No. 3 Nebraska opened its season with a statement at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Nov. 8, taking down No. 20 Wyoming 28-9 and winning seven of 10 matches.
The Huskers didn’t just win the dual - they did a lot of their damage in bunches. Nebraska ripped off a five-match run from 141 through 174, and several of the new faces in the lineup wasted no time making an impression.
Senior 149-pounder Anthony Echemendia, a transfer from Iowa State, looked sharp from the opening whistle against Wyoming’s Austin Collins. Echemendia was only up 3-1 after the first period, but he poured it on from there, stacking up three takedowns and a loud thud on the way to a 17-4 win.
At 165, senior Cornell transfer and three-time All-American Meyer Shapiro didn’t need long to take control either. He handled Manuel Rojas 19-3 for a tech fall. Freshman Lincoln Sledzianowski, making his first collegiate appearance at 141, also delivered, grabbing an early takedown on Austin Collins and cruising to an 11-2 victory.
Nebraska also got a clean start from NC State transfer and 2025 125-pound national champion Vincent Robinson, who opened the dual with an 8-2 decision over Isaiah Harrison.
“He's the most high-energy guy I’ve ever met,” redshirt freshman Cade Ziola said post-match about Robinson. “Since the first day I met him, like in the fourth grade… the energy he brings is unmatched.”
The marquee bout of the afternoon came at 197, where Nebraska’s No. 5 Camden McDanel and Wyoming’s No.
4 Joey Novak locked into a tight, low-scoring fight. McDanel finally broke through with an escape to go ahead 1-0, but Novak answered with an escape of his own in the third period before finishing the match with a late takedown for a 4-1 win.
Nebraska’s biggest margin came from a wave of bonus-point results. The Huskers piled up five major decisions, including Shapiro’s tech fall, along with Antrell Taylor’s 17-4 win over Antonio Avila at 157 and Ziola’s 19-4 tech-fall victory at heavyweight.
Ziola and Shapiro both talked after the match about how they fed off each other before and during their bouts. That energy showed up in the results.
“He’s a tough kid and he demonstrates that when he wrestles and he competes,” head coach Mark Manning said about Ziola post-match. “Over the summer, I think his commitment to really hitting the weight room four or five times a week, and those pile up.”
Not every Nebraska result went the home team’s way. In the second duel of the day, No.
7 Jacob Van Dee had control for much of his match against Wyoming’s No. 16 Luke Willochell, but Willochell flipped it late.
After Van Dee led 4-1, Willochell picked up an escape in the third and then got the takedown when Van Dee pressed too hard, stealing a 5-4 upset.
Junior No. 2 Christopher Minto was steady in a 10-4 win over Riley Davis, while Nebraska’s lone true underdog, junior Ethan DeLeon at 184, gave No.
6 Eddie Neitenbach a fight before falling 13-8. DeLeon jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Neitenbach rallied to lead 11-7 entering the third and held on from there.
Nebraska now turns to a road trip against No. 2 Oklahoma State on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., with the dual streaming on ESPN+.
In Other News...
Nebraska Assistants Should Feel The Heat After Another Costly Collapse
Matt Rhule has already shown he is willing to keep tinkering with his staff since taking over after the 2022 season, and Nebraskas latest collapse only adds to the pressure on the assistants around him. The program has seen major turnover across the coaching roster, with only a few original holdovers still in place, and the message has been clear enough: if a unit is not holding up its end, changes can come quickly.
Special teams has become the latest sore spot, with field goal accuracy and return yardage both drawing scrutiny as the Cornhuskers keep finding new ways to leave wins on the table. After another costly breakdown, it would not be a surprise if more coaching movement is coming, because at this point the staffs margin for error feels just as thin as the teams. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Next OC Will Reveal Rhules Real Offensive Direction
With Glenn Thomas handling play-calling on an interim basis, Nebraskas search for its next offensive coordinator is already shaping the direction of the programs next phase. The list of candidates under consideration is a telling one, because each brings a different background, different play-calling history and a different idea of what the Cornhuskers offense should look like moving forward.
That makes this hire more than just a staff move in Lincoln. After the firing of Matt Rhule, the next offensive coordinator will be the clearest signal yet of what the Huskers want to become on that side of the ball, and the six names being examined offer a wide range of possibilities. For a fan base that has spent plenty of time waiting for offensive clarity, the choice could say as much about Rhules real vision as any public comment ever could. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Gets A Useful Early Test Its Defense Cant Ignore
Nebraskas non-league schedule is already doing what coach Fred Hoiberg wants it to do: giving the Cornhuskers a chance to learn something before the games start to matter even more. After the win over Providence, highlighted by Pryce Sandforts 25-point night, Nebraska turns around to face Lindenwood in another early test, with the focus less on the final score and more on how the roster holds up when it has to defend and adjust.
Lindenwood comes in with a recent win over East-West University and a loss to TCU, which makes it a useful measuring stick for a Nebraska team still sorting out its identity. These are the kinds of games that can expose bad habits or confirm progress, and for the Cornhuskers, the defensive end is the part that cant be ignored as they keep working through the non-league slate. [Read more 🡒]