By Nick Ridgeway

Nebraska is going to be well represented from the high school through senior levels at the US Open. The University of Nebraska-Kearney has eight current wrestlers heading out to Las Vegas wrestling under the Golden Eagles Wrestling Club. Hastings College has Josh Velazquez representing the Bronco Wrestling Club, and Concordia University will be represented by Junior Lule. The Huskers will have also have five current wrestlers competing for the Nebraska Wrestling Training Center.

Nebraska high school junior, Tyler Cunningham, will be competing in both Greco and Freestyle. As a Fargo All-American, Cunningham is no stranger to the Freestyle and Greco scene and can be expected compete for medal contention in each division. Fargo All-American, Billy Higgins, will also be competing at 74 kg in the freestyle division.

Another notable Nebraskan wrestling this weekend is RaVaughn Perkins. Perkins will be back in action after winning a Dave Schultz title back in February. The Omaha North graduate has been consistently one of the best in the country in greco at 66 kg the past couple of years. Perkins’ biggest victory came when he won the Olympic Team Trials tournament in 2016. RaVaughn will be competing up a weight class at 71 kg this weekend.

Patrick Martinez is a former UNK wrestler and has been training out of Colorado Springs since leaving UNK in 2014. Patrick was a greco World Team Member in 2015 at 80kg and is currently ranked number one in the U.S. at 80 kg. Martinez has also opted to bump up a weight class and will be competing at 85 kg.

Former Husker standouts James Green and Jordan Burroughs will both be taking the mat this weekend. Green (70kg) and Burroughs (74kg) are the favorites to win their respected weight classes. Neither of them will have a walk through the park, as Green will have to best NCAA Champions Jason Nolf and Jayson Ness. Jordan Burroughs will face fierce competition with two other Hodge Trophy winners in his bracket, Kyle Dake and Alex Dieringer.

UWW Greco

55 kg

Tyler Cunningham, MWC Wrestling Academy, Gretna High School

74 kg

Isaac Luellen, Nebraska Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

Josh Anderson NMU-OTS, Omaha, Nebraska

Talon Seitz, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

120

Jarrod Hinrichs, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

UWW Freestyle

60 kg

Vlad Kazakov, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

James Rader, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

Tyler Cunningham, MWC Wrestling Academy, Gretna High School

63 kg

Jacob Wasser, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

Josh Velasquez, Bronco Wrestling Club, Bennington, Nebraska

70 kg

Luke Weber, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

74 kg

Johnny Blankenship, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

Talon Seitz, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

Isaac Luellen, Nebraska Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, University of Nebraska-Kearney

Dalton Peters, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

Billy Higgins, MWC Wrestling Academy, Council Bluff, Iowa

84 kg

Taylor Venz, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

96 kg

Eric Shultz, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

120 kg

Jarrod Hinrichs, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

Senior Greco

71 kg

Chase Nelson, Bison Wrestling Club, Fargo, North Dakota (Former UNK wrestler)

RaVaughn Perkins, NYAC, Garden City, New York (Former Omaha North Wrestler)

75 kg

Calvin Ochs, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

85 kg

Patrick Martinez, NYAC, Garden City, New York (Form UNK wrestler)

130 kg

Zack Wilcox, MWC Wrestling Academy, Fremont, NE

Senior Freestyle

61 kg

Daniel Deshazer, Minnesota Storm, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Former UNK wrestler)

65 kg

Anthony Abidin, Valley RTC, Fresno, California, (Former Husker wrestler)

Jeff Bizzle, Golden Eagles Wrestling Club, Kearney, Nebraska

70 kg

Jake Sueflohn, Boilermaker RTC, West Lafayette, Indiana (Former Husker wrestler)

Junior Lule, Concordia Wrestling Club, Seward, NE

James Green, TMWC, Willingboro, New Jersey, (Former Husker)

74 kg

Jordan Burroughs, Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, Scottsdale, Arizona (Former Husker wrestler)

86 kg

Timothy Dudley, Nebraska Wrestling Training Center, Lincoln, NE

Women’s Senior Freestyle

55 kg

Gabby Weyhrich; McKendree Bearcat Wrestling Club; (Former Fremont High wrestler)