NCAA Wrestling notebook, 3-21
Brad Vering must have thought he’d seen this somewhere before. When Nebraska’s 2000 national champion at 197 pounds arrived at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday, he found himself on the opposite side of the mat from the Huskers. Not only that, he was coaching the enemy.
Vering, a member of the U.S. national Greco-Roman team and a silver medalist at the world championships last fall, is a volunteer assistant at American University and spends much of his time working with NCAA top seed Josh Glenn, who beat NU’s Craig Brester in the quarterfinals at 197 pounds.
Vering said it was tough to watch the match, not just because of the torn loyalties to the two schools, but because he and Brester are from the same hometown — Howells.
“I’ve known Craig since he was 5 years old. He’s such a great kid, a classy person and from a great family. Josh is the same way,” Vering said. “It’s a real tough situation for me. I’ve just got to sit back and take it all in and let the best man win.”
Vering found himself in a similar situation in 2001, when he finished seventh at nationals. Back then, former Husker assistant Mark Cody had moved on to Oklahoma State. Now, Cody is American’s head coach and Vering’s boss.
“That was a tough situation for me, too,” Vering said. “Mark went to Oklahoma State and coached my archnemesis to a national title that year while I was a senior. It’s the same with Craig and myself. We talk to each other and I still wish him the best. He knows I want him to do great.”
Brester said Vering talked to him immediately after the loss to Glenn and gave him a little pep talk.
“I talked to a little to him afterward and he said, ‘Keep your head up. Keep going, buddy. Get some wins.’” Brester said. “I know he’s rooting for me and wants me to do the best, but what can we do about it?”
-- EYES ON IOWA: The Hawkeyes are so far ahead in the team race, it’s a virtual lock that they’ll be taking home a 16th national title. Iowa has 102 points, well ahead of Ohio State (71) and Iowa State (68). Nebraska is tied for seventh with 58.
-- GETTING NO QUARTER: The heartbreaks for the Huskers weren’t confined to Friday’s evening session.
In the quarterfinals, 165-pounder Stephen Dwyer gained a takedown against Cornell’s Mack Lewnes with 34 seconds left in the match to go ahead 4-2. Lewnes, however, scored a reversal with 11 seconds left to force the match to overtime.
After a scoreless sudden-victory period, Lewnes notched another reversal in the first of the two 30-second tie-breaker periods and nearly rode out Dwyer the rest of the way. Dwyer almost scored a reversal in the waning seconds, but was awarded only one-point escape as time expired to give Lewnes a 6-5 victory.
At 184, Vince Jones was tied 1-1 with Missouri’s Raymond Jordan in the final minute of the match, but Jordan scored a takedown and rode out the remainder of the period to earn a 3-1 win.
-- BRIEFLY: NU’s Jon May wrestled his final collegiate match in the third round of consolations, losing 7-2 to Kent State’s 6-foot-6 heavyweight Jermail Porter, the No. 9 seed. May was the only senior on the Husker roster this season. … Husker sophomore 133-pounder Kenny Jordan defaulted his early morning match and was eliminated from the tournament.
Vering, a member of the U.S. national Greco-Roman team and a silver medalist at the world championships last fall, is a volunteer assistant at American University and spends much of his time working with NCAA top seed Josh Glenn, who beat NU’s Craig Brester in the quarterfinals at 197 pounds.
Vering said it was tough to watch the match, not just because of the torn loyalties to the two schools, but because he and Brester are from the same hometown — Howells.
“I’ve known Craig since he was 5 years old. He’s such a great kid, a classy person and from a great family. Josh is the same way,” Vering said. “It’s a real tough situation for me. I’ve just got to sit back and take it all in and let the best man win.”
Vering found himself in a similar situation in 2001, when he finished seventh at nationals. Back then, former Husker assistant Mark Cody had moved on to Oklahoma State. Now, Cody is American’s head coach and Vering’s boss.
“That was a tough situation for me, too,” Vering said. “Mark went to Oklahoma State and coached my archnemesis to a national title that year while I was a senior. It’s the same with Craig and myself. We talk to each other and I still wish him the best. He knows I want him to do great.”
Brester said Vering talked to him immediately after the loss to Glenn and gave him a little pep talk.
“I talked to a little to him afterward and he said, ‘Keep your head up. Keep going, buddy. Get some wins.’” Brester said. “I know he’s rooting for me and wants me to do the best, but what can we do about it?”
-- EYES ON IOWA: The Hawkeyes are so far ahead in the team race, it’s a virtual lock that they’ll be taking home a 16th national title. Iowa has 102 points, well ahead of Ohio State (71) and Iowa State (68). Nebraska is tied for seventh with 58.
-- GETTING NO QUARTER: The heartbreaks for the Huskers weren’t confined to Friday’s evening session.
In the quarterfinals, 165-pounder Stephen Dwyer gained a takedown against Cornell’s Mack Lewnes with 34 seconds left in the match to go ahead 4-2. Lewnes, however, scored a reversal with 11 seconds left to force the match to overtime.
After a scoreless sudden-victory period, Lewnes notched another reversal in the first of the two 30-second tie-breaker periods and nearly rode out Dwyer the rest of the way. Dwyer almost scored a reversal in the waning seconds, but was awarded only one-point escape as time expired to give Lewnes a 6-5 victory.
At 184, Vince Jones was tied 1-1 with Missouri’s Raymond Jordan in the final minute of the match, but Jordan scored a takedown and rode out the remainder of the period to earn a 3-1 win.
-- BRIEFLY: NU’s Jon May wrestled his final collegiate match in the third round of consolations, losing 7-2 to Kent State’s 6-foot-6 heavyweight Jermail Porter, the No. 9 seed. May was the only senior on the Husker roster this season. … Husker sophomore 133-pounder Kenny Jordan defaulted his early morning match and was eliminated from the tournament.
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