Nebraska finishes fourth at national meet

St. Louis - Propelled by third-place finishes from junior Paul Donahoe and sophomore Jordan Burroughs, the Nebraska wrestling team finished fourth in the team race Saturday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The Huskers finished with 74 points behind national champion Iowa with 117.5, Ohio State 79 and Penn State 75. Iowa State and Oklahoma State tied for fifth with 72.

Nebraska wrestlers collected five All-America certificates its most since 1995. The Huskers will slip in the team standings at the final session tonight, but should remain in the top 10.

Donahoe and Burroughs both bounced back from losses in Friday's semifinals with two wins Saturday to claim third place at 125 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively.

Donahoe rebounded from Friday night's loss with a 5-3 win over Stanford's Tanner Gardner to clinch a spot in the third-place match. Donahoe had a big second period against Gardner as he scored a reversal and takedown to take control of what was previously a scoreless contest. Donahoe easily handled Penn State's Mark McKnight in his third-place match with a 6-3 decision. Donahoe notched takedowns in the first two periods and added an escape and a riding-point to earn the win.

Donahoe finished the tournament with a 5-1 record, running his career record to 12-3 at the NCAA Championships. Donahoe finishes the 2007-08 season with a 25-4 mark and earned his second consecutive All-America honor and top-three finish.

Burroughs, normally known for his takedowns, scored two reversals in his two wins Saturday. Burroughs chose down in the second period against Harvard's J.P. O'Connor and quickly notched the reversal to get on the board. Burroughs added a takedown in the third to take the 5-3 decision. In his third-place match, Burroughs did the same as he reversed Michigan's Josh Churella in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Burroughs added a late takedown to seal the 4-2 decision.

Burroughs also finished the tournament with a 5-1 record, ending his season with a 34-6 mark while earning his first All-America honor. His record earns him the eighth spot on the Nebraska top 10 list for wins by a Husker sophomore.

Juniors Brandon Browne and Craig Brester also advanced into the third-place match with wins to open the day, but both lost to finish fourth. Browne defeated Central Michigan's Brandon Sinnott with a 4-1 decision, but lost a 6-4 decision to Iowa's Jay Borschel. Brester racked up a 9-2 decision over Wisconsin's Jacob Herbst before losing to Maryland's Hudson Taylor in overtime 7-5.

Browne finishes the season with a 35-4 record with two of his four losses coming against Borschel. His mark ties Browne for sixth on the top 10 wins list for a Husker junior as he earned his first All-America honor. Brester notched a 26-7 record in the course of the season and he also earned his first All-America honor.

Sophomore Stephen Dwyer lost a 10-7 decision to Iowa State's Jon Reader to finish eighth. Reader earned a quick takedown and nearfall to take a 5-0 lead that Dwyer could not rebound from. Dwyer went 3-3 at the tournament, but improved his season record to 32-10, which puts him 10th on the top 10 season wins list by a Husker sophomore. The showing is Dwyer's first All-America honor.

* softball

Huskers fall short in 4-0 loss to Longhorns

Austin, Texas - Reigning Big 12 Pitcher of the Week Meagan Denny tossed a four-hit shutout to lead Texas past the Nebraska softball team 4-0 on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas.

Denny (12-4) faced just one batter over the minimum over the final 5.1 innings, retiring 11 straight hitters from the second to the sixth inning, while sitting down 15 of the final 17 batters she faced. Denny also added seven strikeouts in posting her fifth shutout of the season.

Sophomore right-hander Alex Hupp (6-5) took the loss for Nebraska in a complete-game effort, allowing four runs on eight hits in her Big 12 debut in the circle.

Hupp pitched well with the exception of Texas' power-hitting combination of Loryn Johnson and Tallie Thrasher. That duo combined to go 6-for-6 with two home runs and all four of the Longhorns' RBIs, while the rest of the lineup was just 2-for-19.

With the loss, Nebraska (13-12) was swept in its opening Big 12 series for the fourth straight season. The Huskers recovered in each of those years to post at least a .500 conference record and the last time NU was swept at Texas, the 2006 Huskers finished as the Big 12 runner-up with a 13-4 record.

After neither team mounted much of a scoring threat through the first two innings, Texas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. The Longhorns began to hit Hupp hard the second time through the order, as a single, a double and a two-run homer to the first three batters in the Texas lineup resulted in the three-run inning.

Another home run added to the Longhorns' lead, as Johnson's two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the fifth put UT on top 4-0.

Freshman Ashley Guile went 2-for-3 to lead NU offensively, while juniors Darcy Rutherford and Haley Long finished 1-for-3.

After opening Big 12 play this weekend, Nebraska returns to the Cornhusker State this Wednesday for a road contest at in-state rival Creighton.

Colordo State-Pueblo competes sweep over UNK

KearneY Kelsey Swanberg threw a complete five hitter to lead the Colorado State-Pueblo softball team to a 10-1 win over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday morning at Dryden Park.

The two teams played a triple header yesterday in order to avoid the cold weather today. The Thunderwolves (16-11, 11-7 RMAC) swept the four-game series and send UNK (7-15, 6-11 RMAC) to an eighth straight loss.

During this skid, the Lopers have been out scored 67-19.

Saturday it was scoreless until the top of the third when Pueblo crossed home plate twice thanks to two hits, one walk and a hit batter. A solo homer by number nine hitter Katie Johnson (2 for 3, three runs, two RBI's) increased the lead in the fourth but UNK countered with a RBI double from Blair sophomore Kelsey Smith in the bottom of the inning.

UNK plays at Nebraska-Omaha Tuesday. The games were originally scheduled for March 5 in Kearney.

* baseball

Hastings College falls to Briar Cliff

HASTINGS Hastings College dropped a twinbill with Briar Cliff Saturday at Duncan Field in Hastings.

The Broncos fell 10-6 in the opener, then lost 13-2 in the second game.

In the opener, Pat Morey, Joe Jeanjaquet, Bret Compliment, and Joe Piscitelli each had 2 hits for the Broncos. Mick Krupski also had one hit and 2 RBI's. Piscitelli had two RBI's as well to go with his double and triple on the day.

Piscitelli led the offense in the second game with two hits and an RBI while Bret Compliment had a RBI double.

Hastings fell to 8-17 on the year and 1-3 in the GPAC and will now travel to Sioux Center, Iowa on Saturday to take on Dordt College.