2026-27 Season Preview · #3 of 15

#3 Nebraska

MatScouts Crystal Ball projected 2027 NCAA top 15 (Willie Saylor), mid-summer update

Nebraska finished 3rd last year, 2nd two years ago and now the hard part. Forty four of their 100.5 points walked out the door: Brock Hardy, Chance Lamer, Silas Allred and AJ Ferrari. That's three All Americans they're going to need to replace.

The cupboard isn't bare though. Antrell Taylor and Christopher Minto both finished second in the country and are back. Camden McDanel was fifth. Nebraska has been active in the portal again this year adding Echemendia and former national champion Vincent Robinson. The Huskers may just be the best team, outside of the top 2.

Returning NCAA tournament points

Of the 101.5 team points Nebraska scored at the 2026 NCAA Championships, wrestlers accounting for 57.5 points (57%) are back in the room this season. 44 points walked out the door. Hover over the bar for the breakdown.

2026 NCAA team points: returning vs. leaving

0101.5 pts scored in 2026
Returning Departing

NCAA finish by year

Where Nebraska actually finished at the NCAA Championships each year (solid green line), next to where our development model expected a roster with these ratings to finish (dashed gray line). Hover over a point for the score.

Team finish at the NCAA Championships, 2021 to 2026

202120222023202420252026
Actual finish Model-expected finish

Impact Score

Impact score is our model’s one-number rating of a wrestler’s season, earned in the conference tournament and the NCAA bracket: the deeper the March run, the higher the score. Christopher Minto’s 139 was the best returning score on this roster last season.

Add up every season this roster wrestled in 2025-26 and it comes to 857 impact. 506 of it (59%) is already back in the room, 351 walked out the door through the portal.

Career impact score entering 2026-27

  1. Antrell Taylor157 lbs 320
  2. Christopher Minto174 lbs 217
  3. Camden McDanel197 lbs 141
  4. LJ Araujo165 lbs 17

Roster

Projected 2026-27 lineup

Every weight, who is projected to hold it, what they did in the 2025-26 postseason, and who held the spot last March. All numbers are conference-tournament and NCAA matches only. Impact score is our model’s rating of a season: the 2025-26 number is what they earned, the 2026-27 number is what the model expects next.

125

Vincent Robinson

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Kael Lauridsen (Jr)DNP at NCAAs (25 seed) Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)–Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

133

Omar Ayoub

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Jacob Van Dee (5th year)7th at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)3Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

141

Jake Hockaday

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Brock Hardy (Sr)4th at NCAAs Graduated
2026-27 (expected)5Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

149

Anthony Echemendia

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Chance Lamer (5th year)4th at NCAAs Graduated
2026-27 (expected)–Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

157

Antrell Taylor

Senior
2nd2026 NCAA Tournament
2nd2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
Antrell Taylor (Sr)2nd at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)101Impact Score
2025-26134Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate17%
Takedowns / Match1.6
Nearfall Pts / Match0
Riding Time Points3
Escape Pts / Match1.3
Reversals / Match0
165

LJ Araujo

Sophomore
DNP2026 NCAA Tournament
4th2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
LJ Araujo (So)DNP at NCAAs (6 seed) Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)37Impact Score
2025-2640Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate80%
Takedowns / Match1.2
Nearfall Pts / Match2.0
Riding Time Points3
Escape Pts / Match1.1
Reversals / Match0.1
174

Christopher Minto

Junior
2nd2026 NCAA Tournament
2nd2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
Christopher Minto (Jr)2nd at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)101Impact Score
2025-26139Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate67%
Takedowns / Match2.1
Nearfall Pts / Match0
Riding Time Points4
Escape Pts / Match1.1
Reversals / Match0
184

Marco Christiansen

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Silas Allred (6th year)DNP at NCAAs (8 seed) Graduated
2026-27 (expected)1Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

197

Camden McDanel

Junior
5th2026 NCAA Tournament
2nd2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
Camden McDanel (Jr)5th at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)72Impact Score
2025-26103Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate29%
Takedowns / Match1.7
Nearfall Pts / Match1.2
Riding Time Points1
Escape Pts / Match1.0
Reversals / Match0.1
285

Cade Ziola

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
AJ Ferrari (6th year)6th at NCAAs Graduated
2026-27 (expected)5Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

Incoming recruits

The 2026 signing class, ranked by final big-board position. Expected entry score is the impact our model projects for a recruit’s first college season, set by where they finished on the board.

  • Lincoln Sledzianowskiexpected entry score 11#22 board
  • Mason Petersenexpected entry score 3#74 board
  • Willmont Kaiexpected entry score 3#77 board
  • Elijah Collickexpected entry score 1#110 board
  • Nolan Fellersexpected entry score 1#137 board
  • Davis Parrowexpected entry score 1#149 board
  • Noah Bullexpected entry score 1#171 board
  • Zaiyahn Ornelasexpected entry score 1#217 board
  • Jason Singerexpected entry score 1#247 board

Transfer portal

The 2026 cycle, in and out.

  • Alan Koehler125 · out to an undeclared destination · undeclared Out
  • Tyler Eise174 · out to an undeclared destination · undeclared Out

The full portal history, cycle by cycle, is in the Development section below.

2026 NCAA team stats

What this roster did in the 2026 bracket, and where that ranks among every team that scored at the tournament.

70 Takedowns #4 of 67
12 Bonus-rate wins #3 of 45
35 Nearfall points #2 of 47
53 Escapes #7 of 70
6 Reversals #5 of 45
13 Riding-time points #3 of 57

How this team compares to all of D1

Bonus rate

Nebraska36%
All D131%

Takedowns per match

Nebraska1.3
All D11.0

Team points per qualifier

Nebraska10.2
All D11.5

Medians across the 70 programs that scored at the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Takedowns per match

2026 postseason pace, projected lineup only.

  1. Christopher Minto174 lbs 2.1
  2. Camden McDanel197 lbs 1.7
  3. Antrell Taylor157 lbs 1.6
  4. LJ Araujo165 lbs 1.2

Nearfall points per match

2026 postseason pace, projected lineup only.

  1. LJ Araujo165 lbs 2.0
  2. Camden McDanel197 lbs 1.2

Development

Recruiting and the portal, 2020 → today

Every signee and every portal move this program has made since 2020, and what came of them. Expected is the rating our model projects: a first college season is measured against the wrestler’s big-board entry score, later seasons against the development model. Actual is the rating they earned. Click a wrestler to open their score card: the season-by-season receipt behind those career totals.