5
7 Virginia Tech 14.5
9 Cornell 14.0
9 Oregon State 14.0
