NCAA Wrestling Championships wrapped up day one at Qwest Center Omaha for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Heavyweight Tucker Lane won his Thursday morning match 2-1 and lost last night’s second round match Konrad Dudziak of Duke 4-3.
Craig Brester moved into the quarterfinals with two wins yesterday including his 11th pin at 197. Stephen Dwyer at 174 won two matches of 6-0 and 5-0 to advance to this morning’s quarterfinals. At 184 Josh Ihnen lost his first match, but in the wrestlebacks came up with a 3-1 decision to move on. Mike Koehnlein lost both of his matches at 141.
Brester will be wrestling in the quarterfinals for the fourth time of his career, including a runner-up finish in 2009. Dwyer’s qualification is the second as a Husker after he also began the 2008 national tournament with a 2-0 mark, before slipping to eighth place. Each senior is now one victory away from 2010 All-America status.
In Dwyer’s second round win Friday night, he beat Dorian Henderson of Missouri in a match that included two technical violations on the Tiger wrestler. Dwyer will face off against Jarion Beets of Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals. Beets’ day was highlight by a first round upset of fifth-seeded Scott Glasser (Minnesota), 14-7.
After pinning Rider’s Tyler Smith in his first match Thursday, Brester was dominant in his second round match against Logan Brown of Purdue en route to a 7-0 victory. Brester will match up with seventh-seeded Anthony Biondo of Michigan. Like Brester, Biondo pinned his first round opponent on Friday.
