Even if it means wrestling more than the seven minutes of a regulation match, Nebraska senior James Nakashima doesn't seem to mind.
On Sunday at the NU Coliseum, the 197-pound Nakashima clinched the seventh-ranked Huskers' 24-9 victory against Purdue with a takedown just 14 seconds into the second sudden-victory period against the Boilermakers' A.J. Kissel.
The nine minutes-plus of wrestling resulted in Nakashima's second extra-time win of the weekend in his third straight overtime match, all against Big Ten opponents. It was also his fifth overtime match of the season, three more than any of his Husker teammates.
"That felt good. I needed that. These last two wins have been big for me, and I just need to keep it going," Nakashima said. "Right now, I'm trying to get to the next level and it's taking me overtimes and two overtimes to finish these tough guys off."
Neither Nakashima nor Kissel were able to get close to scoring in the one-minute sudden-victory period. But in the first of the two 30-second tiebreakers, the trend was reversed -- three times.
Nakashima scored a reversal 10 seconds in to take a 3-1 lead, but Kissel turned it around nine seconds later for a 3-3 tie. Nakashima then took what appeared to be a decisive lead with a buzzer-beating reversal for a 5-3 advantage heading into the second tiebreaker.
But Kissel escaped just eight seconds in and Nakashima was whistled for a technical violation for grabbing Kissel's undershirt, tying the match at 5-5.
Still, Nakashima wasn't about to panic.
"I was trying to ride him out. If he was going to get out, I'm still up 5-4 and I'm pretty good at holding off people on my feet," Nakashima said. "Then I got that tough call. Coach (Mark) Manning told me to stay relaxed, and I did and I got my shot."
The win was part of a six-match Husker victory run that put the team battle out of reach.
Freshmen James Green (ranked ninth at 157) and Robert Kokesh (No. 7 at 165) scored consecutive major-decision victories to ignite the streak, that also included a major decision from junior Josh Ihnen (No. 7 at 184) and wins by junior Tyler Koehn (No. 20 at 174) and senior Tucker Lane (No. 8 at 285).
Manning said Nakashima's victory was a big win for a young Husker team that struggled to get past unranked Indiana 23-17 in a road dual on Friday after taking a 24-9 shellacking at the hands of No. 2 Iowa a week earlier.
"James is a fighter," Manning said. "We talk about it all the time, about taking that confidence with him from the practice room to the mat for seven minutes."
"(Overall) our focus was a little bit better today. You're not going to be perfect in this season, especially on the road. With young guys, you're going to experience a little bit of lulls and a little bit of not concentrating. It's not where we want to be, but we're building momentum."
Briefly
*The Huskers (12-1) are on the road next weekend for two duals -- at Michigan State on Friday and at Wisconsin on Sunday.
*Nebraska's next scheduled home dual is Feb. 3 against defending national champion Penn State. NU could have a home dual against Northern Iowa on Feb. 19 if neither team reaches the final four of the National Duals tournament.
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