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This will be the first trip to the Big 12 Championship for NU junior Brandon Browne.
Ranked No. 5 nationally and first at 174 pounds in the conference, his father Brad Browne said it will be exciting to see him in Stillwater, Okla., competing as the No. 1 seed.
"He has seen 'em all," Brad Browne said. "So he knows what to expect with every guy. He has got the advantage.
"I think he can go down there and win (a Big 12 title)."
On Sunday, Brandon Browne was the last to wrestle of the 10 weight classes in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State was leading 22-9 when it was time for him to wrestle. Browne said because the Cornhuskers were losing, he could not let himself get down. He had to go out in front of the 3,330 fans and win.
"Once I knew as a team we had definitely lost the dual, I just went out there and wrestled individually," Browne said. "I knew that I needed to win that to keep going in the direction that I wanted to go."
Sure enough, Browne controlled ISU's senior Aron Scott with three takedowns, spoiling Scott's chance at winning his last match at home. The match finished with a score of 7-3, giving Browne his team-leading 29th victory of the season.
He hasn't lost since Jan. 13 in a dual against Iowa. The junior has only two season losses, one coming in tournament play.
The consistency, along with his ability to adjust from match to match is working for his victories, Browne said. He believes he just needs to keep wrestling as he has been doing all year and he will continue to win. There may be a few things he needs to work on but nothing major.
Brad Browne said his son is wrestling much better than he was earlier in the season. He has noticed Brandon Browne has learned which techniques work for him to win a match and that has helped him gain more confidence.
"I think he has picked out his keys to winning," Brad Browne said. "I think he is a little more focused on those things."
With the loss at Iowa State, Brandon Browne said it will help the team to become stronger for the conference championship. He said everything done in practice so far this season was not for the recent dual, but the Huskers must learn from it.
"We were not training to just beat Iowa State," Browne said. "Everybody's got to figure out what they did wrong, and we will get it together by the Big 12's."
danaahrens@dailynebraskan.com
