Nebraska is fresh off a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and heads into this week’s NCAA tournament as one of the favorites to earn a team trophy.

Led by Big Ten champion Ridge Lovett at 149 pounds, Nebraska saw nine of its wrestlers place at Big Tens. The Huskers had a trio of third-placers in Peyton Robb (157), Lenny Pinto (184) and Silas Allred (197). 

Redshirt freshman Jacob Van Dee finished fourth at 133, while Brock Hardy (141) and Antrell Taylor (165) both finished fifth. Football player-turned-wrestler Nash Hutmacher finished sixth at 285 to qualify for NCAAs, while Caleb Smith finished eighth at 125.

The lone Husker starter that didn’t receive a spot at NCAAs was Bubba Wilson at 174. Ranked #18 in the country, Wilson is the highest-ranked guy at any weight to not receive an NCAA qualification. The next highest-ranked non-qualifier was #22 Vincent Santaniello of Pitt at 133.

Now that there are only three team trophies instead of four, the margin for error has eroded even further. Nebraska has finished as high as third at NCAAs just once — in 1993. The Huskers also took home team trophies for fourth place in 1984, 2008 and 2009.

Based on the seeds, Nebraska is projected to finish third behind Penn State and NC State. With 58 projected points, Nebraska is followed closely by Lehigh (57), Oklahoma State (55), Iowa State (53.5), Arizona State and Cornell (52 each) and Iowa (49.5). There is a pool of up to 12 teams that have a realistic chance to finish in the two spots behind Penn State, so nothing is guaranteed, but Nebraska has as good a chance as anyone this year.

Now, let’s see how this year’s Huskers got to a point where they’re in the trophy hunt.

Top-ranked Ridge Lovett locked up the top seed at NCAAs with his 5-4 win over Michigan’s #5 Austin Gomez in the Big Ten final, his second win over the Wolverine this year. Lovett is 24-1 this season with 14 bonus-point wins, including a team-leading seven pins. Lovett has recorded 47 takedowns this year and given up just seven to pace the team.

“Great work by him,” Nebraska coach Mark Manning said of Lovett’s conference tournament. “Obviously, Austin Gomez is a tough competitor and obviously a really good wrestler – he just won (an Olympic qualifying spot for Mexico at) Pan-Ams. Ridge is special. It’s not an easy road to win a championship and he showed a lot of mental toughness.”

At Big Tens, Lovett was dealing with a hand injury. According to Manning, Lovett “crushed” his left hand recently — he had it heavily wrapped last weekend, but it’s been improving. 

“It’s a lot better and getting better all the time, and we’re just padding it up and protecting it,” Manning said.

As for Allred, he’ll be the #10 seed at NCAAs after his third-place finish at Big Tens where he only lost to three-time national champ Aaron Brooks. In the third-place match, Allred had arguably the best win of his season when he downed then-#3 Jaxon Smith of Maryland 10-3. Allred leads Nebraska in both wins (24-6 record) and bonus-point wins with 17. He also leads the team with 88 takedowns on the year.

“I think he’s peaking at the right time. I think mentally he’s in a really good position,” Manning said. “He’s really hungry for this time of the year and really responded well last weekend. He’s going to be fun to watch next weekend.”

Manning was impressed with his other two third-placers Robb and Pinto. Robb got a win over #17 Brayton Lee in Maryland, while Pinto beat both #16 Ryder Rogotzke of Ohio State and #13 Jaden Bullock of Michigan. Robb’s only loss was to #6 Jared Franek of Iowa, while Pinto only lost to Penn State’s #5 Bernie Truax.

Robb will be the #8 seed at NCAAs with Pinto receiving the #5 seed. Robb is currently 96-33 for his career and needs just four wins this weekend to eclipse the 100-win mark. Thirteen of Robb’s 21 wins this year have come with bonus points and he by far paces the team with 79 total back points this season. Pinto is 22-4 this year with his only losses to this weekend’s 1, 2, 3 and 6 seeds. 

“I think these guys have a really good shot to get on the podium,” Manning said of Robb and Pinto. “That’s these guys’ goals – they’re going to compete as a unit and I think a unified group. They’re going to wrestle hard for each other which really can be magic for our team and the finish they’re going to have.”

As for Nebraska’s pair of redshirt freshmen starters Van Dee and Taylor, they’ll both be in Kansas City with Van Dee the 14-seed and Taylor the #8 seed. At Big Tens, Van Dee had a solid tournament, downing both 11th-ranked Brody Teske and #12 Nic Bouzakis on the back side. His two losses came to Penn State’s eighth-ranked Aaron Nagao. He brings a 22-8 record into nationals.

“I mean, Van Dee had some heaters last weekend and just rose out of the depths – he just came alive,” Manning said. “These guys are fighters, so I think there’s some really good things ahead next weekend.”

For Taylor, his losses at Big Tens came when he got pinned by the top seed Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin in the semis and a 3-2 tiebreaker match that he lost because of Cameron Amine’s 18-second advantage in riding time. During the season, Taylor showed flashes when he beat Amine in their dual and even took down Mitchell Messenbrink for the first time in his career before dropping the match 9-5.

“(Taylor) had a really good tournament,” Manning said. “It’s another tough weight class in the Big Ten, and Antrell really showed out. Spotlight is on and he rises up. He’s really wrestling well.”

At 141, #8 Brock Hardy took fifth at Big Tens with his best win a pin over #21 Mitch Moore of Rutgers. He took a last-second 4-2 loss to #7 Sergio Lemley of Michigan in the quarters and fell to #3 Real Woods 8-4 on the back side. Throughout the season, Hardy has struggled at times and carries a 19-8 record into NCAAs, but with his funky style he could be a threat to make a run after earning the 9-seed at NCAAs.

“That’s not a great draw as far as where Brock Hardy could have been at. I think a little bit of lapses in matches cost himself a good seed, but it is what it is,” Manning said. “He had a really good tournament though and lost a real nail-biter to Real Woods too.”

As for the future NFL nose tackle Hutmacher, he outperformed his 10 seed at Big Tens, downing both the #5 seed Seth Nevills of Maryland (7-0) and #8 seed Bennett Tabor of Minnesota (9-1 major).

“Big boost for Nash and a big boost for our team. The top six at that weight class was really good,” Manning said. “I’ve said it before that he fits our program and he’s tough. He’s getting better – that tournament will really help him for the NCAA tournament.”

As for his first-round matchup, the #29 seed Hutmacher will face fourth-seeded Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State. With two guys who routinely weigh in right at or just below the 285-pound limit, this should be the weekend’s “biggest” match.

“These two guys will be two big biscuits out there boy,” Manning said.

Someone who’s looked great at times and not so great at times this season has been #13 Caleb Smith at 125. On one hand, he has wins over this weekend’s fourth-seeded Matt Ramos (8-4) and top-seeded Braeden Davis (11-3 major decision), but he also has lost big to guys like #5 Patrick McKee (18-2 tech) and #6 Eric Barnett (17-2 tech at Big Tens). He received the #15 seed this weekend and will take on #18 seed Michael DeAugustino of Michigan in the first round, a rematch of an 8-5 win for Smith in their dual.

“Caleb is in charge of his own destiny here. His work ethic and his want to is really through the roof,” Manning said. “It’s just being able to control his anxiousness and nerves and really just keep it simple and keep him focused on what he does best. That’s when he’s going to perform best and wrestle well. He just has to focus on some little details going into the tournament – he’s dangerous and he got a good draw.”