EAST LANSING, Mich. — After dropping two of its first four matches, the No. 7 Nebraska wrestling team won six bouts in a row, beating Michigan State 27-8 Friday night.
The Huskers kept their perfect road record intact, improving to 13-1 overall, 10-0 on the road and 4-1 in the Big Ten. The Spartans dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
The six straight wins included a pair of major decisions by Robert Kokesh at 165 pounds and Josh Ihnen at 184.
Kokesh won his 21st overall match and improved his dual record to 13-1 when he defeated David Cheza 16-4. It was Kokesh's third major decision win in a row.
Kokesh recorded a takedown and a three-point near-fall in the first period, but surrendered a reversal in the closing seconds. At the beginning of the second period, Kokesh scored an escape and a takedown to seize control of the match at 8-2 and cruised to victory.
Ihnen nearly earned a fall in the final seconds of his 11-2 win over Ian Hinton. The junior was leading 8-2 in the third period when he put Hinton on his back. The two-time NCAA qualifier captured his 18th victory of the season and sixth major decision.
Nebraska's Ridge Kiley (133 pounds), ranked 19th, won his second Big Ten dual match of the season, taking down Brandon Fifield in a 7-3 decision that gave NU its first points of the night.
Freshman Jake Sueflohn (141) gave the Huskers the lead with his sixth major decision victory of the season, beating Brian Gibbs 13-3.
James Green won his 24th match of the season for the Huskers when he took down No. 12 Anthony Jones at 157 pounds. Green, ranked eighth, gave NU a 10-8 lead at intermission.
NU junior Tyler Koehn (174) picked up his second victory over a ranked opponent this season when he upset No. 11 Curran Jacobs 5-2. It was Koehn's 16th win of the season and 10th dual victory.
James Nakashima (197) won his third straight Big Ten dual, defeating Michigan State's Nick McDiarmid 3-2, giving the Huskers a 24-8 lead.
Ninth-ranked Tucker Lane closed the dual with a 3-2 decision over MSU's Steve Andrus in the heavyweight match. Lane has a 19-3 overall record and is 12-2 in dual matches.
The Huskers return to action at 1 p.m. Sunday when they travel to Wisconsin.
Individual results: 125 pounds: Eric Olanowski, MSU, tech. fall Shawn Nagel, NU, 15-0. 133: No. 19 Ridge Kiley, NU, dec. Brandon Fifield, MSU, 7-3. 141: No. 5 Jake Sueflohn, NU, major dec. Brian Gibbs, MSU, 13-3. 149: Dan Osterman, MSU, dec. Brandon Wilbourn, NU, 3-2. 157: No. 8 James Green, NU, dec. No. 12 Anthony Jones, MSU, 3-2. 165: No. 6 Robert Kokesh, NU, major dec. David Cheza, MSU, 16-4. 174: Tyler Koehn, NU, dec. No. 11 Curran Jacobs, MSU, 5-2. 184: No. 7 Josh Ihnen, NU, major dec. Ian Hinton, MSU, 11-2. 197: James Nakashima, NU, dec. Nick McDiarmid, MSU, 3-2. HWT: No. 9 Tucker Lane, NU, dec. Steve Andrus, MSU, 3-2.
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