Junior Josh Ihnen recorded the quickest pin of his career and his first pin of the season to rally the No. 7 Nebraska wrestling team to a 23-17 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday night in Bloomington, Ind. The Huskers, who fell in a 14-3 hole after four matches, improved their overall record to 11-1 and 2-1 in Big Ten duals. Indiana drops to 6-5 on the year and 0-5 in the conference.
Ihnen played a crucial part in the Huskers’ victory by picking up key bonus-points at 184 pounds with his 44-second pin over Luke Sheridan (IU). Ihnen wasted no time getting on the offensive, taking Sheridan straight to his back on his first shot attempt. The Sheldon, Iowa, native improved his record to 16-2 on the season and 11-1 in conference duals.
The Huskers dropped three of their first four matches to find themselves down by 11 the host Hoosiers. No. 19 Ridge Kiley (133) picked up NU’s only victory in the opening four bouts, defeating Joe Duca (IU) in dominating fashion, 7-2. The junior was able to break his two-match losing streak by scoring a takedown in the first period, a reversal in the second and a 2-point nearfall in the final period to seal the victory.
After an early takedown, sophomore Shawn Nagel (125) couldn’t hold off Zach Zimmer (IU) and fell by decision, 8-2, while Matt Ortega (IU) won by fall over Luis DeAnda (141), who was seeing his first action in dual competition while filling in for freshman Jake Sueflohn. At 149 pounds, No. 20 Tayler Walsh (IU) defeated Brandon Wilbourn by technical fall, 15-0, to give the Hoosiers their biggest lead of the night.
In need of bonus-point victories, the Huskers received two from a pair of freshman in James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (165). No. 9 Green collected seven takedowns to defeat Sawyer Morris (IU) by major decision, 16-5, and moved his team-leading win total to 22 for the season. The seventh-ranked Kokesh exploded for three takedowns in the third period to pull away from Preston Keiffer (IU), 12-2, and pull the Huskers within three at 14-11.
No. 20 Tyler Koehn (174) tied the dual at 14 apiece after edging out Ryan LeBlanc (IU), 5-2. The two wrestlers exchanged escape points at the beginning of the second and third periods to tie the score at 1-1, but Koehn was able to record a takedown with 38 second left to take the lead at 3-1. Following an escape by LeBlanc, Koehn captured another takedown with less than 10 seconds left to seal the victory.
Senior James Nakashima (197) put the dual out of reach for IU with his overtime victory over Joe Fagiano (IU), 4-3. After being tied through the first tiebreaker and second sudden-victory period, Nakashima nearly held Fagiano in the down position for the first 30 second period, but gave up the escape with one second left. Nakashima was able to escape in the last 30 second period and was awarded the victory because of the 19 seconds of riding time he had accumulated throughout the match.
In the Huskers last dual, No. 8 Tucker Lane saw his 11-match win streak come to an end by falling to Adam Chalfant (IU), 3-2.
The Huskers return to action on Sunday, Jan. 22 when they host the Purdue Boilermakers at the NU Coliseum at 1 p.m. Sunday’s dual is Greek Day at the Coliseum, where Greek Houses around campus will have the opportunity to participate in a “Sumo Suit†wrestling tournament before the dual starting at Noon. Also, the first 25 students will receive a $5 gift cart to Hu-Hot restaurant, while the first 100 students will get free Adidas wristbands. Check back to Huskers.com for more information on the Nebraska wrestling team.
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