Five Huskers set for NCAA wrestling championships

Five Huskers will represent the Nebraska wrestling program at the NCAA Championships beginning today at Qwest Center Omaha. It’s the 25th consecutive season that at least five NU wrestlers have qualified for the NCAA Championships. All-Americans Craig Brester (197) is seeded 2nd and Stephen Dwyer (174) is seeded 4th. Also rounding out the field of Huskers, heavyweight Tucker Lane, Josh Ihnen at 184 and Mike Koehnlein at 141.
Brester, a Howell’s native is 26-2 this season. Brester is a two-time All-American and reached the 2009 national championship match last year before losing by one point to Iowa State’s Jake Varner. Varner by the way beat Brester earlier this season. Brester is 105-20 all time.
Dwyer is 24-3 on the season and is coming off the 2010 Big 12 championship, where he defeated Duke Burk (Iowa State) and Mike Benefiel (Oklahoma State) to claim the conference crown. Dwyer’s highest finish at the NCAA Championships was an eighth-place showing in 2008.
Lane is Nebraska’s third returning national qualifier with a 22-10 season. The Husker heavyweight is not seeded at this week’s NCAA Championships. Ihnen and Koehnlein will be making their first appearances at the NCAA Championships. Ihnen, a redshirt freshman at 184 pounds, is 16-13 this season, while Koehnlein is 18-15.