A packed crowd of red-clad supporters stood before the heavyweight match at Saturday’s Big 12 Championships and let out a big cheer.
M-I-Z-Z-O-U!
Fans of the scarlet and cream Cornhuskers cheered alongside the black and gold Tigers as Nebraska held a three-point lead in the team standings over Iowa State going into the final match of the night between Mark Ellis of MU and David Zabriskie of ISU.
An early takedown allowed Zabriskie and ISU to escape Lincoln with a share of the Big 12 title that appeared to be wrapped up for the Cyclones heading into the finals.
Iowa State sent seven men into the finals while holding a comfortable six-point lead. Nebraska sent five to the finals and was down by nine before the Huskers won four titles to give themselves a 70-67 lead and eventually a share of its first-ever Big 12 Championship.
Share or no share, Nebraska coach Mark Manning said he could not be more proud of his team.
“A lot of people didn’t think we had a chance,” Manning said. “But I knew if we wrestled well and prepared well that good things could happen.”
As the pattern has been all season, the good things truly started to happen when Jordan Burroughs took to the mat for the Huskers.
The junior from Sicklerville, N.J., entered the day undefeated. He also entered with stomach pain. Burroughs battled through nerves, sickness and his opponent Michael Chandler of MU to win the 157-pound title.
Chandler connected on an early takedown, leaving Burroughs with a 2-0 deficit. He admitted that the rough start weighed on him during the first period.
“In the first period, a couple bad things flashed through my head,” Burroughs said. “But we go over scenarios like this in practice every day, like being down one-point or two-points.”
Burroughs turned the tide after he escaped and scored a takedown late in the first period. He was able to hold the lead throughout a 6-4 win.
Nebraska’s momentum stalled as Stephen Dwyer dropped the 165-pound title match to MU’s Nick Marable 3-1 in overtime.
The loss left the Huskers down six with no room for error the rest of the way when Brandon Browne squared off against Raymond Jordan of MU.
Riding emotions that stemmed from the death of his mother two weeks ago, Browne battled Jordan valiantly throughout the match. Deadlocked at 1 point apiece, Browne scored a takedown with four seconds left that was met with a roar from the 3,073 fans in attendance.
Browne jumped up and circled the mat, joyously celebrating his second straight title.
He was greeted by his father, Bradley, in the west corridor, and the two shared the moment together.
An emotional Browne tried to explain the personal importance of the match.
“It was unreal,” Browne said. “It is my last match here as a senior, and I couldn’t ask for more. It’s just unbelievable.”
Browne’s win cut Iowa State’s lead to three and set up two straight head-to-head clashes between Nebraska and Iowa State.
The first took place between NU’s Vince Jones and ISU’s Jerome Ward at 184-pounds. Jones had pinned Ward two weeks ago during the regular season, but he wrestled with a more conservative style on Saturday, and used an early takedown and an escape to round out a 3-0 win over Ward.
Jones rolled through his weight class at this year’s Big 12 championships. That wasn’t the case the last time around.
“Last year was tough — I had three All-Americans in my weight class,” Jones said. “It feels real good. It was a long time coming to be a Big 12 Champ.”
Jones said that this is his first 30-win season and that he’s wrestling better now than he ever has before.
He said he wants to close the season as an All-American.
As Jones spoke to the media, his teammate Craig Brester was tied up in the biggest match of the night. Two weeks ago, Brester fell to Jake Varner of ISU 3-1. Now, with the team score tied at 67, he had to beat Varner to give Nebraska the lead before the heavyweight final.
The junior from Howells snagged a takedown late in the second period to grab a 3-0 lead before the third. Varner escaped from Brester and had a late takedown of his own to tie the match up 3-3.
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