From the Mound to the Plate.                  

  From the Tee to the Hole.

                                    These events are coming on strong.

Men’s Baseball:

At Corpus Christi, TX, Nebraska and New Head Coach Darin Erstad picked up their first win of the season. Sophomore pitcher Zach Hirsch got his first win as the Huskers won 5-2 over the Utah Utes in the opener of this tournament.

In the second round they again played the Utes and won 15-0 on Saturday and then pounded out a 7-1 win over host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. They finished off the four game meet with a Sunday win over UNLV 8-7.

At the plate, Richard Stock 9-20, Richard Sanguinetti 7-12, and Chad Christianson 6-18 lead the offense and the group accounted for 10 RBIs with Christianson accounting for 6 of them.

Women’ Softball: A slow start cost the 22nd-ranked Nebraska softball team a chance at an upset on Friday, as a first-inning grand slam powered 19th-ranked Oregon to a 4-2 victory at the Cathedral City Classic.

On Saturday, Cal Poly jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning and scored 11 runs over the first three frames, leading by as many as 10 runs. Cal Poly was the only unranked team in the field of 6. After losing the first two games, the Huskers took on old rival Missouri an 11^th ranked team and set them down 6-4. On Sunday 8^th ranked Texas shut the Huskers our 3-0 and in the second game, 5^th ranked Washington nosed out the Big Red 6-3.

The Huskers now stand 9-7 after going 1-4 in this tournament but they have faced a number of rated teams.

Ashley Guile and Taylor Edwards pace the team with identical .426 batting averages and a combined 33 RBI’s and a total of 32 runs they have scored. Tatum Edwards, Taylors twin sister, ties Guile with RBIs at 18 and she also leads in home runs with 3.

Women’s Basketball: Last week I questioned if the women’s basketball may have peaked to early. They lost 3 out of the last 4. Well they made a dummy out of me when they took on Ohio State on Seniors day. Actually there were only two seniors on the squad.

Kaitlyn Burke is an advertising and business administration major at Nebraska and owns a 3.541 GPA. She was a first-team academic All-Big 12 pick in 2009 and 2011, and a seven-time member of the Big 12 Honor Roll.

The second Senior, Harleen Sidhu has bee plagued with injuries this season and has seen little playing time. A nutrition science major at Nebraska, Sidhu carries a 3.213 grade-point average and was a first-team academic All-Big 12 selection as a junior in 2011. She was also a four-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Ok back to the Husker match up against # 7 Ohio State. It was Number 23 Nebraska against #8 Ohio State in the Husker’s home finale. If there was a better defensive game played by the Huskers, well clue me in.

This game was a projection as to what will be in the next three years. Emily Cady’s 24-point performance was just part of a huge day by all the Husker freshmen. The other freshman starter, Hailie Sample plays a very tough defense and added 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Playing on Senior Day for teammates Kaitlyn Burke and Harleen Sidhu, the NU freshmen combined for a whopping 49 points, 18 rebounds and five assists.

Brandi Jeffery, a 5-7 freshman guard from Vacherie, La., made huge plays for the Huskers at both ends in both halves off the bench. Jeffery finished with eight points and a career-high six rebounds, while adding three assists and a steal in 15 minutes.

Rebecca Woodberry, a 5-9 redshirt freshman from Phoenix, Ariz., matched Jeffery’s numbers with eight points and six rebounds while adding an assist and a steal of her own in 22 minutes off the bench.

Tear’a Laudermill, a 5-9 freshman guard from Riverside, Calif., pitched in four points and an assist in 10 minutes while providing pesky defense on the Buckeyes’ talented backcourt.

Sophomore forward Jordan Hooper, the Big Ten’s No. 3 scorer entering the game, was held to a season-low seven points but grabbed nine rebounds for the Huskers. Junior point guard Lindsey Moore, the Big Ten’s No. 8 scorer added nine points, two assists and two steals to help the Huskers.

While this was a let down, the underclass team hounded the Buckeyes into countless errors and exhibits of frustration as they dominated in a 71-57 victory.

But the game was decided by the alternate weapons on the two teams, and the Huskers dominated. NU’s bench outscored Ohio State’s, 22-9 thanks to the Husker freshmen. I do believe the returning players on this team will wreck havoc in the Big Ten ranks over the next three years, and it might start in the Conference Championships next week.

One word of advice: Tune into the Big Ten Network for the conference championships this next week.

Just announced late yesterday.

Sophomore Jordan Hooper became Nebraska’s first first-team All-Big Ten award winner in women’s basketball when she was named to the five-player all-conference team by both the coaches and media on Monday.

Hooper was joined on the all-conference teams by Husker teammates Lindsey Moore (2nd), Emily Cady (HM, All-Freshman) and Kaitlyn Burke (Sportsmanship). While all of the honors are Nebraska’s first conference honors in the Big Ten, they mark the ninth consecutive season that the Huskers have claimed multiple all-conference awards under Coach Connie Yori.

Men’s Basketball: Short of players, damaged by injuries, the Huskers continue to plow through a not to exciting season. The sixth-ranked Spartans used a 23-2 second-half run to put away a short-handed Nebraska squad, 62-34, Saturday night in East Lansing.

Injuries have plagued this team as just before half time Bo Spenser, the teams highest scorer, went out with an ankle injury and didn’t return for the remainder of the game.

Brandon Ubel led Nebraska with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while no other Husker had more than six points.

The Huskers struggled from the floor in the first half, hitting 26.9 percent from the floor, but held the Spartans in check offensively and trailed only 23-15 at the break.

Rifle: The Nebraska rifle team shot 2,345 in air rifle on Sunday to go along with Saturday’s 2,313 small-bore score, which earned third place for the Huskers at the GARC Championships. Nebraska shot a combined score of 4,658, which was a season high.

“I am so pleased with how the team did,” Head Coach Morgan Hicks said. “After we didn’t qualify for NCAA and knew we had had a rough two matches in Alaska, the team was ready for redemption. We knew we were capable of shooting these scores. We finally were able to put it together all on the same day. What a way to end the season!”

Kelsey Hansen turned in the second-best Husker air rifle score with her 587 on Sunday. Sunny Russell added a 584 to the Husker total, while Sheena Mahloch and Katelyn Woltersdorf shot 581 and 580, respectively. Janine Dutton led the Huskers in air rifle on Sunday, shooting 593 and finishing third overall. Her score was a season high for the junior.

Golf: Scott Willman fired a final-round 69 on Sunday to lead the Nebraska men’s golf team at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The Huskers, as a team, compiled 910 strokes over three rounds and finished 21^st. UNLV won the team competition by seven strokes over Texas Tech, posting 844 at The Classic Club in California..

Willman’s 3-under-par 69 in the final round was joined by his second-round 76, contributing to his three-round total of 217. The senior paced his way to an even-par 72 in the first round and tied for 27^th for the tournament. Manuel Lavin turned in the second-best Husker performance, tying for 65^th. Lavin carded rounds of 75 and 77 on Sunday for a 54-hole total of 224. Like Willman, Lavin shot 72 in Saturday’s opening round.

The women’s team was in Peoria, AZ and in their final round moved way up the ladder in the Westbrook Spring Invitational. The Big Ten was well represented with Illinois taking first and Iowa and Indiana tied for 5^th while Nebraska was 7^th along with Wisconsin at 8^th.

Katelyn Wright, a sophomore, had one of her best tournaments finishing 15^th in individual play at 218. Senior Madeline Shields and true freshman Shelby Martinek added a pair of 221 scores. Another soph, Stephie Neisen added a 225 and Senior Kayla Knopik  had 228. Shelby probably knows that course very well as she is from Tempe.

The Lady Huskers will be in Tucson, more specifically in Saddlebrooke March 23-25 for the Mountain View Invitational. As we have for the past eight years, the players and coaching staff will be housed by resident Husker fans. Plan on coming out on these dates as it is a tradition with this tournament to have a large number of fans following all the teams. It is the one tournament on the collegiate list that garners the largest number of fans that could be a record.

Women’s Gymnastics: The No. 9 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team posted the ninth-highest away meet score in school history and captured three event titles in its 197.000-196.300 upset of the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks. The Huskers improved to 10-1 on the season and have now defeated two top-10 opponents on the road.

And today it was announced, after the road upset over the then-No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks, the Nebraska women’s gymnastics team jumped three spots to No. 6 in the latest GymInfo national women’s gymnastics rankings. The Huskers are the only Big Ten squad in the top 10 and sport a regional qualifying score of 196.585.

Junior Janelle Giblin won the vault title for the fifth time this season and second time in a row with a 9.95, while Giblin, Lora Evenstand and Emily Wong all tied for the bars title. Wong also won the beam title with a 9.90. and then finished  second in the all-around with a career high 39.50, while DeZiel finished in third with a 39.225.

“This is probably the most proud I’ve been of this team all season,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said after the meet. “We came into, I’m not going to say a hostile environment, but they had a great crowd. They’re (Arkansas) a great team and we were in a battle today. It was back-and-forth.”

With a slim 147.725-147.275 lead heading into the Huskers’ final event on beam, NU posted three career high scores to hold off the Razorbacks. True freshman Jennifer Lauer led the event off with a career best 9.875. After a fall from Brittany Skinner in the second routine, NU reeled off four routines in row which totaled higher than 9.80 to lead them to victory. Giblin and Jamie Schleppenbach both tied their career highs with 9.85s, while Wong posted a 9.90 and DeZiel scored a 9.80.

The Huskers will return to action on Sunday, March 4, when they return to the Devaney Center a home meet against the No.1 Florida Gators. Hey, if you want to beat the best, you play with the best.

After reclaiming the lead on the vault, NU was able hold onto the lead after a pair of clutch performances in its last two routines from Jessie DeZiel and Evenstad on floor. Evenstad posted a team-high 9.90 in the last routine, after DeZiel scored a 9.875. Wong put up a 9.85, while Schleppenbach and Skinner posted scores of 9.775 and 9.80, respectively, to begin the Husker event.

You know that gymnastics, men or women, is on the Big Ten network. It is a fascinating sport and I do love to watch all the match up, no matter who the team. It is poise, it is beauty, it is accomplishment and it is heartbreaking. I love it. So tune in.

University of Nebraska Facilities: the previous article of winning the women’s Big Ten Indoor Championship also made the comment that the Devaney Center is one of the best in the world.

Here is the proof.

Now in its 33rd season, the Bob Devaney Sports Center has cemented its reputation as one of the finest facilities in the world. Named after longtime NU Athletic Director and football coach, the Devaney Center boasts an impressive array of training, competitive, and spectator amenities, highlighted by a hydraulic-banked track.

One of four hydraulic-banked tracks in the nation and one of eight in the world, NU’s 200-meter track has the largest radius (67 feet) of any indoor-banked track in the world. The banks and all the running surfaces rest on a sleeper system, which is made of both steel (banks) and wood (straightaways) frames.

The Devaney Sports Center has played host to a number of the country’s premiere track and field events, having hosted the final Big Eight Indoor Championships in 1996 and the first-ever Big 12 meet in 1997. Nebraska has played host to the Big 12 Indoor Championships eight times in 12 years, including six straight championships from 2001 to 2006 and most recently in 2008. The list continues with Nebraska hosting the first Big Ten Combined Men and Women’s Championship.

For those of you more construction interested:

Manufactured in Gallo d’ Alba, Italy, the track traveled over 6,000 miles to Lincoln.

Engineers can trouble shoot and calibrate the track from Italy using its high-tech control system.

 Seventy-thousand square feet of rubber flooring was used by Mondo to cover the floor of the facility.

 Active in the rubber flooring industry for 50 years, Mondo has been the official track supplier of the last seven Olympic Games.

 With the help of a double-layer rubber construction, more than 110 world records have been established on Mondo surfaces.

 The Huskers celebrated the track’s installation by winning both the men’s and women’s Big 12 Indoor Championships in 2001.

Randy York = N Sider

Randy has been a long time writer for Nebraska Sports. He is featured on the web site Huskers.com. Probably the most interesting thing to me is his concentration, not on game results, but on the behind the scenes of individuals, coaches, achievement of all and the back ground of players.

If your not tuned into his many articles, I might suggest your missing out on a lot of the Husker life style of its athletes. When your on a Husker page, just tool down to the bottom and you will see a list of his articles and also go to the archieve. It is great reading.

The only one I can compare him to is our own Gary Anderson who occasionally blesses us with one of his articles. Hey Gary, that is an invite good buddy.

We are getting near the close of some sports, Men and Women’s Basketball, Wrestling, Gymnastics and conference championships and the opening of other sports now underway, Softball and Baseball, Golf and Outdoor track, and tennis continues. Husker Huddle will keep you informed on all activities.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

 

 

　

　

　

　

　

It’s was the first combined Men and Women Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and it was at the University of Nebraska.

So what do the hosts do on the first day of the meet? They walk off with four individual titles. And what do they do the second day? They add one more title but more important they capture a conference championship for the women’s team while the men finished in third place.

The Huskers were hosting the first combined men’s and women’s indoor championships and the first Big Ten Championship at NU, and were competing for the conference title against some of the nation’s toughest competition. Ohio State was the defending Big Ten indoor champion on the women’s side, while Minnesota took the men’s title in 2011. The Husker women captured Nebraska’s 103rd conference title in 2011, while the men last earned an indoor conference crown in 2007.

While the men led for a majority of the meet, they could not overcome late-meet surges from Indiana and Minnesota. The Hoosiers took the men’s title with a total of 104 points, while defending-champion Minnesota was second with 100 points. The Husker men finished third with 99 points.

On Friday, the first day of events, the Huskers saw Ashley Miller take home the women’s 3,000 meters crown, then Breanna Bussel notched the women’s pole vault title, while Luke Pinkelman earned the shot put title and Chris Phipps come away with the long jump crown.

Ashley Miller rewrote the Husker record books on Friday en route to winning the 2012 Big Ten 3,000 meters. Miller posted a personal-best time of 9:17.28 to edge out the first-place finish. With the time, Miller now sits in first among top 3,000 meter performances at Nebraska.

Following a stellar outing on Friday, Ashley finished second in the women’s mile Saturday afternoon, just missing claiming her second Big Ten title of the weekend. Miller recorded a time of 4:40.53 en route to her runner-up finish

Miller came back in the 5,000 meters to etch her name yet again into the Husker record books as she posted a personal-best time of 16:22.70 for second-place. Her time ranks second all-time in the Husker records. With the performance, Miller helped the Husker women advance their lead in the team race while also contributing to what became an impressive weekend for the senior from Tipton, Iowa.

“It’s pretty exciting, I never expected to win,” Breanna Bussel said. “Coming into today I actually thought it was a possibility, which was the first time that has ever happened. It was just really exciting that it actually happened. I think last week when I jumped on Friday I actually finally got things together. I hit a personal best last week and hit 13-6, so I knew 13-10 was possible and that was what I was shooting for. I just came in knowing I could do it and it was pretty easy.”

Breanna’s previous high was 12-10 so this was a memorable event for the Senior Psychology major.

Luke Pinkelman added Big Ten Champion to his list of accomplishments, taking top honors in the shot put. With a throw of 63-9, Pinkelman became a back-to-back conference champion as he was the Big 12 champion in 2011. With the win, Pinkelman remains undefeated on the season.

 

Chris Phillips earned the Big Ten title in the long jump, taking down his competition with a leap of 25-4 ½. The six-time All-American took home his first indoor conference title. Patrick Raedler finished second behind Phipps, posting a jump of 25-1 1/4 while Seth Wiedel came in fourth with a mark of 24-7. This gave the Huskers a 1, 2 and 4 finish in this event. 

In the men’s triple jump, Chris Phipps used a jump of 51-0 1/4 to finish in third-place. Patrick Raedler took fourth with a leap of 51-0 (15.54).

Ricco Hall led the Husker sprinters on the day, starting out competition by narrowly missing out on his first Big Ten title in the 400 meters. Hall notched a personal-best time of 46.53 to take first in his section, however Minnesota’s Harun Abda answered with a time of 46.51 in his section to notch the event title.

Mara Griva was the Nebraska’s lone Big Ten champion on the second day, securing the title in the women’s triple jump. Griva notched a season-best jump of 42-9 1/2 to take top honors and earn her second indoor conference triple jump title.

The win also adds to the historic 31-year resume of Head Coach Gary Pepin, who now holds 68 conference titles dating back to his first Big Eight win at the 1981 indoor meet. Coach Pepin is rated as one of the leading coaches in the nation and has developed many outstanding competitors.

 

With three events remaining in the heptathlon, Bjorn Barrefors entered the day in fourth place. Barrefors used a personal best performance in the pole vault to guide him to a second-place finish in the heptathlon with a total of 5,792.

Now these were not the only Nebraska stars. Coach Pepin has a team of stars as a number of other athletes finished with high rankings, season best times and overall tremendous sportsmanship.

It was indeed an honor for the Huskers to host this first time combined championship. In selecting Lincoln as the site, a number of Big Ten coaches testified that the Devaney Center was one of the most outstanding site in the country.

Go Big Red

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

Did The Women’s  Team Peak To Soon In Conference Play?

Earlier they won the first four conference basketball games then dropped two but came back and won the next four to go 8-2. But recently they have dropped four out of the last five games to go 9-6 and are now in 6^th place.

Yes they have run into some hot scoring teams while they themselves have had trouble getting the ball through the hoop. In their loss to Michigan State the Huskers only hit 29% for the first half compared to MSU’s 62.1% and found themselves trailing 43-21.  Of MSU’s first half points 21 came from three pointers. Although they did outscore the Spartans in the second half, 31-30, it wasn’t enough as they lost 73-53.

Sophomore Jordan Hooper led the Huskers with 15 points and Kaitlyn Burke hit for 13 and Rebecca Woodberry came from the bench to add another 7. Nebraska’s other big scorers, Lindsay Moore and Emily Cady could just get 9 between them and 7 of those came on free throws.

The last conference game will be Sunday against the OSU Buckeyes at 2 PM our time and will be on BTN. In their first meeting OSU won on their court 82-68. The conference tournament will run March 1-4 followed by the NCAA regional’s.

Over on the men’s side things weren’t much better. In fact it was very much a duplicate game only it was against the Perdue Boilermakers. While the Huskers hit 44% Perdue shot 63.3% to take a commanding lead of 47-30 at half time. In the second half, just like the ladies, Nebraska outscored the home team 36-35 but that isn’t going to cover a 17 point lead as they went down 83-65.

Perdue hit 13 –  3 pointers in this game. Some thing I have noticed in their games, the Huskers are on defense staning well behind the circle, I guess to  gum up the incourt. But look at what happens on fast ball handling. Out it goes and the player has an open shot for a three and people are hitting them with regularity.

All total Perdue had 5 players in the double digit level with Robbie Hummel hitting 18 of his 29 points in the first half. Bo Spencer‘s 19 points, was the only Husker scorer to reach double digit scoring.

Track and Field: This weekend will be another Big Ten First for the Huskers. They will be hosting the Big Ten Indoor Championships. This is an old venture but in a new conference as Nebraska has hosted 9 Big 12 Indoors Championship in the past 15 years.

Of the 22 teams in attendance, eight of them enter the meet ranked in the nation top 25. Ohio State is represented in the top 15 for both men and women, checking in at No. 13 for the men and No. 10 for the women. On the men’s side, Minnesota is ranked eighth, Indiana is No. 11, Nebraska checks in at No. 15 and Penn State is ranked 18th. On the women’s side, Wisconsin is ranked No. 17 and Michigan State holds the No. 24 spot.

Nebraska’s Hall-of-Fame head coach, Gary Pepin has been told to expect something close to sellout crowds both days because Big Ten fans follow their track and field teams better than fans from the Big Eight or the Big 12 Conferences, two leagues that made Pepin a veritable legend.

What Pepin doesn’t realize is this: Now that Nebraska is a member of the oldest conference in the land, the Huskers are in a league of their own … one that has 300 intercollegiate teams and more than 9,500 student-athletes. That is not a misprint. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said last summer his league has 50 percent more overall student-athletes than any other of the 12 biggest conferences in college athletics.

So it’s a case of simple math. Larger squad sizes mean more student-athletes from more schools, and that means more moms and dads, sisters and brothers, grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles than Pepin usually sees at an indoor track and field meet.

Tennis: The women’s team continued their winning ways racking up their 6^thstraight win downing the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks 5-2. For the fifth time this season the Lady Huskers swept the doubles 3-0 to win one point.

In the singles 57^th ranked Mary Weatherhold and sophomore Maike Zeppernick added two more points as they won their matches 6-1 and6-2 and 6-3 and 6-4. Patricia Veresova clinched the match for Nebraska when she won a tough 6-4, 7-5 match playing in the No. 2 spot for the Huskers. Veresova now holds a 6-1 mark in singles play this spring and an overall 15-4 singles record.

No. 118 ranked Stefanie Weinstein lost her first match this season in a tough 5-7, 4-6 match to give Miami their first point. In the last singles, Izabella Zgierska also lost a tough won, 6-2, 4-6 and 6-7 to complete the afternoon.

Lindsey Moore, a junior and three year starter for Connie Yori and the Huskers was named one of eight finalists for the 13^th Annual Nancy Lieberman Award presented to the nation’s top collegiate point guard.

She currently is ranked seventh in conference in scoring (16.1), second in assists (5.4 apg) and sixth in steals (2.3 spg). She also ranks 10th in the Big Ten with her 80.1 free throw percentage, and 14th in three-pointers made with 1.5 threes per game.

Moore, who has started 91 consecutive games for the Huskers since earning Parade High School All-America honors at Kentwood High School in Washington, ranks 23rd in Nebraska history with 1,059 points. She also ranks fourth in Husker history with 477 assists, and eighth in the NU record book with 112 career three-pointers. She is also Nebraska’s first-ever Nancy Lieberman Award finalist.

Men’s Golf: In a competition before this weekend’s Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, the Nebraska men’s golf team took second place at the four-team shoot-out, hosted by Wyoming, at The Classic Club on Thursday at Palm Beach, CA.

The Huskers shot 299, with Manuel Lavin leading the way after his 72. The sophomore took second place overall. Junior Neil Dufford tied for third, firing a 73. Scott Willman carded a 76 on Thursday, while Jordan Reinertson and Ryan Grassel posted 78 and 80, respectively.

St. Mary’s came in with the best score, compiling 291 strokes in the shoot-out. Colorado finished third with 311, while Wyoming shot 396.

Women’s Gymnastics: The Nebraska women’s gymnastics team was well represented in the latest GymInfo national rankings, which were released on Monday, Feb. 20. The Huskers are one of only three schools, along with Utah and Oklahoma, that are ranked inside the top five in three individual events, while checking in at No. 9 overall as a team.

Nebraska’s strongest event halfway through the season has been vault, where they are ranked at No. 3 in the country and average 49.371. NU received a boost in its vault average after erupting with a 49.575 in its last meet against Minnesota, which tied for the sixth-highest score in school history. The Huskers also sport the No. 4 floor and barsteams in the country. NU has scored higher than a 49.00 in all but one of its meets this season on floor to help them average a 49.158, while posting a 49.208 average on bars.

Individually, the Huskers sport three all-around competitors ranked inside the top 25, including true freshman Jessie DeZiel, who is at No. 5 with a 39.483 average. Senior Lora Evenstad sits at No. 14 with a 39.44 average and sophomore Emily Wong is at No. 18 with an average of 39.30. DeZiel, one of the top freshmen in the country, is ranked at No. 7 on vault (9.904) and beam (9.863), while sitting just outside the top 10 on floor (9.875) at No. 11.

Junior Janelle Giblin holds the top spot in the bars rankings with an average of 9.892. The San Ramon, Calif., native has won five bars titles this season and scored a 9.90 in every meet this besides one. Giblin is also ranked No. 2 on the vault, with an average of 9.933. She won her third vault title of the season against Minnesota, scoring a 9.95.

On floor, Evenstad is the No. 2 ranked performer with an average of 9.905. The senior has won three floor titles this season and scored above a 9.90 in every meet, including a season-high 9.925 against Oklahoma, Minnesota and Centenary. Evenstad also ranks No. 9 on the bars.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

　

　

　

Illinois Hits Rock Bottom.

That was the headline in a Illinois paper as they reported on the Illinois loss to Nebraska, 80-57. At least that is their opinion of Husker basketball.

Well Husker fans may disagree with that headline. True this hasn’t been a very good first season basketball performance for the Husker men. At least a true Husker fan’s take on that might be, “Well, finally they played the way I have always thought they could play.”

At the beginning it looked like it was a start the same way it has been in many games. With just over 8 minutes left in the first half the Huskers were down 24-16, but then the Big Red kicked into high gear with Bo Spencer nailing two 3 pointers. This set off a 14-0 run before the Illini scored two and the Huskers continued on till half time with a 17-2 run and leading 33-26 at half time.

The second half continued with the red hot Huskers out scoring the guests 19-2 to build a 24 point lead. All total the Huskers outscored Illinois 43-7 during this surge.

Spencer hit 9-11 including 5-7 on three pointers to lead the Huskers with 27 points. Caleb Walker added 13 and Brandon Richardson chipped in 12 as the Huskers shot 55.6% from the floor.

This was a crushing loss for the Illinois as they were really set on finishing a sweep of their last games to enhance their chances of going to the big NCAA tournament. Now things look a little glum as evidenced by the expressions of players as they saw their chances slip away.

After the game, Illinois Coach Bruce Weber had this to say, “They (Nebraska) made every shot. I’ve played in games before where it happens. I’ve had great teams in top leagues get beat like that. I knew Nebraska would come loose and free. (Bo) Spencer, when he gets going, he’s tough to deal with. I told the kids after that I’m still very proud of them. They didn’t quit. They really, really care. There are lots of tears in our locker room.

“The weight of the world – once they made the run, I think the weight of the world kind of caved in on our guys and there was no stopping. Our kids kept fighting and battling and didn’t quit. It’s just one of those days. Now we have five games left, and I’m going to come back and have some spirit like they have all year. If you were at practice yesterday, they practiced like it was the first day of the year. I promise you no one has quit in that locker room.”

Women’s Gymnastics: If you watch a lot of college sports, like I do, you have probably noticed the number of true freshman in starting lineups or having a great deal of playing time in their events.

Nebraska has them too: Meet Jessie DeZiel from Rogers, Minnesota.

The Huskers latest match up was in Jessie’s home state and without a doubt she probably had many family and friends there in Minneapolis to watch her perform. Now that had to be added pressure on this young woman.

She performed. She did everything right. She won her fifth all-around title of the year and I speculate that when the B1G announces the gGymnasts of the week, Jessie might add another medal to her collection. She has won freshman of the week five times already.

The Huskers had to be in top form as the Gophers had geared themselves up to a high performance level While Jessie won three event titles, she wasn’t the only Husker on the floor. Janelle Giblin tied her for the vault title at 9.95. Janelle also tied senior Lora Evenstad for the bars title. They were the last two Huskers to perform and hit back to back 9.90s

Emily Wong and Jamie Schleppenbach each scored career highs in their events Another true freshman, Jennifer Lauer scored a career high in the vault putting up a 9.80.

“That’s a pretty special day,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said after the meet. “You come up here, and think about all the distractions she (Jessie) had, and perform the way she did was amazing. Her and Emily (Wong) both, they were both great tonight.”

 As a team, the Huskers posted a 49.00 or above on all four events for the fourth time this season, including a 49.575 on the vault, which is tied for the sixth highest score in school history.

“We really rocked the house on vault tonight. It was really great, high-quality vault,” Kendig said. “The way we bounced back tonight on beam and floor really showed us a lot about our team.”

Late news from the B1G.

 As suspected Jessie DiZiel won her 6^th consecutive Freshman Gymnast of the Week award. Then on top of that the B1G also awarded her with Co-Gymnast of the Week along with Collen Green, a Junior from Ohio State.

Men’s Gymnastics: Also in Minneapolis, the men had a great night, but it just wasn’t enough for the #8 Huskers to upset the #6 Golden Gophers who finished at 345.600 to 339.400. The Huskers’ team score marked a new season high, and the team put together a season-best mark on floor exercise while tying their season-best on parallel bars.

Another freshman, Grant Perdue, took the lead for the Huskers winning both the floor exercise and the vault. His 14.80 on the vault was a career high while his 14.80 on the vault tied his season best. Sophomore Eric Schryver’s score of 14.60 on horse was good for the event title on horse, his second title in the event in 2012.

OK, with all those event titles, what happened to make the win going to the Gophers? The weak points for the Huskers were on the floor and vault where the Huskers lost a total of 7.5 points to the Gophers. That spelled the difference.

Softball: The Lady Huskers finished 3-3 in their first tournament in Tempe last week and this week they were in Las Cruces for the Troy Cox Classic. This time the competition wasn’t a sharp and they flue back home with 5 wins to go 8-3 after outscoring their opponents 56-10s with only one game going the full seven innings due to the 10 run rule.

Against Colorado State the team scored six runs in the sixth inning to win 10-2. The Edwards twins played a pivotal role in the win. Both twins went 3-for-4 in the victory, with Taylor homering, producing four RBIs and scoring three times and Tatum adding two RBIs of her own. Tatum Edwards (3-1) also earned the win in the circle, allowing a pair of unearned runs on just three hits in 4.0 innings.

Next up was the New Mexico State Aggies. Sophomore Tatum Edwards tied a school record with seven RBIs and hit two of Nebraska’s four home runs, as the 22nd-ranked Huskers handed New Mexico State its first loss of the season, 15-2 on Friday night. Tatum finished 3-for-4 with a pair of homers, three runs scored and seven RBIs. The seven RBIs matched the school record for the most RBIs in a seven-inning game. Her twin sister Taylor finished 2-for-5 with a home run of her own, while junior Brooke Thomason was 2-for-4 with a home run.

Senior right-hander Ashley Hagemann, who was outstanding against a New Mexico State offense that was averaging nearly 11 runs per game heading into the contest. In a complete-game effort, Hagemann (2-2) allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out 14, while walking only two.

A nine-run third inning highlighted a win over Weber State in five innings. Senior right-hander Ashley Hagemann, (2-2) allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out 14, while walking only two. Ashley recorded 10 strikeouts in only 5.0 innings, moving into fifth place on the all-time career strikeout chart at Nebraska.

Offensively, junior Gabby Banda went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. Nebraska was out-hit 6-5, but Nebraska drew nine walks and was aided by three Weber State errors. Banda produced the Huskers’ lone multi-hit game, while sophomore Tatum Edwards and Tucson freshman Mattie Fowler each produced two RBIs.

Sophomore right-hander Tatum Edwards fired a one-hit shutout, and the Husker offense scored in every inning of a 9-0, five-inning victory over Stephen F. Austin in the first of two games on Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M.

In Edwards (4-1) one-hitter she did not allow a walk while striking out five. The shutout was the third of Edwards’ career and the first by a Husker pitcher this season.

Offensively, Nebraska pounded out 12 hits and scored a run in all five innings, including a four-run third inning. The Huskers’ No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters – junior Gabby Banda, sophomore Taylor Edwards and senior Ashley Guile had two hits and two RBIs apiece. Junior Brooke Thomason also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

On the strength of a seven-run third inning, the 22nd-ranked Nebraska softball team powered past New Mexico State 10-2 in five innings to win the Troy Cox Classic.

The Huskers finished 5-0 at the tournament, while improving to 8-3 on the season. A pair of three-run homers fueled Nebraska’s fourth run-rule victory of the tournament. Junior Brooke Thomason’s three-run blast gave Nebraska a 6-2 lead in the third inning, before freshman Mattie Fowler’s first career home wrapped up the run-rule victory with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Fowlers finished 3-for-3 with two doubles, the home run and four RBIs.

Senior Madison Drake also recorded a multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 performance. Classmate Ashley Guile finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, as her third-inning single gave the Huskers a 3-2 lead, after they trailed early. Guile’s performance extended her hitting streak to nine-game and the Olathe, Kan., native has now driven in a run in 10 straight games.

Baseball: The Nebraska baseball team dropped its opening game of the 2012 season on Friday night to the Gonzaga Bulldogs by a score of 7-4. The Huskers took a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning following a two-run sixth inning that was led off by a home run from junior Kash Kalkowski. NU was unable to hold on though, as a three-run eighth inning from the Zags doomed Huskers.

Chad Christensen led NU with a 3-for-3 performance, including a fourth-inning home run with one out that tied the game a 2-2. The junior from Cedar Falls, Iowa, also led the team with two runs. Kalkowski added a first inning single to give him two hits on the night, while Cory Burleson and junior college transfer Rich Sanguinetti also produced RBI’s for the Huskers.

In the second game of this series Big Red saw the first victory of the 2012 season fall through their hands on Saturday night at the Peoria Sports Complex, as the Gonzaga Bulldogs rallied for a 10-8 victory to take game two of the three-game series. The Huskers took a 8-5 lead into the top of the night with Tyler Niederklein on the mound, but the Bulldog bats came alive with five runs to steal the win after committing seven errors in the game.

Nebraska’s offense did its part with eight runs on 12 hits, including two hits each from Michael Pritchard, Kash Kalkowski, Pat Kelly and Bryan Peters. Kalkowski and Peters each knocked in two runs, while junior Kurt Farmer blasted his first home run of the season in the fourth inning to give NU three home runs on the weekend.

The ninth inning was again unkind to the Nebraska baseball team, as the Gonzaga Bulldogs erased a 4-2 deficit with three runs in the top of the ninth to steal victory for the second straight game. After storming back with a five-run ninth inning on Saturday night, sophomore Marco Gonzales blasted a bases-clearing double to right center field that gave Gonzaga its first lead of the game at 5-4 and erased a solid outing from true freshman pitcher Kyle Kubat.

The Huskers didn’t go away without a fight in the bottom of the ninth, as freshman Blake Headley led off with his first hit of the season and Kale Kiser drew a one-out walk to give the Huskers runners at first and second, but reliever Derek Peterson retired Rich Sanguinetti and Austin Darby to end the Husker rally.

Kubat, a native of Waterloo, Neb., held the Zags scoreless on seven hits and notched one strikeout over five innings of work in the no decision. The Creighton Prep product showed veteran-like composure in the fourth, when Gonzaga started the inning with back-to-back singles and eventually had the bases loaded with two outs. Kubat continued to throw strikes on got out of the jam with a 5-3 groundout.

Swimming and Diving: In its first ever B1G Swimming and diving Championship, well we have a lot of growth in store to be competing in this league.

The fourth session saw NU’s Shannon Guy qualify ninth in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.27, a career-best. Guy will compete in the event’s finals during this evening’s fifth session. Guy’s finish is Nebraska’s best preliminary finish thus far at the championships. The time also vaults Guy into the Nebraska record book, as her time is the second-fastest in NU history, just behind Mariah Hutchinson’s time of 54.16 set in 2009.

The Nebraska team finished session six of the Big Ten Championships on Saturday morning. During the session, Ariel Weech and Shannon Guy qualified for Saturday evening’s finals in each of their respective events (100-yard freestyle, 200-yard butterfly)

All in all the Huskers finished 11^th in this first B1G meet. While not finishing in a higher level it is great to see that lots of Nebraska participants recorded “Best Ever” times in their career. For instance the 1,650-yard freestyle saw Bailey Pons finish 19th overall with a time of 16:34.75, a career-best and good for fifth all-time at NU.

Competition is very tough. Minnesota finished in first with Indiana second and Ohio State third.

Women’s Basketball: Was this a game of the losers? Nebraska came into this game loosing their last three games while Wisconsin had lost 4 straight. The “Connie Clan” had suffered through a three loss string not being able to get the ball through the hopes averaging just over 53 points a game where they had been scoring a lot higher than that. In all games its been at 71.8 and in conference games it was 67.3.

This game was very important as the top four teams draw a bye for the Conference championships and Nebraska is sitting on the bubble as to if they will draw a bye for the first round. A win would help their cause.

The Husker started off fast with a pair of threes by Kaitlyn Burke and Jordan Hooper. Two quick twos by the visitors and then a close game until it was 19-18 Huskers. Then before you knew it, it was half time with the Huskers leading 42-24. Emily Cady and Jordan Hooper lead the charge with a combined 21 points for the half in what was a19 to 4 run and a lead of 42-24.

The second half started. The Huskers built up a lead of 58-34 and then things settled into a pro Minnesota game plan. Slowly the Gophers chipped away at this lead until it was down to 64-56, but there was only 1:09 minutes to play. The Huskers held on for a final 68-59 win to put them at 9-5 in conference and 20-6 for the season.

Outstanding freshman player Emily Cody was injured in the second half, possibly a knee injury. She set out the remainder of the game on the bench with an ice pack. Hopefully she will be able to return for the next games with no difficulty.

Jordon Hooper lead the win with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Before her injury Emily Cady racked up 13 points with Lindsey Moore and Kaitlyn Burke adding 11 each. As usual, Moore added six assists, most to her roommate Hooper.

Tennis: Men’s tennis suffered a disappointing lost to the Drake Bulldogs. With the loss, No. 38 Nebraska drops to 4-3 on the year while the No. 73 Bulldogs improve to 8-1.

The Huskers began the match by losing the doubles point. The point came down to a tie breaker on court No. 2 when Drake’s duo of defeated NU’s team of Andre Stenger and Robert Schulze, 9-8 (7-4). Winning their doubles match was the Huskers’ No. 5 team of Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim who downed Drake’s team 8-6.

In the singles, the Husker took off quick with wins by Aumueller and Lindheim. “It was very close. Drake’s an under-ranked, well coached team,” Nebraska Assistant Coach Joreg Barthel said after the match. “We had our chances, but I felt that they deserved to win it. We dominated at the top spots in singles, but with a quick match on court No. 3, it’s tough being down 2-0 and having to catch up.”

At the No. 3 spot, Drake’s McKie downed NU’s Stenger, 6-0, 6-0. Then Bulldogs’ Salibasic downed Nebraska’s Schulze, 6-3, 6-4, on court No. 4. “I’m disappointed as a coach,” Nebraska’s head coach Kerry McDermott said after the match. “I feel that if you win in the top two spots in singles it should just go down the line and we fell short of that tonight. We knew it was going to be a 4-3 match, and what happened tonight shouldn’t have happened. The guys just didn’t step up.”

After a disappointing loss on Friday night, the No. 38 Nebraska Cornhuskers bounced back on Sunday afternoon with a big win over the No. 66 Idaho Vandals, 6-1. The win improves the Huskers record to 5-3 on the year.

Nebraska started off the match by winning the doubles point and never looking back.

The Huskers’ No. 5 ranked doubles team of Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim were victorious, 8-4, when they defeated Idaho’s duo on court No. 1. The second Nebraska doubles team to win their match was the squad of Stefan Gollner/Eric Sock, who defeated the Vandals’ squad 8-5. In singles play, the Huskers won five of the six matches.

Women’s Tennis: The No. 28 Nebraska women’s tennis team outlasted Washington State to post a 4-3 victory at the Nebraska Tennis Center.

Nebraska’s Madeleine Geibert secured the match for the Huskers with her hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win at the No. 3 position. Geibert’s three-set win allowed NU to improve to 6-1 on the season with its fifth consecutive victory. Washington State slipped to 7-2 on the year.

Nebraska opened the match on the doubles court, where the No. 22 duo of Geibert/Stefanie Weinstein (NU) picked up the first win over the Cougars’ 8-5. Patricia Veresova and Mary Weatherholt (NU) captured the doubles point for NU with an 8-5 win. completed a sweep of the doubles courts with an 8-6 victory at No. 3.

The Huskers and Cougars moved into singles play with Nebraska leading 1-0. No. 118 Weinstein (NU) picked up the first singles win at the No. 4 position with a 6-4, 6-1 win Elizaveta Luzin (WSU) registered Washington State’s first win of the day with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Weinreich.

The Huskers firmed their grip on the lead with Holmberg’s 6-4, 6-3 win , but Washington State picked up its second win with Vasilieva’s but Maddeleine Geibert def. Anjela Kankaras (WSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3

Rifle: Now who would venture to Alaska for a sporting adventure this time of the year.

The Nebraska Women’s Rifle Squad. That’s who.

The Nebraska rifle team shot 4,596 at the NCAA Qualifiers on Saturday, finishing third. The Huskers finished behind Alaska-Fairbanks, who shot 4,672, and Jacksonville State, who scored 4,645. The Nanooks scored 2,325 in smallbore and 2,347 in air rifle. The Gamecocks shot 2,304 in smallbore and 2,341 in air rifle.

In air rifle, the Huskers were led by Janine Dutton’s 589, which tied for the lead overall. Sheena Mahloch and Kelsey Hansen each shot 580, while Sunny Russell and ReAnn Wilson scored 576 and 569, respectively. As a team, Nebraska shot 2,325 in air rifle.

Wrestling: Senior heavyweight Tucker Lane won his 100^th career match as the No. 8 Nebraska wrestling team finished its regular-season dual schedule with a 26-16 victory over the Northern Iowa Panthers on Sunday at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers finished the season with a 15-4 overall record and a 5-4 mark in Big Ten Conference duals. UNI saw its record drop to 8-7.

No. 9 Lane became only the 20^thwrestler in school history to hit the century mark in wins after defeating Blayne Beale (UNI) by decision, 6-1. Lane now owns a 22-5 overall record and finishes the year with a 15-4 dual mark.

Redshirt freshman Skylar Galloway (149) got the Huskers on the board in the first match by taking down Ryan Jauch (UNI), 6-3. After falling behind 1-0 and having the riding time advantage against him, Galloway erupted in the third period with three takedowns to pull away. The win was Galloway’s first on the varsity level and 24th overall this season.

Nebraska blew the lead open with a pair of back-to-back bonus-point victories from No. 7 Robert Kokesh (165) and No. 17 Tyler Koehn (174). Kokesh won his second match of the season by technical fall, defeating Riley Banach (UNI), 20-3, while Koehn pinned Onni Prestidge (UNI) in 2:36 to give the Huskers a 14-3 advantage.

Junior Josh Ihnen notched a win over a top-10 opponent at 184 pounds to extend the Huskers lead. No. 8 Ihnen defeated No. 6 Ryan Loder (UNI), 4-2, for his 21^st victory over the season. After a scoreless first period, Ihnen scored a reversal with 1:02 remaining in the second to pull ahead 2-0. In the third, Loder earned an escape to cut the lead in half, but Ihnen recorded a takedown with 34 seconds left to seal the victory.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

Right now we have 15 Husker teams in action. The only ones not playing are football and volleyball.

Women’s Golf: There was snow on the ground in Lincoln so Golf Coach Robin Kraphl and the team took of for sunny Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Women’s Classic. The reports are the weather was a lot better.

Especially for Senior golfer Madie Shiels who led the team with rounds of 72-76-72 (220) to finish in eighth place in the individual scores. The rest of the young ladies had trouble with double boogies as the team finished in 14^th place.

Playing for the Huskers were Sophomore Steffi Neison (235), Senior Kaylay Knopik (239), Freshman from Arizona Shelby Martinek (242), and Sophomore Katelyn Wright (249) Also playing was Senior Katie Keiser (259) who played as an individual.

The Huskers will take next weekend off from competition before returning to the course for the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Ariz., Feb. 26-27.

Mark your “to do list” to head to Saddlebrooke March 30-31. The Lady Golfers will be playing in the two day tournament at the Mountain View Club. They would just love to see lots of Big Red fans attending and cheering them on.

Wrestling: Down in Stillwater, OK the # 8 Huskers fell behind 18-0 to # 6 Ohio State who they had beaten earlier this season marking the third straight loss the Husker men have had.

Finally true freshman James Green (157) with a 5-3 decision over the 20^th ranked OSU man. This marked the fifth victory over a ranked opponent. Green who is 27-4 on the year is now in a tie for 10^th on the all-time single season victories list for a freshman in school history.

Next up Redshirt frosh and 6^th ranked Rober Kokesh (165) added another win 7-2 upsetting a 7^th ranked wrestler. Tyler Koehn pulled another upset as the 20^th ranked 184 pounder pulled an upset over his 7^th ranked opponent. Tied 1-1 Kokesh pulled a take down with just 25 seconds in the last period for his third victory over a ranked opponent.

No 8 Josh Ihnen (184) closed the gap even more as he won 5-0 but then the string of 4 straight wins ended when Redshirt freshman Spencer Johnson lost 4-2 and Ohio State finished with a close 21-18 win.

Big Ten Athlete of the Week: Accolades keep rolling in for Nebraska athletes.  Senior Luke Pinkelman, shot put, scored his third Big Ten Field Athlete by placing first with an NCAA-qualifying mark of 64-0 ½ push at the Tyson Invitational Meet and remains undefeated for the season.

Senior first baseman Ashley Guile became the first Nebraska softball player to win a Big Ten weekly award when she was named the conference’s player of the week.

Guile was honored following an outstanding performance at the Kajikawa Classic last weekend in Mesa, AZ. In six games at the tournament, Guile went 11-for-20 at the plate to produce a .550 batting average with three doubles, one home run, eight RBIs and eight runs scored. She recorded multi-hit games against No. 8 Arizona, Idaho State and Cal State Northridge and also drew three walks to post a .609 on-base percentage.

Women’s Basketball: The first half was tight with the Husker’s and Minnesota each taking turns for the lead. The Huskers were leading 24 -20 but then the Gophers chipped away and nailed a 3 pointer in the waning seconds to take the lead 27-24 at break time.

The Gophers made a fast start the second half blitzing 13 straight points before Husker’s Kaitlyn Burke could hit a two pointer to make the score 40-26 with. Emily Cady and Jordon Hooper leading the huskers in a comeback that tied the game up at 58 all before the Gophers took last minute control to pull of a 64-58 win.

Hooper lead the team with four 3 pointers and a total of 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steels. Lindsey Moore added 12 points and Hailie Sample pitched in 8 to finish the big scoring for Nebraska.

Women’s Bowling: Former Husker Shannon Pluhowski was named the World Women’s Bowler of the Year and was also elected to the World Bowling Writers Hall-of-Fame. Pluhowski is one of just three women to earn both honors in the same year (Honeychurch 1998, Guerrero 2009). Pluhowski joins just four other American’s in the Hall-of-Fame, including another former Nebraska bowler, Diandra Asbaty. 

Earlier this year, Pluhowski became the first bowler to claim four gold medals at the World Women’s Championships. A three-time National Collegiate Bowler of the Year, Pluhowski is one of Nebraska’s most accomplished bowlers. Through her 295 career games with Nebraska, Pluhowski totaled 63,518 pins for a collegiate average of 212.660. It is the highest career-average of any Nebraska bowler.

With so many games, matches and meets going on, I will be going back to two Huddle’s a week. Otherwise they get pretty long. The next one will be out Monday and I will also give you a run down on the Sun City luncheon for Volleyball Coach John Cook. My wife, Arlyss, and I will be going to the gathering on Saturday.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

Hello Mr. AD Osborne, don’t ever schedule any more basketball games for the first full week of February. It was a bad time for these major sports. So Please watch the scheduling for next year. (as if he had a hand in conference scheduling.)

Well it was bad. In basketball both teams had a heck of a time getting the ball through the hopes. Lack of offense. In softball, the same thing in the opening game as the Huskers matched the other two teams with no scoring.

So lets do the comparison:

Men’s Basketball: 15 points for the first half.

Women’s Basketball: 12 points for the first half.

Women’s Softball: No runs through 7 innings and only two hits.

Now I ask you, “Can you believe that?”

Michigan turned a 22-15 half time score into a run-a-way by scoring the next 10 points to go up 32-15 and having the Husker go 4:33 minutes without a score.

Michigan started hot from 3-point range, as consecutive 3-pointers gave the Wolverines an early 9-2 lead. Michigan eventually built an 11-4 lead as Nebraska missed 11 of its first 12 shots from the floor before Brandon Richardson led the Huskers back. The senior guard scored seven straight points for the Huskers, as his 3-point play pulled Nebraska within 13-11. Nebraska eventually trimmed the lead to 16-15 after a Caleb Walker basket, but a 3-pointer started a 6-0 run for the Wolverines to close the half leading 22-15.

Nebraska stayed in the game because of its effort on the defensive end, holding Michigan to 32 percent in the first half. Looking at the final score it was Michigan 62-46.

Bo Spencer paced Nebraska (11-12, 3-9 Big Ten) with 13 points, as Nebraska shot 39 percent, including 22 percent in the first half. Brandon Ubel grabbed nine rebounds for Nebraska, which out-rebounded Michigan, 29-22, but dropped its third straight game.

Over to the women’s team. It wasn’t much different in the first half but the second half spiced things up.

Nebraska produced its worst offensive half of the season going just 4-of-30 from the field, including 1-of-15 from three-point range. The Huskers missed 17 consecutive shots, including 11 straight three-pointers during a 14-minute stretch in the first half.

The score at half time: Michigan made the most of the stretch, turning a 7-4 deficit with 16:40 left into a 32-12 halftime lead, outscoring the Huskers 28-5 the rest of the half.

Nebraska continued to struggle at the start of the second half, falling behind 41-14 with 15:19 left. But behind the play of Lindsey Moore, who finished with a game-high 23 points, the Huskers stormed back to cut the Michigan margin to eight at 58-50 on a Jordan Hooper jumper with 2:02 left.

Hooper finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, but hit just 4-of-19 shots from the field, including just 1-of-8 three-pointers.

The Huskers were out rebounded 48-30 by the Wolverines. Nebraska hit just 17-of-66 shots from the field (25.8 percent) for the game and 9-of-37 three-pointers (24.3 percent). NU was also just 9-of-15 from the free throw line. NU did produce 14 offensive rebounds, compared to 10 for Michigan.

Nebraska attempted 20 more shots than Michigan and two more free throws than the Wolverines, but Michigan made the most of its possessions by hitting 22-of-46 shots (47.8 percent), including 8-of-16 threes. Michigan was also 11-of-13 at the free throw line.

It just wasn’t a Big Red Week in Lincoln.

Bowling: The Nebraska bowling team finished fourth at the Prairie View A&M Invitational held in Arlington, Texas from Feb. 3-5. Nebraska finished the invitational with a 10-3 record, tied record-wise with Vanderbilt, who won the invite. Third-place Arkansas State also finished with a 10-3 overall record. Maryland Eastern Shore finished the event in second-place with a 9-4 overall record and fifth-place Central Missouri finished with a 9-4 record as well.

Coming into Sunday, Nebraska was the second-seed but dropped consecutive matches to Vanderbilt and Arkansas State to finish fourth. NU ended 1-2 in bracket play in Sunday’s final round.

Individually, the Nebraska bowling squad was well represented on the All-Tournament team, including All-Tournament Captain Kayla Johnson. Individually, she earned a 239 average on the tournament. NU’s Kristi Mickelson and Liz Kuhlkin also earned spots on the All-Tournament squad. Mickelson finished sixth individually with a 221 average while Kuhlkin tallied a 217 average of her own for eighth-place.

Softball: The Lady Huskers opened their season in Tempe playing 6 games in four days. In fact they played 4 games in a tough 24 hour time frame. The Huskers came away with 3 wins and 3 losses. Losses were against two ranked teams, #12 Washington 4-0 and #23 Georgia Tech 6-5 and a surprising team Oregon State.

Last year OSU finished last in the PAC 10, as it was known last year. In this tournament they hit the ball out of the park every event averaging just over 10 runs a game. They beat the Huskers 11-3.

Wins were against 8^th ranked Arizona U and their top pitcher 11 to 10, Idaho State 12-4, and Cal State Northridge10-2. In the Arizona game it was sister against sister. Kenzie Fowler UofA, pitched against her younger sister, freshman Mattie Fowler, the third baseman for Nebraska. You can bet the Fowler family, who live in Tucson, were there for all the games of their two girls.

This week end the ladies go to Las Cruces and will play against Colorado State, New Mexico State, Weber State, Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico State.

Gymnastics: The men ventured into Big Ten competition at Iowa to do battle with the Hawkeyes and Minnesota. The # 6 ranked Golden Gophers scored 340, the Huskers 336.500 and Iowa was 334.500.

The Huskers were led by senior Andreas Hofer, who captured the event title on High Bar with a mark of 14.40 while leading the Huskers in two additional events, the Floor Exercise and the Still Rings.. Sophomore Wyatt Baier picked up an event title on vault, finishing in a three-way tie for first with a score of 14.70. Husker Will Eastman finished second to Hofer in the High Bar.

Performing in front of 1,407 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center, the No. 8 Nebraska women’s gymnastics team won its 17^th straight Masters Classic title after taking down No. 20 Washington, No. 22 Michigan and Southern Utah on Saturday night. The Huskers improved their overall record to 8-1 on the year and are 2-0 against Big Ten opponents.

The Huskers scored the top three all-around scores of the meet, including true freshman Jessie DeZiel, who won the all-around for the fourth time this season by posting a 39.45. Nebraska also won three of the four event titles, with Janelle Giblin and DeZiel tying for the vault crown, and Lora Evenstad and Giblin finishing in a tie for the bars title. Sophomore Emily Wong won the floor title for the first time this season.

The Huskers got off to a blazing start on the vault, posting six scores above 9.80 en route to a total score of 49.45, which is the second-highest vault score in the Masters Classic history and the highest total this season for the Huskers. Evenstad led the event off with a 9.80 and was followed by a career and season-high 9.90 from Brittany Skinner to get the Huskers rolling. After a 9.875 from Wong, Jessie DeZiel and Giblin both tied their career high with 9.925s. Jamie Schleppenbach scored a 9.825 to round out the first event.

Today it was announced that true freshman Jessie DeZiel continued her impressive streak of Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards on Monday, collecting her record fifth straight honor. DeZiel was honored after her performance in the Huskers’ victory over No. 20 Washington, No. 22 Michigan and Southern Utah at the Masters Classic

Tennis: Saturday night the No 38 men’s team took on Creighton and walked off with a 6-1 win. Then on Sunday the squared off against No. 74 Tennessee State and won a close one 4-3.

Against Creighton, Nebraska won two doubles for one point and then swept 6 of the 7 singles to add another 6 points for their win.

Andre Stenger and Robert Schluze had a great weekend winning both of their doubles matches and also winning their singles on Saturday. However, Sunday neither could win their singles matches.

Against Tennessee the Huskers swept the doubles for one point and then the match tightened up with the Huskers winning two of the first five singles and Tennessee winning three so the match was tied at 3-3.

After loosing the first set 6-7, Eric Sock took charge and won the next two sets 6-2 and 6-4 to give Big Red its 4-3 victory. Sefan Gollner went undefeated for the weekend winning two doubles and two singles matches.

The Lady Huskers also went undefeated in two matches but they did it the hard way, winning twice on Saturday while the guys could rest overnight for their two wins.

First they clipped the 4-2 Air Force Academy Falcons and then tamed the 3-1 Northern Iowa Panthers winning each match 7-0.

Track and Field: Over at Ames Iowa the Huskers competed in the Iowa State Classic.This is a field of many top notch athletes all vying for individual titles, not team titles.

Jessica Furlan and Ashley Miller each picked up a major win. Jessica turned in a 4:44.76 in the mile run to win and Ashley picked up her title with win in the 3000 meter with a time of 9:26.26.

Jillanna Scanlan captured second in the women’s high jump at 5-8 ½ tying her personal best. In the women’s long jump, Kara Mostolle finished third with a personal best leap of 18-9 ¼.

For the men, Jodi-Rae Blackwood, Miles Ukaoma, Dexter McKenzie and Ricco Hall nailed second place in the 400 meter relay and Miles also added a third place finish in the 60 meter hurdles. The time for the relay team was a season-best time of 3:44.93.

Golf: The Women’s team is competing in the Lady Puerto Rico classic at this moment so you will hear from them the next report. Or if you want to you can pick up the scores, team and individual on GolfState.com. Madie Shields led the Huskers in the first round Sunday with an even par 72.

Perdue plays host to the annual event at the Greg Norman-designed River Course at the Rio Mar Beach Resort. The tournament also features Nebraska’s Big Ten counterparts Michigan, Northwestern and Penn State. NU’s former Big 12 foes Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech add to the field along with Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, NC State, SMU, TCU and Kent State.

The men played in the Big Ten Match Play Championship on Friday and Saturday. This is a new event, now in its fourth year and is played in Bradenton, Florida.

In their first match the Huskers upset the Michigan State Spartans going 3 wins and 3 losses. But in the event of a tie, then you add up the number of holes each team won to determine the winner who will advance. Ryan Grassel gave the Husker a big win 6&5 to grab the big number of won holes that paid off in the tie breaker.

Advancing to the quarter finals, the men meet the Boilermakers but it didn’t turn out the same. Purdue bleached the Big Red 5-1. The Huskers’ lone victory in the match was Manuel Lavin who prevailed 1 Up in a shootout.

This loss meant the Huskers would face Illinois who promptly won all six matches as Big Red finished 0-2-1 in their first Big Ten event. The tournament was won by Northwestern with a 3-1-1 win over Minnesota. This was the Wildcats’ third straight Big Ten Match Play title.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert

　

　

　

 

　

 

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

You can’t say the Lady Huskers walked out of the Mackey Arena in Lafayette with a win. That would be a total understatement.

What you should say is they fought, they blocked shots, they forced turnovers, they fired shots from every place. They made assists, they rebounded, they played a defensive style that frustrated some Perdue players causing them to commit intentional fouls.

If you were like many other Husker fans who listened in on the Husker Radio or watched on the B1G2Go , you witnessed probably the greatest game in the history of Husker Women’s Basketball. Three overtimes that kept my wife and I pounding on the table as we listened to the broadcast over the lap top.

While Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore combined for 53 of the total 93 for the Huskers, this was a team win if there ever was one. Cady, Laudermill, Burk, Jeffrey. Simon, Sample, Williams, although five of them are freshmen, they all contributed in many ways, especially allowing Coach Yori to keep up a constant rotation of players to give every one some rest time. And it was this rotation resulting in a tight defense that caused the Perdue players to become somewhat frustrated.

The Huskers started quickly building up a 16-6 lead at the 12:21 mark. Perdue started coming on and the half ended Nebraska 34 and Perdue 27 after the Boilers had scored the last 6 points of the half.

Opening the second half the Boilermakers continued by adding 4 more points to close in at 34-31 with the Huskers still ahead. Tear’a Laudermill and Kaitlyn Burke then combined for 5 points to get a 9 point lead while Perdue went with out a score for 5 minutes. The Huskers continued to maintain a 5-7 point lead up to the 6:31 mark when the Boilermakers started to boil again. Then for the next three minutes it was all the home team who finally obtained their first lead of the game at 54-53. They maintained their lead of 59-58 till Emily Cady was fouled with 4 seconds left in the game. She made the first one but missed the second and the game went into overtime, tied 59 all.

Quickly Big Red took the lead and then it was tied at 67 all at the 1:57 mark. A Nebraska foul put Perdue on the line for one shot and they took the lead 68-67. A minute later it was the Huskers down 70-67 with only one minute to play. Moore tried a jumper that missed but Cady was there to recover the rebound and passed out to Jordan Hooper, just beyond the line. Jordan fired, the ball floating high and then zipping through the net to tie the game at 70 all and going into the second overtime.

Now Perdue is in first place in conference standings, 8-1 and this is their home court and the Perdue crowd is very, very loud and supportive of their team. One of their tendencies is to boo the officials whenever a call is made against the Boilers. From what I heard over the broadcast, every Boiler fan was on their feet cheering and yelling for all the overtimes.

Perdue took off like a rocket in the second OT, and before you knew it the Huskers were down 77-72 with 1:23 minutes left to play. Nebraska ball and Hooper fires a 3 pointer, missed. But it’s a team rebound and a time out. Back on the court Moore misses a jumper but Sample rebounds and throws it up. Another miss. Hooper rebounds and puts it in and draws a foul and ads another point to make it 77-75. Perdue scores and then Moore makes a foul shot and now its 79-75 Perdue and 19 seconds left.

Its Big Red’s  ball but only 19 seconds left and down by 4, a two possession situation.

Hooper fires one at the 8 second mark, good. Its now 79-77, down by two. Right away Lindsay Moore commit’s a foul which Perdue sinks making it 80-77. Down the court comes the ball. Six seconds goes by fast but the pass out is to Cady who is outside the circle. A defender’s hand is in her face. It’s a desperation attempt off the wrong foot. Its in the air. Swish and the Huskers tie it 80-80, and we are going into overtime for the third time.

You have got to believe the adrenaline is really flowing for the Red Shirts. Twice, seemingly out of the ball game, but last second scores bring on the record setting 3^rd quarter road game for the Huskers against the conference leading, most challenging team in the Big Ten.

You have got to feel for the Perdue team, twice on the verge of victory only to see it disappear with an awesome shot by the Huskers.

Into the third OT, quickly Moore hit’s a three pointer. But then Perdue hit’s a couple of two pointers to lead 84-83. Freshman Cady, who scored all her points in the second half and overtimes, hit for two to give the lead back 85-84. A three pointer by Moore and then her two free throws gives the Huskers a 90-84 lead and the Connie Clan finishes it with a 93-89 win over the leader of the pack as they close the gap for the conference leadership.

This has got to be recognized as the game of the year for women’ basketball on the B1G network. With this big win the Huskers moved up to 13^th in national rankings of AP. Ohio State is 10^th and Perdue drops to 16^th with Penn State 18^th.

Perdue is currently in 1^st place (9-2) with Nebraska second (8-2). Ohio State is third (7-2) and Penn State 4^th (8-3). Perdue has games against OSU and PSU and both Michigan teams. Tough games, all of them

Ohio State, besides Perdue also has Penn State and Nebraska. Penn State has Perdue and OSU. Nebraska faces both the Michigan teams and Ohio State. No one has an easy schedule over the rest of February. The Big Ten tournaments starts March 1.

While the women are battling for first place, the men are having a tough time sitting in 11^th place, 3-8. Two losses this past week didn’t help at all.

Against Northwestern the Huskers shot 52 per cent from the floor but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats hit three pointers with boring rapidity, all night long, hitting 10 the first half and adding 4 more the second half. At the finish NW hit 14 out of 31  3 point shots. The final score was 84-74.

Shurna and Crawford were the big guns scoring 49 points for the home team while Bo Spencer led the visiting Huskers with 24 points, 20 of them in the second half. Toney McCray added 16 and Dylan Talley chipped in 13 to give the Huskers three players in the double digit range.

It was a tight game the first ten minutes where the Huskers led 21-19 at the 9:38 mark but then went nearly 5:30 minutes with no score to go behind by 15 at half.

The Huskers got a jump start in the second half pulling up to 42-38 but then the Cats went up 49-41. Again the Huskers came up tight just trailing 54-53 before Northwestern had a 9-0 run and the Big Red could not catch up but still getting close at 75-72 with 1:34 left. 

Coming back home the Huskers played host to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota 17-7 and 5-6 in conference play. Again it was a tight ball game with the score tied at 39 with 12:27 left in the game. Then just like against the Wildcats, the drought set in. For nearly six minutes, the Huskers couldn’t swish the nets and then it was 50-42 Gophers. The remaining minutes saw an even game with both teams scoring 19 points but Minnesota won 69-61.

The Huskers are now 11-11 for the year and 3-8 in the Big Ten and have games left . One of the big differences in this game was the fact the Gopher bench provided 40 points while the starters add the other 29 scores.

After the game Coach Doc Sadler had this to say, “First of all I was very disappointed in our toughness to grind things out today on offense and defense. I didn’t think we had the mindset you have to have in league play to know that it’s going to be a tough ballgame. Things are not going to be easy for you. And when things get tough, that’s when you have to start grinding.”

Nebraska is without their big post man, Jorge Brian Diaz who is out for probably the rest of the season. Said Coach Sadler, “He’s hurting. I would say that it’s going to be a long shot to see him play the rest of the year. His feet are just killing him. He can’t play; he can’t walk. You can’t compete at this level with your feet killing you. They haven’t gotten any better; they’ve gotten worse.”

The Huskers have been plagued with injuries this year. Earlier, the first four league games they were without Diaz and two other starters.

Women’s Softball: The No. 20 Nebraska softball team opens its 2012 season this week, and Huskers.com will spend the week leading up to NU’s first tournament previewing what the Huskers hope will be a memorable year. Read it and become familiar with this talented bunch of ladies.

In a change from the original schedule, first pitch of the new season is now set for 3 p.m. (Central) on Thursday, Feb. 9, against the 12th-ranked Washington Huskies at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

The Husker gals have one thought in mind, “Win the Big Ten Title and go to the NCAA tournament. Eight returning starters will help that though materialize especially when you have senior right-hander Ashley Hagemann and sophomore catcher Taylor Edwards. Edwards was a third-team All-American and a finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year last season, while Hagemann was a second-team all-region selection and a first-team all-league pick in a Big 12 Conference that featured five first- or second-team All-America pitchers.

“I really believe we have one of the best batteries in the nation. I expect both players will contend for All-America honors again this season and if that’s the case, then our team will be in a great position to accomplish its goals,” says Rhonda Revelle the 20^th -year head coach.

“We have the utmost confidence in Hoggie and Taylor,” Revelle said, referring to her potential All-America battery. “Ashley really took her game to another level last season, and she experienced tremendous success against some of the best teams in the country. She is a confident pitcher who has continued to dedicate herself to improving her game, and we look for her to be even more successful this season.

“And Taylor, what can you say about her? We expected her to make a tremendous impact as a freshman and she did just that. It’s very difficult for a freshman catcher to come in and continue to produce throughout a long season and for her to not only do that, but to be an All-American and one of the top two or three catchers in the nation was phenomenal. As good as she was last year, we think Taylor has identified some areas of her game where she can improve, and we look for her to have another outstanding season.

Now don’t forget, Thursday through Sunday this week you can see the Huskers play just up the road a speck. Take a look at your schedule we provided you on January 1 Husker Huddle #35 for starting times.

Tennis: At home the Nebraska women’s tennis team picked up a pair of wins in a doubleheader against the Wyoming Cowgirls and Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday. NU downed the Cowgirls 6-1 in the morning before sweeping the Eagles 7-0 to finish the day. The Huskers went 6-0 in doubles and added an 11-1 record in singles play.

The morning round against Wyoming was delayed because of a power shortage due to the big snow that hit Lincoln this weekend. (Aren’t we glad to be here in Tucson.)

No. 53 Madeleine Gilbert/Stefanie Weinstein defeated the No. 44 team from Wyoming 8-6 while Patrica Veresova/Mary Weatherholt and Janine Weinreich/Jennifer Holmberg made it a clean doubles sweep with their wins. Turning around to the singles, the Huskers only lost one match to a 6-1 win.

Not showing any exhaustion from the morning matches the same lineups made a perfect sweep of the afternoon matches winning 7-0 against the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

I find it somewhat interesting that Nebraska has so many German girls and men on their two teams. However looking at names from these two schools we just layed, we arent the only one delving into Euro talent: Popovici, Synkova, Parizher, Kovacs, Nemcoa, Gecheva, Toncheva, de’Lisle-Tarr, Bhatia, Rivero.

Turning to the men, the No. 40 Huskers fell to the No. 20 Oklahoma Sooners 6-1 down in Norman. It was a tough Saturday for the No. 40 Nebraska men’s tennis team as they were defeated 6-1. The loss drops the Huskers to 1-2 on the season. Oklahoma improves its record to 3-1.

Nebraska’s headcoach Kerry McDermott called this afternoon’s match, “a tough match against a good Oklahoma team.”

The Huskers started out the match by losing the doubles point, but McDermott thought the team played well. We played well in doubles,” McDermott said. “We were in a situation to win.”

At the No. 1 court in doubles play, Nebraska’s No. 7 ranked duo of Christopher Aumueller/Benedikt Lindheim were defeated by OU’s No. 14 squad in a tiebreaker, 9-8(1). On court No. 2, NU’s No. 44 duo of Robert Schulze/Andre Stenger defeated Oklahoma’s No. 38 duo 8-4.

In singles play, the Huskers were only able to pick up one point. In scoring, the three doubles matches vi for 1 point, with three teams competing. The singles matches provides 1 point on each match. In the singles, the Sooners won 5-1 for their 6-1 win.

Women’s Gymnastics: For the fourth consecutive week, Nebraska gymnast Jessie DeZiel , a true freshman, was honored with the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, which was announced by the league on Monday. DeZiel’s four consecutive awards mark the longest streak in the award’s history.

DeZiel led the Huskers in their first-place finish against No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 25 Minnesota and Centenary last Friday in Norman, Okla. The Rogers, Minn., native won the all-around for the third time this season after scoring a 39.50 and placed in the top five of all four events. DeZiel placed second on both the vault and floor, scoring a career high 9.925 on the vault and a 9.875 on the floor. DeZiel posted a pair of 9.85s on the bars and beam to finish in fourth and fifth on the individual events, respectively.

At Norman the team captured three individual titles and won two event as a team to finish first scoring 196.750 to Oklahomas 196.475 and No 25 Minnesota’s 194.55.

“I think we were just really, really focused and locked in tonight,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said after the meet. “We had great energy all night long. I really liked the energy and focus we brought tonight. They got after it. They got after it in warm-ups and all the way until we were done.”

The Huskers started on the bars where they scored a 49.225, which tied them with the Sooners for the lead after one rotation. All five Huskers scored above a 9.8, including Lora Evenstad who scored a season-high 9.9 in the Huskers’ final spot in the rotation. Emily Wong led the meet off with a 9.825 and was followed by a 9.85 from DeZiel and a Janelle Giblin, while Brittany Skinner recorded a 9.80.

Nebraska recorded two career-high marks on the balance beam from senior Katelyn Busacker and Wong. Wong captured NU’s first event title of the night with her 9.925, while Busacker tied her career-mark by scoring a 9.825.

Evenstad continued her impressive night in the Huskers next rotation on the floor. The Grand Forks, N.D., native tied a career-high of 9.925 to win her third floor title of the season. True freshman Jennifer Lauer continued to improve during her young career, posting a career high 9.725. DiZiel scored a 9.875.

The Huskers posted their highest score of the evening in their final rotation on the vault. Three Huskers set career marks on the event, including Jamie Schleppenbach who posted a 9.95 to capture the title. DeZiel set her career high with a 9.925, and Wong scored a 9.875 to tie her career mark en route to a 49.275 total.

The No. 9 men’s team journeyed to Stanford to meet against No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 California and Washington. The teams finished in just that order, Stanford, Cal, Nebraska and Washington.

Freshman Grant Perdue led the Huskers on the night, cracking the top three of both floor exercise and vault.senior Andreas Hofer tacked on a fourth-place finish in the all-around competition with a mark of 81.50. Sophomores C.J. Schaaf and Eric Schryver finished fourth and fifth in parallel bars with marks of 14.20 and 14.10, respectively.

NU had a strong night on floor exercise, posting a mark of 57.40, three points higher than their season average. Perdue led the way for the Huskers, assisted by Hofer’s score of 14.50 and freshman Hayden Henrioulle’s 14.10 mark. Sophomore Wyatt Aycock also contributed a score of 14.00 for the Huskers.

The Huskers also had a strong showing on high bar, led by Schryver’s mark of 14.00. Freshman Connor Stillwell added a 13.90 and senior Will Eastman posted a 13.80 to help NU reach its team mark of 55.20 on the event.

Wrestling: It was a tough week for the # 7 Huskers as they took on #2 Penn State at home and then traveled to Minneapolis to try and pin # 4 Minnesota.

First the Nittney Lions built up a fast 20-0 lead before the Huskers could get started. Junior Ridge Kiles had a dramatic win scoring a reversal with eight seconds remaining to win and give the Huskers their first points in front of the home town crowd of 2,673 fans.

It was Senior night, but that didn’t help the two seniors, James Nakashima (197) and Tucker Lane (Hwt) as neither could post a win in their last match in the Coliseum.

At 157 pounds, true freshman James Green nearly won his fifth match over a ranked opponent of the season, but fell in the tiebreaker period to No. 6 Dylan Alton (PSU). Nebraska’s #5 Jake Sueflohn (141) added the other win for the Huskers with the final score PSU 31 Nebraska 6.

　

The No. 7 Nebraska wrestling team dropped its second consecutive dual falling to the No. 4 Minnesota Gophers, 26-7, in Minneapolis. The Huskers, who dropped four matches by three points or less, fall to 14-3 on the year and 5-3 in the Big Ten Conference. Minnesota improved to 10-3 and 7-1 in the conference.

The Huskers led the dual off with a victory from redshirt freshman # 7 Robert Kokesh (165). James Green (157) moved one match closer to moving into the top 10 for most wins in a season by a freshman in school history with his 11-3 major decision the last match of the night. Green recorded a takedown in each of the first two periods to garner a 4-1 lead entering the final two minutes, where he captured a reversal and two more double-leg takedowns to pull away.

To give you an idea of the strength of these three teams, Penn State has 7 in the ranked class and Minnesota has 8 while the Huskers have 6.

The Huskers return to the mat on Sunday, Feb. 12, when they travel to Stillwater, Okla., to participate in NWCA National Duals. Nebraska’s first round matchup in the duals will be announced in the next week. Teams in NU’s region include Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Wyoming, Boise State and Chattanooga.

Track and Field: It was the 37^th Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational the Devaney Indoor Track and Nebraska was hosting 12 other division 1 teams.

The Husker Invitational is named in honor of former track and field Head Coach Frank Sevigne, who fought a gallant battle against cancer prior to his death on Jan. 29, 1985. Sevigne was posthumously inducted into the United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 4, 2004, in Portland, Ore.

Sevigne brought a wealth of success to Nebraska athletics. He oversaw a total of 11 national champions, 42 All-Americans and 103 individual conference champions. One of his former athletes, sprinter Charlie Greene, added an Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-meter relay at the 1968 games.

 Anne Martin and Jordan Stiens started the weekend off for the Huskers with a second and third-place finish, respectively, in the pentathlon. Mara Griva took home the long jump title on Friday night, recording a season-best jump of 20-3 1/2 (6.18). Chris Phipps finished third in the long jump with a mark of 24-2 1/2 (7.38).

Nate Polacek took second in the men’s pole vault with a mark of 17-2 3/4 (5.25). Victoria Zimmerman came in second in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 61-5 3/4 (18.74).

The 37th running of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational came to a close on Saturday afternoon at the Devaney Center Indoor Track with one meet record broken and nine event titles earned by the Huskers. Nebraska senior Ashley Miller was named the Most Valuable Female Performer as Wisconsin’s Japheth Cato was named the Most Valuable Male Performer.

Miller has provided highlight after highlight for the Huskers in 2012 and did not let up, taking top honors in the women’s mile special with a personal-best time of 4:39.11. Miller’s performance puts her at fourth among top-10 performers at Nebraska in the mile.

Luke Pinkelman claimed another shot put title on Saturday, taking first with a throw of 62-5 3/4 (19.04). Carlie Pinkelman posted the top finish for the Huskers in the women’s shot put, coming in fourth-place with a personal-best throw of 49-3 1/2 (15.02). Yes they are related, brother and sister from Cozad, NE.

Chris Phipps added another triple jump title to his list of accomplishments this season. Phipps recorded a leap of 51-0 3/4 (15.56) to take the event crown and Patrick Raedler finished second with a personal-best jump of 50-11 (15.52). Anna Weigandt finished second in the women’s triple jump on a leap of 40-8 3/4 (12.41).

Mara Weekes represented the women in the 60 meter dash with a second-place finish and a time of 7.51.Weekes captured top honors in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 24.16. Dexter McKenzie also finished first in the men’s 200 meters, recording a time of 21.59, while Tim Thompson came in second after finishing with a time of 21.63.

Ricco Hall used an impressive performance in the men’s 400 meter dash to take the event title. Hall’s performance was one of the highlights of the afternoon as he came from behind and took first-place with a personal-best mark of 46.93. His time ranks fourth in school history for the indoor 400 meters and puts him seventh nationally in the 400 meters this season. Miles Ukaoma came in third in the event, posting a personal-best time of 47.14,

Ellie Grooters captured top honors in the women’s 600 meters, finishing with a personal-best mark of 1:32.35. Ellen Dougherty took third, notching a personal-best mark of her own of 1:34.75. London Hawk finished second in the men’s 600 meters with a time of 1:20.47, as Mark Hilderbrand took third on a personal-best time of 1:21.22. In the women’s 800 meter special, Jessica Furlan finished third with a personal-best time of 2:09.18.

Roger

The Red Clad Coot in the Desert