The #6 Nebraska wrestling team faced off against a really talented and well-coached #5 Oklahoma State team on Sunday at the Devaney Sports Center. After a rough start to the dual, Nebraska nearly climbed out of multiple 10-point holes but fell short of the comeback, losing 22-12.

The Huskers wrestled in front of 7,094 fans, setting a new Nebraska wrestling attendance record in the John Cook Arena.

Nebraska lost three of the first four bouts, falling behind 13-3 going into returning National Champion Antrell Taylor’s match against undefeated freshman #2 Landon Robideau at 157 pounds. I hate to spoil it, but Taylor was able to get Nebraska back in the dual with a win.

Nebraska then pulled within four points later in the dual after a big win from senior #9 Silas Allred, but the Cowboys iced the dual with two consecutive one-point wins for the 22-12 dual victory.

With the loss, Nebraska is now 6-3 in duals — one loss to #2 Ohio State and the other two to the Cowboys. Oklahoma State is 8-1 with the win — its only loss was to #4 Iowa at National Duals.

Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor — an Olympic, World and NCAA champion — has the Cowboys humming in his second season at the helm.

This was the first match in a four-year home-and-away series between these two teams, so expect to get used to seeing a lot of these guys going forward.

Match-By-Match Recap

125 pounds

After a rough weekend at this weight, things still look far from settled — who Nebraska goes with for the second semester is anyone’s guess. Sophomore Alan Koehler dropped a 4-1 decision on Friday to #28 Kysen Terukina of North Carolina while redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen lost 12-4 via major decision to #8 Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State.

Lauridsen gave up three takedowns in the match against the Cowboys’ returning NCAA finalist. Spratley faced Koehler at National Duals and won via pinfall.

Lauridsen is now 6-5 on the year, while Koehler is 9-8 — both are 1-4 in duals going into the holiday break.

133 pounds

Nebraska’s #8 Jacob Van Dee completed his weekend with another ranked win — after beating North Carolina’s #19 Ethan Oakley on Friday night, Van Dee took on Oklahoma State’s #21 Ronnie Ramirez this afternoon.

According to Nebraska coach Mark Manning, Van Dee was sick with strep throat but still wanted to go.

After a scoreless first period, Van Dee scored a second-period escape before giving one up to Ramirez in the third, tying the match 1-1. With just under a minute left in the match, Van Dee hit a nice low shot before finishing for a takedown and a 4-1 lead — he went on to ride the period out for the 4-1 decision win.

With the win, Van Dee is now 9-1 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in duals.

141 pounds

In a rematch from a National Duals loss, #3 Brock Hardy faced #2 Sergio Vega and it didn’t go well.

The true freshman Vega continues his dominant start to his career as he took Hardy down early in the match. Vega locked up a cradle in a scramble and scored four near-fall points before readjusting and rolling through for the pin. See the entire sequence here:

The way Vega has dominated Hardy in two matches this season is kind of astonishing — the young Cowboy is an immediate NCAA title threat.

With the loss, Hardy drops to 10-3 on the year — all three losses have come against the top two wrestlers in the country Vega and #1 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State.

149 pounds

Making his dual debut for the Huskers, #9 Chance Lamer took on #13 Casey Swiderski here.

Lamer wrestled hesitantly and never really looked to score much in a 7-2 loss where Swiderski iced things late with a go-behind for a takedown.

With the loss, Lamer is now 10-1 on the year. Nebraska fell behind 13-3 on the team score after this match.

157 pounds

Needing someone to reverse the momentum, #6 Antrell Taylor did just that against a tough #2 Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State. The true freshman came in undefeated, but Taylor gave him his first career loss on Sunday afternoon.

Robideau scored a second-period reversal, but Taylor countered with a pair of escapes, tying it at 2-2. The two then wrestled a scoreless two-minute sudden victory period, sending things to tiebreakers.

In the first tiebreaker, Taylor chose bottom and was able to escape in just four seconds with an extremely urgent hip heist to get away.

Robideau was forced to choose neutral in the second tiebreaker due to Taylor’s quick escape, and Taylor was able to hold off the Robideau sprint for the 3-2 decision win.

With the win, Taylor is now 10-2 on the year — it was his 60th career win as well (60-16). He also re-inserted himself near the top of the rankings.

165 pounds

In a battle of top freshmen, Nebraska’s #13 LJ Araujo took on Oklahoma State’s #2 LaDarion Lockett.

Facing a guy like Lockett who is extremely quick and athletic, Araujo did a really good job of staying disciplined in his stance with his head-hands defense.

The first period ended scoreless, so Lockett chose bottom to start the second period. With the top position being Araujo’s bread and butter, it was an opportunity for him to assert his will. Instead, Lockett exploded off the whistle and worked for an escape in just five seconds. Araujo scored an escape of his own in the third, sending the match to sudden victory tied 1-1.

In sudden victory, Lockett shot a single on Araujo on the edge and after a scramble secured the takedown and the 4-1 win before sharing some words with the Husker coaches and bench.

With the loss, Araujo is now 9-2 on the year.

Despite this being a loss, it kind of raises Araujo’s profile nationally because Lockett is being looked at as one of the favorites to make it to the NCAA final opposite Penn State’s #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink. Araujo controlled the majority of this match and showed that he belongs in the conversation among guys like Lockett.

174 pounds

With the Huskers facing a 16-6 dual deficit at this point, they needed All-American #7 Christopher Minto to reverse the result of a National Duals loss against #6 Alex Facundo, and he did just that.

After losing a 2-1 decision last time, Minto scored a second-period takedown on the way to the 4-1 decision win this time around before taunting back the Cowboy bench.

Minto is now 10-2 on the year with three top-10 wins to his name.

184 pounds

In another toss-up match, Nebraska’s #9 Silas Allred got his second win of the season over #10 Zack Ryder. After beating Ryder in sudden victory at National Duals, Allred won a 4-2 decision this time around.

Midway through the first period, Allred shot a double and ran through Ryder before lifting him for an authoritative mat return and the takedown. It’s what you like to see your senior leader do to a talented redshirt freshman.

With the win, Allred is now 9-3 on the year — it was his 84th career win.

197 pounds

Allred’s win kept the door open for the Huskers, but they needed a win here from #15 Camden McDanel over #7 Cody Merrill — Merrill defeated McDanel at National Duals in tiebreakers.

After a scoreless first period, McDanel gave up an escape to start the second before firing off a few good shots — he was unable to finish for the score though. In the third, McDanel chose bottom and was unable to get away until late in the match — despite multiple rolling attempts at both escapes and reversals. McDanel only had about 10 seconds left to work with after his escape and was unable to get a takedown.

With the loss, Nebraska was mathematically eliminated from winning the dual down seven points.

With Merrill scoring the riding-time point, McDanel dropped the match 2-1 again. The Husker sophomore is now 9-4 on the year.

285 pounds

Nebraska elected to go with true freshman Cade Ziola here rather than #4 AJ Ferrari — Manning said after the dual that Ferrari was “not feeling well today” — for what it’s worth. It was Ziola’s first home dual for the Huskers and his third of five available “dates” where he can wrestle and preserve his redshirt.

Ziola came into this one 4-1 on the year with some impressive wins this season, so he got his shot against #8 Konnor Doucet of Oklahoma State. An undersized heavyweight, Ziola weighed in at 218 pounds with Koucet hitting 242 on the scale, so he was giving up a lot of size.

After a scoreless first period, Ziola chose bottom to start the second period and after multiple restarts after going out of bounds, Doucet was called for locked hands, giving Ziola a penalty point. Despite wrestling really hard from the bottom position throughout the period, Ziola was unable to score the escape and gave up the full-period ride.

Doucet got the escape point to start the third period and was able to hold off Ziola, winning 2-1 with the riding-time point. Had Ziola scored the escape in the second, the match would have gone to sudden victory.

Ziola is now 4-2 on the year and 2-1 in duals. A close 2-1 loss to a guy like Doucet in front of a record crowd in your home debut will certainly pay dividends for Ziola going forward in his career.