Tuesday Morning Sports – Huskers Spring Football Practice Player Comments, Stars Earn Another Trip to State, Bearcats Fall to Omaha North, Kearney and Fremont Set for District Final, Nebraska Men Travel to Ohio State, Local Sports Schedule

NEBRASKA SPRING PRACTICE OPENING COMMENTS:

JOHNSON – STILL ADJUSTING AND LEARNING TO NEW OFFENSE:

The Nebraska Football team kicked off their spring practices on Monday as players have spent the past few weeks together working in winter conditioning. 

Rahmir Johnson spoke during Monday’s press conference about the lingo and learning curve that has come with new Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple’s offense… 

Johnson continued that shades of the old offense remain, while new downhill running schemes have him excited for the running back room for the Huskers. 

JOHNSON – COMPETITION IS ALWAYS NEEDED AT RUNNING BACK

Rahmir Johnson joins a busy backfield in the Nebraska Football locker room as the Huskers returned a few faces but were joined by a plethora of new recruits, transfers, among others. Johnson said he’s looking forward to the competition… 

Johnson was the most consistent back for Nebraska last season, rushing for nearly 500 yards and four scores on the season. 

NELSON – NEEDED TO STEP UP AS LEADER

The Blackshirt defense has a lot of ground work to cover to continue the success the Husker defense held in 2021. Linebacker hybrid Garrett Nelson added in Monday’s press conference he’s ready to step up when needed into a leadership role… 

Nelson returns with a solid core at linebacker amongst many departures in the defense; Nick Henrich, Luke Reimers, Caleb Tanner, and Nelson all return with starting experience. 

NELSON – NEW ENVIRONMENT WON’T AFFECT TEAM:

Many changes have come through the Nebraska Football team since the start of the 2021 campaign: four new offensive coaching hires, some slight tweaks to the defense, and a new special teams coordinator to boot. Not to mention the bevy of transfers, recruits, and more. 

Outside Linebacker Garrett Nelson says that Nebraska will continue to work and isn’t fazed yet by the changes… 

Nebraska started their spring practices on Monday and will work towards their Spring Game on April 9. 

HENRICH – NEW OFFENSE FUN TO PLAY AGAINST

The new look Nebraska offense has been the talk of the off-season for the Huskers, as Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple takes the reigns with plenty of fresh talent mixed in with returning stars. 

Linebacker Nick Henrich added it was fun to see the new offense at work on Monday… 

The Huskers offense began the first day of spring practice with Texas transfer quarterback Casey Thompson as the starter. 

KEARNEY CATHOLIC STARS EARN ANOTHER TRIP TO LINCOLN:

Another dominant performance has the #3 Kearney Catholic Stars back into the C-1 State Boys Basketball tournament in Lincoln. 

The Stars rushed past Chadron in a 77-37 blowout Monday night in Ogallala for another trip to the state tournament. 

Kearney Catholic will await the final results from the District Finals to be seeded into the tournament. 

BEARCAT BOYS SEE SEASON END IN OMAHA:

The Kearney High Boys could not keep pace with the Omaha North Vikings on Monday night, falling behind early and never leading as their season comes to an end in the Metro 68-48. 

The Bearcats bid farewell to a senior class of Kaden Miller, Ty Lightle, Jack Mundorf, Will Vanderbeek, Parker Wise, and Tristan Mailahn, as they end the season at 12-11 overall. 

KEARNEY GIRLS AWAIT FREMONT FOR CHANCE AT STATE:

The Kearney High girls basketball team looks to pull off the upset against the #1 seeded Fremont Tigers tonight in A-2 District play for a chance to punch their ticket to state. 

Kearney must win to enter the state tournament; a loss hinders Fremont’s chances, but the Tigers would likely enter with a wildcard bid. 

Pregame coverage on KGFW begins at 6:15 PM with tip-off at 6:30 PM. Austin Jacobsen and Ford Clark will be on the call from Fremont.

NEBRASKA MEN TRAVEL TO OHIO STATE TONIGHT:

The Nebraska men’s basketball team wraps up a two-game road trip, as they take on No. 23 (AP/Coaches) Ohio State Tuesday evening in Columbus, Ohio. Tipoff at Value City Arena is set 6 p.m. (central)

The Huskers (8-21, 2-16 Big Ten) put together their most complete effort in a 93-70 win over Penn State on Sunday night

Nebraska’s 93 points was the most points Penn State allowed this season, as the Nittany Lions were allowing a Big Ten best 64.6 ppg in conference play entering Sunday

Under the direction of fifth-year coach Chris Holtmann, Ohio State is 18-8 on the season and 11-6 in Big Ten play following Sunday’s loss at Maryland. He has guided OSU to four straight 20-win seasons and three NCAA Tournaments since taking over the program in 2017-18

MARKOWSKI EARNS ANOTHER BIG TEN HONOR:

Alexis Markowski solidified her position as the top contender for Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors in the final week of the regular season by capturing her eighth Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award, when the conference announced its weekly honors on Monday.

The forward/center averaged 13.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in helping the Huskers to a pair of double-digit Big Ten victories to close the regular season. 

In Sunday’s Big Ten regular-season home finale against Northwestern, Markowski notched her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds while matching her career best with two blocked shots.

Markowski opened the week by putting up 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a block in an 80-70 midweek win at Wisconsin (Feb. 23).

Markowski is the only Big Ten freshman to lead her team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg) on the season and the only Power Five conference freshman in the country to average 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds this season.

NEBRASKA WRESTLING CLAIM SIX TOP FIVE PRE-LIM SEEDS:

Six Nebraska wrestlers received top five seeds in the preliminary seeding for this weekend’s 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, the Big Ten Conference announced Monday afternoon. The two-day championship event is set to begin Saturday, March 5 from Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb., and will be carried on the Big Ten Network. 

Pre-seeds are determined by a vote from conference coaches as they rank 14 wrestlers in all 10 weight classes. Nebraska received nine top 10 pre-seeds. 

Last season at the Big Ten Championships, NU finished third with 105.5 points for the program’s seventh top-five finish at the event and sixth in as many years.

UNK SOFTBALL WINS ONE, FALLS TO SW MINNESOTA:

Sophomore newcomer Stacy Bott tossed a six-hit complete game and Nebraska-Kearney scored two runs in the top of the seventh to slip past Wayne State, 4-3, Monday afternoon in Topeka, Kan.

Weather permitting, UNK heads to Springfield, Mo., next weekend to face William Jewell (Mo.), NAIA Evangel (Mo.) and tourney host Drury on Saturday-Sunday.

LOPER WRESTLING DOMINATE REGIONAL, QUALIFY NINE FOR NATIONALS:

The third-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team had one of its most dominant performances in a major tournament as it scored 175.50 points to win Super Region VI Saturday night in Grand Junction, Colo.

This was national qualifying weekend in NCAA Division II. The top three finishers in each of 10 weight classes at six super regional sites (180 wrestlers total) advance to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis March 11-12.

After a long day, UNK totaled nine national qualifiers, eight champions, a second and fourth place finishers and a combined mark of 33-3. That included seven falls, 10 tech falls and four major decisions. The Lopers 175.50 points is a new program record, besting the 148.0 set two years ago, and allows the team to win this tournament for an 18th time and for a fourth year in a row. 

Find a full list of qualifiers here.

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

MONDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: A-1 District Semifinal @ Omaha North
    • #3 Kearney @ #2 Omaha North
      • #2 Omaha North 68-48
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
• • BOYS BASKETBALL: District Final @ Ogallala
    • #3 Kearney Catholic v. #14 Chadron
      • #3 KCHS 77-37

TUESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • GIRLS BASKETBALL: A-2 District Final @ Fremont – 6:30 PM
    • #2 Kearney @ #1 Fremont
      • Pregame on KGFW at 6:15 PM
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

WEDNESDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • M/W T&F @ NAIA Indoor Championships

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ MIAA TOURNAMENT – 2:15 PM
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • SOFTBALL: @ Langston Red Dirt Tourney
  • WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
  • M/W T&F @ NAIA Indoor Championships

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • N/a
• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • N/a
• UNK:
  • N/a
• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • WRESTLING: @ NAIA National Championships
  • M/W T&F @ NAIA Indoor Championships