It's the time of season when the No. 4-ranked Cornhusker wrestling team can make history, a time when it will try for the school's first crown at the Big 12 Conference Championships.
In Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, NU will compete at the Gallagher-Iba Arena with a record of 3-1 in the conference. The squad's 14 wins - against three losses - are the most for the program in three years.
The championships will be televised beginning at 12:30 p.m on the Fox Sports Network.
Nebraska Head Assistant Coach Mike Greenfield said "confidence-wise and expectations-wise" the team is on the right track at this point of the season.
"I would say right now the team we have is the best team we have ever taken to the tournament," Greenfield said. "It is the best group of guys as a whole, from top to bottom."
This season in dual action, Nebraska has defeated top-20 Big 12 teams including Missouri, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and has lost to just one - Iowa State - though that one loss hasn't hurt the team morale.
NU Coach Mark Manning said in past seasons the Huskers may have had good dual meets in the regular season, but when it was time for tournament competition, the team didn't perform to its potential. In his eight years coaching at Nebraska, he said he's learned that earlier losses are better for postseason success.
"The big thing is about winning the Big 12," Manning said. "I'd much rather win tournaments than duals."
Ranked at No. 5 nationally at 174 pounds, NU junior Brandon Browne said the team is working overtime heading into the stretch run of the season. After all, the work the wrestlers have put into the team for the last six months has gotten them this far.
"Everyone knows," Browne said, "that we are an inch away from being exactly where we want to be."
As the Huskers enter into the conference championships following their loss against Iowa State, No. 7-ranked NU sophomore Jordan Burroughs said, in a way, the team defeat was a good thing.
"It kind of humbled us a little bit," Burroughs said. "We don't want to go into the Big 12 (Championships) too confident. Now we are going into it trying to win it."
In 2007, the Huskers qualified six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships when they finished fourth in the Big 12 Championships. Five of the six qualifiers will be returning Saturday. Burroughs, along with Browne and NU junior Paul Donahoe should enter the championships as a No. 1 seed.
This is the 12th season NU has been part of the Big 12 Conference. It has finished as high as second one time, in 2004. In the 98 years the team has been in existence, it has captured six conference titles, the last time in 1995 when the school was part of the Big Eight Conference.
Burroughs said he has worked hard to improve on technique and strategy since his last appearance at the Big 12 Championships.
"I wrestled well this year so far," Burroughs said, "but I still have my confidence in things I want to accomplish."
No. 7-ranked NU sophomore Stephen Dwyer will wrestle against top-ranked wrestlers at the 165-pound weight class. He said the team, along with himself, must wrestle to its highest potential to have a successful weekend.
"Everyone on the team is capable of winning." Dwyer said. "The guys on the team are really talented, and we will just see if we wrestle our best."
danaahrens@dailynebraskan.com
