Against a tough Michigan team last weekend, Nebraska got some signature wins out of its redshirt freshmen on the way to a dominant 25-7 win over the Wolverines. Both Antrell Taylor and Jacob Van Dee scored Top-10 wins — the biggest of both of their young careers to date.

In front of 4,958 fans, the third-largest crowd in program history, Nebraska won the first six matches, including a number of toss-ups. In the end, the Huskers won eight of 10 matches while even seeing some encouraging signs in their two losses — like when #20 Bubba Wilson fought hard in a 1-0 loss to #3 Shane Griffith.

“I saw consistency that we haven’t had,” Nebraska head coach Mark Manning said of the win over Michigan. “Bubba lost 1-0 but fought his butt off and gave himself a chance to win and wrestled really smart. I saw great poise and I saw confidence. A lot of guys have had confidence, I just saw a team full of confidence.

“Great crowd. I was really grateful to our fans for coming out and supporting us. I think people realize we have a good team, so it’s really cool.”

Both Taylor and Van Dee have put together solid freshman years to date. Ranked #10 at 165 pounds, Taylor is 16-4 on the year and 5-2 in Big Ten duals. His only conference losses have come against #5 Dean Hamiti and #7 Michael Caliendo, both decisions. Van Dee is ranked #22 at 133 pounds with a 16-6 record on the year — he’s 5-1 in conference duals with his only loss to Illinois’ Anthony Madrigal.

Facing a three-time NCAA qualifier in #4 Dylan Ragusin of Michigan who was at the time undefeated on the year, Van Dee displayed some high-level defense on the way to a 3-2 win.

“It’s hard to get over that hump as a freshman, like I used to watch this guy at nationals or in the Big Ten tournament,” Van Dee said of wrestling Ragusin. “This dude is older than me and I used to literally learn from this kid, and now I have to go out and wrestle him. Just to be able to beat him just proves where you’re at and how much fight you have.”

According to Manning, it showed the world what this Husker staff already knew they had in Van Dee.

“I saw a guy who’s really gritty. We know he’s gritty, and he just demonstrated that in a big-time match like that,” Manning said. “I just think he’s able to do that time in and time out now. His expectation now matches our expectation for him. He was really disappointed in how he wrestled against Illinois and he bounced back really well. That just shows that he’s resilient and shows he can get on the podium in a really tough weight class.”

As for Taylor, he broke through with a 3-2 tiebreaker win over three-time All-American #11 Cameron Amine (he was ranked #8 last week). Much like Van Dee, Taylor displayed incredible leg defense, fending off multiple shots in which Amine got his leg off the mat. Also in the same vein as Van Dee, Taylor said it was surreal to wrestle and beat a guy he’s been watching since his high school days.

“It felt good to finally beat that top-10 guy because that’s something I dreamed of coming here because that guy’s been in college for awhile,” Taylor said. “I watched him wrestle at NCAAs and stuff like that and to beat him, it felt good and showed me that I’m on the right path.

“When I was walking off the mat, Tervel (Dlagnev) was like, ‘You’re in the conversation now. You gotta believe.’ And it actually made me believe for real when he said that.”

In a match where Taylor was able to win in tiebreakers with riding time, Manning saw the switch flip for his in-state product out of Nebraska powerhouse program Millard South.

“(Amine) had us dead to rights a couple times in on our legs, and Trelly fought him off hard and did a really good job – I saw him just come alive right there,” Manning said. “Against Amine, he had to fend off some shots, and when it came to the ride, I’m sure (Amine) thought he had the advantage. Antrell was just gritty man. I loved it.”

Admittedly for Taylor, the top position is not a strength of his. Nearly making the U20 World Team last summer and winning the U20 Pan-Am Championships for Team USA, Taylor’s favorite style is freestyle. He’s a former Fargo finalist and U15 World silver medalist.

So, the top game is something Taylor has been actively trying to improve on, evidenced by the way he was able to ride Amine for 18 seconds in tiebreakers. 

“I’ve been trying to get a system on top because I never really ride people on top at all,” Taylor said. “When I’ve got to, I’ll definitely do it, but I just want to get a good system where I can constantly be able to ride people out.”

In high school, both Taylor and Van Dee were standouts. Coming out of a wrestling-rich state like Pennsylvania, Van Dee saw some of the best competition in the country regularly. Wrestling for Cathedral Prep in Class AAA, Van Dee won a state championship as a junior at 113 pounds after making it to the 106-pound final as a sophomore, falling to current Buckeye Vinny Kilkeary in sudden victory. He moved up to 126 for his senior year and took fifth, finishing his career with a 112-23 record, coming in at #93 on the Class of 2022 Big Board.

“I mean, it was hard to get out of my regional tournament in high school — it was sometimes harder than other state tournaments,” Van Dee said. “It was definitely stiff competition no matter where you were. It definitely humbled me and turned me into the wrestler I am today — just fighting 24/7.”

For Taylor, the competition in Nebraska wasn’t as tough, so he had to set lofty goals for himself in an attempt to jump levels – like trying to tech and pin every opponent his senior year. He didn’t quite reach that goal as he went 39-1 with his only loss to current Oklahoma State wrestler Brayden Thompson 1-0 at the Cheesehead. He finished his senior year with 25 pins and six techs and finished his prep career with a 158-6 record and three Class A state titles, ranking #30 on the Class of 2022 Big Board.

“I knew the competition level wasn’t as high as it is in other states,” Taylor said. “When I went out there, I just tried to approach it like get better and see how many takedowns I can get and just develop myself knowing that I won’t have crazy competition to go against. I had to push myself to the next level.”

Last season, both Van Dee and Taylor redshirted and were named co-Redshirts of the Year for the work they put in. They traveled with the team on road trips and in the postseason, giving them added familiarity that’s helped them this season as first-time starters. On top of that, they got to see firsthand the damage a redshirt freshman could do with Brock Hardy earning All-American honors and Silas Allred winning a Big Ten title in their first years in the lineup.

“Especially when we saw Silas win Big Tens last year, it was like, ‘I can do that next year.’” Taylor said. “I was glad they brought us to watch at Big Tens and it really showed us that we’re close.”

A coach that redshirts most, if not all, of his freshmen each year, Manning likes what the year of acclimation can do for his incoming guys.

“If they use it in the right way, it’s a year to give them maturity and step the level up from high school to college and give them that experience. Sometimes you just have to go through some tough losses and difficult times to know where you can actually succeed and grow from,” Manning said. “Everyone has some deficiencies when they go from high school to college – whether it’s top or its bottom or it’s on your feet. It just gives them time to get better in those areas. And then just knowing that you’re in the Big Ten – it’s a different beast.”

Going forward with their first postseason tournaments ahead of them, the mantra for Van Dee and Taylor has just been to get better every day.

“Better than I was yesterday — that’s all that matters in my opinion,” Van Dee said. “If you’re not better than you were yesterday then you’re not working toward your goal.”

Ridge Lovett With Statement Win of His Own

In the biggest matchup of the dual against Michigan, Nebraska’s top-ranked Ridge Lovett took on #5 Austin Gomez, who beat him twice in 2022. This time around, Lovett used a punishing ride to dominate Gomez in an 11-4 decision win, pushing his record on the year to 20-0.

“Gomez is really good, so I think Ridge showed there again a lot of poise,” Manning said. “Leading up until the match, I’m sure crazy thoughts could go through his mind the whole week. Gomez looked really good against Iowa and we’d never beat him. It just shows that that redshirt year was really worthwhile. It just showed the growth in his wrestling and his development.”

Penn State Up Next

Nebraska finishes its Big Ten slate with a road dual against top-ranked Penn State this Sunday. Nebraska is coming off its big win over Michigan while Penn State just beat Iowa 29-6, winning eight matches along the way.

Between the two teams, there will be six top-ranked wrestlers competing with five of them on the Nittany Lion side of things. With the momentum that both teams are riding this season, this could set up one of the best duals of the year.

“I just think it’s all about what we do. We just have to bring our best on Sunday,” Manning said. “We know what we’re getting ourselves into and we know the type of team – it’s what we’ve been training for. We want these matchups. It’s going to show us where we can grow.”

With Penn State holding a 7-0 conference record and Nebraska at 6-1, this one’s for dual season bragging rights.

“There’s a Big Ten title on the line,” Manning said.

According to Taylor, the feeling around this team is peaking just at the right time.

“You can feel the energy is rising for sure. We’re all starting to click at the same time,” he said. “This week definitely means a lot – we got something to prove for sure.”