Huskers to Host Illinois for Sunday Afternoon Dual

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1 From: Edward Stevens Subject: NEB WRES: Huskers to Host Illinois for Sunday Afternoon Dual Date: January 25, 2019 at 10:34 AM To: undisclosed-recipients:; Link: DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID= Huskers to Host Illinois for Sunday Afternoon Dual #18 Illinois Fighting Illini 2-3 (0-2) at #7 Nebraska Cornhuskers 8-3 (2-2) Sunday, Jan p.m. CT Lincoln, Neb. Devaney Center Live Streaming: BTN Plus Live Stats: TrackWrestling Lincoln, Neb. -- The #7 Nebraska Cornhuskers return to the Devaney Center for a Big Ten home dual on Sunday, Jan. 27 against the #18 Illinois Fighting Illini. The dual will begin at approximately 2 p.m. CT. Sunday s dual will be televised on BTN Plus and FloWrestling. Live stats will be available on TrackWrestling.com and updates will be posted on Twitter (@HuskerWrestling) and Facebook (@NebraskaWrestling) throughout the afternoon. The Huskers are currently 2-1 (1-1 B1G) in duals at the Devaney Center this year with wins over Northwestern and Northern Iowa and an loss by criteria to Wisconsin. The Fighting Illini are led by Jim Heffernan, who is in the midst of his 10th season as the head coach in Champaign. Heffernan, who s been at Illinois for 27 years in total, has helped the Illini to 13 top-10 NCAA finishes. Redshirt senior #2 Emery Parker (184) is the Illini s only returning All-American. #15 Travis Piotrowski (125), #17 Dylan Duncan and #4 Mike Carr (141) also made NCAA appearances in All-Time Series: Nebraska leads the all-time series against Illinois Their last meeting came on Jan. 7, 2018 in Champaign, Ill. The Fighting Illini pulled out a victory by the slimmest of margins, defeating NU The Huskers have won four of the five matchups against the Illini since NU joined the Big Ten eight years ago. Last Year s Meeting: No. 20 Nebraska s losing streak hit three as the Huskers fell by criteria in their Big

2 No. 20 Nebraska s losing streak hit three as the Huskers fell by criteria in their Big Ten opener to 12th-ranked Illinois, After all 10 matches, the teams were tied at 17-17, but the Fighting Illini won on criteria (total match points scored only from decisions, major decisions and technical falls), Top Matchups to Watch: There are scheduled to be five matchups between wrestlers ranked in the top 20 on each team during Sunday s dual. Nebraska s #19 Chad Red Jr. (141) and #5 Taylor Venz (184) will have their shot to get revenge on #4 Mike Carr and #2 Emery Parker, respectively, after losing decisions to them last year in Champaign. 125: #13 Zeke Moisey (NEB) vs. #15 Travis Piotrowski (ILL) 141: #19 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) vs. #4 Mike Carr (ILL) 157: #2 Tyler Berger (NEB) vs. #12 Eric Barone (ILL) 165: #6 Isaiah White (NEB) vs. #`9 Joey Gunther (ILL) 184: #5 Taylor Venz (NEB) vs. #2 Emery Parker (ILL) Nebraska s Projected Starters: 125: #13 Sr. Zeke Moisey (9-5) 133: R-Fr. Tucker Sjomeling (11-5) -OR- Fr. Jevon Parrish (13-6) 141: So. Chad Red Jr. (12-7) 149: Jr. Jordan Shearer (6-5) -OR- Jr. Collin Purinton (8-6) 157: #2 Sr. Tyler Berger (16-2) 165: #6 Jr. Isaiah White (10-3) 174: #9 R-Fr. Mikey Labriola (15-4) 184: #5 So. Taylor Venz (14-3) 197: #12 So. Eric Schultz (15-6) 285: #14 Jr. David Jensen (10-2) Illinois Projected Starters: 125: #15 Jr. Travis Piotrowski (12-6) 133: #17 So. Dylan Duncan (9-6) 141: #4 So. Mike Carr (7-2) 149: Jr. Christian Kanzler (3-8) -OR- Sr. Mousa Jodeh (6-8) 157: #12 Jr. Eric Barone (14-7) 165: #19 Jr. Joey Gunther (15-7) 174: Jr. Carver James (11-8) -OR- Sr. Nick Gasbarro (9-8) -OR- So. Jake DiBenedetto (2-6) 184: #2 Sr. Emery Parker (10-0) 197: Sr. Andre Lee (15-8) 285: Sr. Deuce Rachal (7-11) Scouting the Fighting Illini: Head Coach: Jim Heffernan Career Record: (10th year) Record at Illinois: (10th year) Record: 2-3 (0-2 Big Ten) Wins (2): at Northern Illinois, at Michigan State Losses (3): #6 Missouri, at #5 Michigan, #7 Minnesota

3 Losses (3): #6 Missouri, at #5 Michigan, #7 Minnesota During Head Coach Jim Heffernan s time in Champaign, Illinois has finished in the top-10 at the NCAA championships on 13 occasions, and in the top-15 in 17 of the last 19 seasons. He s guided nine individuals to national championships during his time at Illinois. He also led them to the 2005 Big Ten title. #15 Travis Piotrowski (125), #17 Dylan Duncan (133), #4 Mike Carr (141) and #2 Emery Parker (184) all competed at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Emery Parker was the only returner to bring home All-America honors, as he finished third at 184 pounds #2 Emery Parker enters Sunday s bout undefeated at 10-0 on the year. He s a two-time NCAA qualifier, 2018 All-American and has twice finished in 5th place at the Big Ten Championships. The most significant loss for the Illini is 165-pounder Isaiah Martinez, who expired his eligibility last year. Martinez won the 2015 and 2016 national championship at 165 pounds and finished as the runner-up in both 2017 and Quick Notes: Nebraska has outscored its 11 dual opponents by a combined score of Nebraska has won 65 of 110 individual matches in dual competition. As a program, Nebraska has won 709 duals all-time after starting the season at 701 dual victories. Although the Huskers have an 8-3 record, two of the three losses (22-21 vs. #10 Wisconsin and at #7 NC State) came by criteria. Returning All-American Tyler Berger (157) won his 100th career match on Dec. 15 against UNC s Sawyer Davidson. He s the 28th Husker to hit the 100-win mark and holds a 10-1 dual record this year. Redshirt freshman Mikey Labriola (174) leads the team with 46 dual takedowns in 11 bouts. Labriola is 15-4 on the season (8-3 in duals) and earned the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week award on Nov. 13 after going undefeated at the Northeast Duals. After starting the season 1-3, junior Isaiah White (165) won 10 straight matches before falling to #1 Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State on Sunday., He s 4-1 in his last four matches against top 20 ranked opponents. Returning All-American Taylor Venz (184) has won his last four dual matches. He has one pin, one tech. fall and two decisions in those four matches, including an 8-6 decision over UNI s #6 Drew Foster. Berger Climbs Rankings, Garners National Attention: After winning his 104th career match against Northern Iowa s Patrick Shoenfelder on Saturday night, redshirt senior Tyler Berger sits five wins away from entering the top-15 in the all-time wins list at Nebraska. Berger has defeated three out of four top-ten opponents he s faced this year. He went on the road to defeat NC State s #4 Hayden Hidlay, beat Northwestern s #2 Ryan Deakin on Jan. 6, and held off Ohio State s #6 Ke-Shawn Hayes at the Cliff Keen Invitational. He suffered his first top-10 loss of the season last weekend after Penn State s #1 Jason Nolf beat him in a 10-4 decision. After his win over Deakin, Berger earned both the OpenMat Wrestler of the Week

4 After his win over Deakin, Berger earned both the OpenMat Wrestler of the Week award and the USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week. Schultz Gaining Respect Nationally: NU sophomore Eric Schultz is ranked as high as the No. 5 wrestler in the country in OpenMat s updated rankings after He just missed knocking off #1 Bo Nickal from Penn State on Sunday, losing in an 8-6 decision. Schultz is tied for first on the team in dual takedowns with 38 and ranks fourth in dual points (25). Parrish Burns Redshirt, Earns First Dual Victory: True freshman 133-pounder Jevon Parrish burned his redshirt on Jan. 12 against the #14 Northern Iowa Panthers. Despite losing his first match that night, Parrish responded with his first dual victory on Jan. 18 against Maryland. He took down Orion Anderson in a 9-5 decision. After this weekend, the Olathe, Kan., native holds a 13-6 record (1-2 in duals). He recently won the Cusatis Open on Jan. 5, but that will likely be the last open tournament he competes in this year. Isaiah Goes from Ice Cold to White Hot Junior Isaiah White qualified for the NCAA Championships last season in his first year as a Husker. He hit adversity early in the season, however, winning just one of his first four matches. Since his 1-3 start, White has won 10 of his past 11 matches, including five bouts against top 20 opponents. He s earned three major decisions and won the other seven by decision. His best win came in the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Invitational, when he defeated #5 Logan Massa of Michigan. This weekend, he ll take on Illinois 165-pounder #19 Joey Gunther. These two squared off on Nov. 30 at the Cliff Keen Invitational and ended with White coming away with a 7-3 decision. Venz Responds to Losses with a Vengeance in 2019: Taylor Venz made an instant impact upon entering the Huskers lineup last fall after a redshirt season in the year prior. The 184-pounder went 29-9 and earned All- America honors after finishing fourth at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Venz started the season 10-0, including winning his first five matches at the Cliff Keen Invitational. He fell in championship to No. 1 Myles Martin of Ohio State, 11-5, for his first loss of the year. After losing to Martin, Venz dropped his next two matches after that in top 15 showdowns with UNC and NC State. Since 2019 began, Venz has won all four of his matches. He s won one by tech. fall, one by pin and two by decision. On the season, Venz has seven bonus-point victories. Closing in on Milestones: #2 Tyler Berger (157) has 104 career wins. He s just five wins away from being in the top 15 all-time at Nebraska.

5 #9 Mikey Labriola (174) carries a 15-4 record into this weekend. The redshirt freshman from Easton, Pa., is 13 wins away from breaking the top 10 for wins as a freshman. Last Time Out: The #7 Huskers fell 25-6 to #1 Penn State in State College, Pa. #13 Zeke Moisey (125) and #5 Taylor Venz (184) took decisions for NU Up Next: Nebraska goes on the road to #14 Rutgers on Friday, Feb. 1 before returning home to host #3 Iowa at the Devaney Center on Sunday, Feb. 3 at noon. The first 500 fans will receive a FREE slice of Valentino s pizza. Tickets: Tickets are on sale at Huskers.com/tickets or by phone at BIGRED. E.J. Stevens MAIAA Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant Nebraska Athletics One Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Neb W: edward.stevens@huskers.unl.edu Nebraska Wrestli ois.pdf Season Stats Week 10.pdf