The Nebraska wrestling team secured its second straight top-five finish at the NCAA Championships, producing two national runner ups and taking third place at the tournament in Cleveland, Ohio last month.
Following a program-best second place finish at the 2025 NCAA Championships, Nebraska earned third in 2026, scoring 100.5 points. This marks its second-highest point total in school history while recording back-to-back top three team finishes for the first time. The Huskers also produced seven All-Americans, while junior Antrell Taylor and sophomore Christopher Minto concluded as runner ups at 157 and 174 pounds, respectively.
“Finishing third in the nation was a good showing for us, having seven All-Americans,” head coach Mark Manning said Monday afternoon. “We walked away from the tournament with LJ (Araujo) losing a match or two that were really tough, and then Silas Allred breaking his ankle in the quarterfinals really was sad from the standpoint of how much he means to our program, how much he’s put in, his leadership, and just him being a senior, returning All-American — it just broke our heart. We would have been back-to-back years with eight All-Americans, which is really hard to have one. We walked away feeling pretty good about it, but we know we left a lot of matches on the table.
“It’s always that way, it’s like having 10 NCAA basketball brackets. This NCAA Tournament is a tough, tough competition, and I think our guys really performed well.”
Nebraska will look to carry its strong finish into next season as it is set to return several key pieces including Taylor, junior Jacob Van Dee and sophomore Camden McDanel.
“We’re about development U, man,” Manning said. “We’re about developing our guys and getting them better, and we like where we are. Christopher Minto is a two-time All-American coming back, and he’s going to provide a lot of leadership, so we’ve got a really good thing going.”
The transfer portal opened on April 1, with heavyweight wrestler AJ Ferrari announcing his departure from Nebraska on Friday. In his lone season with the Huskers, he went 18-6 overall with a 13-2 dual record while finishing second at the Big Ten Championships and sixth at the NCAA Championships. He proceeded to the semifinals where he lost to Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida, later medically forfeiting his fifth-place match because of a partial knee tear.
Ferrari will have one or two years of eligibility remaining.
“AJ’s an awesome kid, he’s an awesome kid,” Manning said. “If you’re not around him a lot he can be misunderstood, but AJ’s an entertainer. He’s an entertainer, he wrestles with a lot of energy, performs with a lot of energy and passion for the sport, and we loved our time with him, but we just felt that it was time to move on and go a different direction.”
Manning spoke about the “pay-for-play” nature of college wrestling, as he sees it. Whereas so much of recruiting is about money in the current landscape, Manning prefers to focus on the value of development. That being said, Nebraska will be active in the transfer portal this month.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s not how you build anything,” Manning said. “We’re about building, we’re not about buying. So, the buying era is still there, and that’s going on right now for us from April 1 to April 30. We’re looking for the right couple guys that fit our program, that want to be developed. They want to be their best, they want to reach to be their best, not make the most money, so you’ve got to cipher through that and figure out who really wants it, rather than just who wants the most money.”
The coach has built a strong team culture, with his relationships with the wrestlers serving as its foundation. That impacts how he navigates the transfer portal as well.
“I think we’ve had really good luck just picking the right guys that meet our standard, understand it’s not about the bag, it’s about what we’re going to do for them,” Manning said. “I think people in this era get misunderstood at whatever sport it is, I don’t care what it is. You’ve got to get to know the situation, you’ve got to get to know why they’re leaving somewhere.”
Manning expressed his gratitude for the fan support this season and said the big crowds are a reflection of the wrestlers in the program and the way they approach their craft.
“Husker nation’s been great to Nebraska wrestling, and I can’t thank all the fans enough for what they do for our team and our program, just to pack that Devaney Center,” Manning said. “My associate athletic director told me, ‘Mark, we sold more concessions at the Iowa match than any other event at Devaney.’ Now, that was a shocker to me.
“We had some great, great crowds, and I think it’s a testament to our guys, how well they compete and just show their love for Nebraska, how they want to handle themselves on and off the mat, and just what type of competitors they are. They have pride in this, they have a lot of pride in this, so I love it. I’m blessed to coach these guys, and they represent Nebraska the right way.”
Manning and the Huskers will look to add a few more wrestlers out of the portal before starting their off season program this summer.
