Friday night in Bloomington, Ind., the Nebraska wrestling team trailed Indiana 14-3.
Then the Huskers won 12 of their next 16 matches against the Hoosiers and Purdue Sunday afternoon. NU rallied to defeat Indiana 16-13 and beat the Boilermakers 24-9.
Mark Manning said falling to an 11-point deficit on the road is part of the learning curve for the young wrestlers on the team.
"With young guys, you're going to experience some lulls," Manning said after the Purdue dual. "Our focus was a little bit better probably today."
Against Indiana, Nebraska's comeback effort was sparked by extra-point victories from freshmen James Green and Robert Kokesh and a pin by senior Josh Ihnen, who beat IU's Luke Sheridan in only 44 seconds.
"We come to expect it from some of those guys," Manning said. "They can be dominant. They need to be dominant to make themselves better and build momentum toward the end of the season."
Two days after the victory in Indiana, the Huskers were back in action at the NU Coliseum against Purdue. Once again, Green, Kokesh and Ihnen provided extra-point wins to pull the Huskers away from the Boilermakers.
Manning said he was pleased with his squad's resiliency following its first loss of the season, earning the two victories this weekend after falling to No. 2 Iowa a week earlier.
"I knew they would respond well," Manning said.
But he added that there is still potential that the Huskers have not yet tapped into.
"It's not what we want, but next weekend will be another good test for us," Manning said. "This is a good opportunity to just keep building a lot of momentum."
Momentum was the name of the game for NU in its two-match weekend. Facing a deficit against Indiana, the Huskers rallied to win and continued rolling en route to routing Purdue.
"We're competing well as a team," Manning said. "This group of guys is fun to watch and fun to coach because they want to win bad and they want to give it their all."
One of those individuals is senior James Nakashima, who, at the 197-pound weight class, embodied Nebraska's momentum gain. Following losses against Ohio State and Iowa, Nakashima earned the victory that put Indiana away and triumphed in the best match of the Purdue dual.
"These last two wins were big wins for me, and I need to keep it rolling," he said.
Nakashima's match with Purdue's A.J. Kissel went to extra time tied at 1-1. Following a scoreless sudden victory period, Nakashima jumped to a 5-3 lead heading into the last 30 seconds of the match. In that period, Kissel was able to tie the match again with an escape and a technical violation against Nakashima.
"It was a tough call. It was disappointing, but I had to get over that right away," Nakashima said. "Coach Manning told me, ‘Just stay relaxed, just don't worry about it,' and that's what I did."
Fourteen seconds into the ensuing sudden victory period, Nakashima ended the match by taking down Kissel.
"It felt good," Nakashima said. "I needed that one."
Manning said the match exemplified what he had been working on with Nakashima in practice.
"We made it hard on ourselves there, but James Nakashima is a fighter and I really believe in him," Manning said. "He's doing a great job because he works so hard. We talk about it all the time, taking that confidence in the practice room onto the mat during that seven minutes."
Nakashima, who wrestled at 165 pounds two years ago, said he is getting more adjusted to the heavier weight class and following his game plan better.
"That's another part of it, keeping patient, keeping my composure," Nakashima said.
Manning agreed, saying Nakashima is growing into his role well.
"Experience on this level is good for him," Manning said. "He's had two wins, two tough matches, against two tough guys, and that's good. That's how you build confidence and that's how you get over the hump."
And though the Huskers swept two duals in three days, Manning said he has higher hopes for his team's future.
"I think we're growing. They're really building good momentum," he said. "But we've got a lot of work to do yet. We've got a lot more to give even than we showed today."
zachtegler
@dailynebraskan.com
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