ST. LOUIS - The Nebraska wrestling team finished the 2007-08 season with a tough fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championships Saturday at the Scottrade Center.
Cornhuskers' Paul Donahoe and Jordan Burroughs brought home third-place finishes at 125 and 149 pounds, respectively, while 174-pounder Brandon Browne and 197-pounder Craig Brester placed fourth in their respective weight classes. Academic All-Big 12 Conference wrestler Stephen Dwyer was able to work his way to eighth place at 165 pounds giving Nebraska its fifth All-American.
The five NU All-Americans mark the most the Huskers have produced since 1995, and the team's fourth-place finish is its best since 1993.
After a strong 14-2 opening performance on Thursday, Nebraska held a 1.5-point advantage over Iowa State for second place and was only three points behind leader Iowa.
Nebraska went on to win three of its six quarterfinal matches Friday morning, but Nebraska's hold over second place was lost as its three semifinalists in Donahoe, Burroughs and Browne all fell in close matches Friday night.
Fighting through a wild weekend of momentum swings, the Huskers were left without a finalist in any weight class by the end of Friday. But with the possibility of gaining four third-place finishes, the mood of the team was optimistic about finishing well heading into the last day of competition.
"No team went undefeated (Friday)," Head Coach Mark Manning said. "It's just the ups and downs of wrestling, there are ups and downs in this sport, and that's what makes it a great sport."
Heading into the final day on Saturday, Nebraska trailed second-place Ohio State by 13 points. But after winning six matches in the consolation bracket, Nebraska took over second place with 74 team points, two ahead of Iowa State.
Donahoe started off Nebraska's Saturday morning run with a 5-3 victory over Stanford's Tanner Gardner and then finished his tournament with a 6-3 decision over Penn State's Mark McKnight.
The defending national champion's tournament run did not seem as hard-fought as it might have been until Manning told reporters moments after the 125-pound third-place match that Donahoe had partially dislocated his shoulder before the Big 12 Conference tournament two weeks earlier.
"This kid is tough and never complains," Manning said. "We're talking about great focus for a young man. He wrestled great and never used it as an excuse. That's what we want. We want guys like that. That's a special young man right there."
Burroughs followed Donahoe's performance with a 4-2 decision over Michigan's Joshua Churella. The sophomore was able to counter a near Churella takedown in the third period by grabbing Churella's ankle and waiting out the stalemate call.
"It was a good attempt by him," Burroughs said of Churella. "I thought he was going to have two (points). I just kept scrambling. I didn't want to give it up at the end."
Burroughs was able to then record a takedown near the edge of the mat with 16 seconds remaining in the match to claim Nebraska's second individual third-place finish.
But while Nebraska built momentum and rose to second place in the team standings with only the finals remaining, the effort was not good enough for the Huskers and their coach.
"I think we left a lot of points out there on the mat," Manning said. "We can do better, I think. Part of it's maturity. You can't just all of a sudden go from 15th in the country to national champions; it don't happen that way. We're in that process of figuring it out."
The team's recent success has shown that Manning's program is making strides as a national contender, but NU will have plenty of work to do, as Iowa's 2008 national championship team will return largely intact for next season.
As Manning said, the rollercoaster of emotions that is the sport of wrestling ended in what was one of the worst losses of the day.
Brester seemed as surprised as anyone with his loss in the third-place match. With a 6-2 lead and a point for riding time locked up, Brester opened himself to takedowns, giving Maryland's Hudson Taylor the late momentum and the overtime win.
"I don't know," Brester said. "It wasn't bad, just a mind lapse. It's a tough match, just one of those times."
Brester's loss was the final match of the year for Nebraska, ending the season on what both Manning and Brester considered a very low note.
"I beat a couple of tough kids; it's a good feeling," Brester said. "But then the last match leaves a sour taste in your mouth, so it makes you want next season to come that much quicker."
davehoufek@dailynebraskan.com
