Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett wins his match against Wisconsin at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Lincoln.
Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett wins his match against Wisconsin at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Lincoln.
Nebraska wrestling finished the first two days of the NCAA National Championships with three Huskers advancing to the finals and eight securing All-Amercian status.
No.1 Brock Hardy made the national final at 141, joining No. 2 Ridge Lovett at 149 and No. 3 Antrell Taylor at 157.
The first day showed a lot of promise for the Huskers as all but two wrestlers won their first-round matches. Many of the Huskers went on to wrestle backs but not for nothing.
Lenny Pinto lost in the blood round, falling just one match short of being an All-American at 174. Pinto wrestled five matches, winning three of them. In those three bouts, Pinto won by sudden victory, tech fall and major decision. Pinto’s sudden victory match went into overtime tied 7-7 but with one minute left in overtime, Pinto secured the takedown and a two-point nearfall giving him the victory.
At 125, senior Caleb Smith had a strong first two days of the NCAA Tournament. Smith won his first match and went on to lose his next. He came out firing in the consolation side of the bracket as he made it to the medal rounds. Smith will wrestle on Saturday for seventh place.
A few other Huskers made it to the medal rounds. Jacob Van Dee was a light show for the Huskers at 133. Van Dee lost his first match but never looked back making it all the way to the medal rounds and will also wrestle for seventh.
Camden McDanel made the medal stand as a freshman and will wrestle for seventh at 197. Silas Allred at 184 will also be looking to take home a seventh-place finish for the Huskers and solidify his name in the record books.
A true standout for the Huskers was Christopher Minto at 165 pounds. Minto came into the tournament as a 12 seed and looked to become an All-American as a redshirt freshman. Minto was an absolute sensation, knocking off the No. 4 and No. 5 ranked wrestlers before making it to the semi-final. Minto came up just short in the semis against No.1 ranked Mitchell Mesenbrink but is guaranteed a sixth-place finish or higher.
Hardy, Lovett and Taylor put on a show, going all the way to the national finals.
Hardy jogged his way through the 141-pound bracket with his closest match being an 11-4 victory over Cael Happel of UNI. Hardy was able to revenge a loss earlier in the season against Happel. Hardy earned bonus-point victories in three of his four matches before making his way to a match against Jesse Mendez for the final on Saturday.
Lovett had a very tough first match only winning 10-8 before he waltzed his way through the 149-pound bracket. Lovett never looked back, winning his next two by tech fall and major decision. In his semi-final match, he scored 10 in the first period and went on to win 14-8, cementing him in the finals against Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech.
Taylor looked unstoppable in his first two matches winning by tech fall and pin before he got to his third match. Taylor’s third match was a close one getting a victory by one point 4-3. Taylor started slow in his semi-final match before securing a few solid takedowns to put the match away and win and win 7-2. He will face off against Joey Blaze of Purdue for the national title.
All of the Husker wins have set the team up nicely for a good finish at the NCAA National Championships. The Huskers are currently second in the team score behind Penn State and will look to hold that spot on Saturday.
sports@dailynebraskan.com
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