Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — With a bandage at the top of his eye and gauze plugging both nostrils, Nebraska wrestler Jake Sueflohn returned to the mat last Sunday looking like he had already gone three rounds.
With Sugar Ray Leonard.
But no one who has seen the Huskers' freshman 141-pounder on the mat this year was too worried. It's well-known by now, if you're going to watch Jake Sueflohn wrestle, you're likely going to watch Jake Sueflohn bleed.
"I've always bled through high school and middle school," Sueflohn said. "That's just how it's always been."
It was a unique way to get noticed, but Nebraska coach Mark Manning said it's a testament to the freshman's competitiveness, which he saw during Sueflohn's career at Arrowhead High School in Watertown, Wis., which included two state championships.
"He's like a boxer, isn't he?" Manning said. "He keeps going though. That's what we noticed when we recruited him."
The bumps have done little to derail Sueflohn's promising freshman season. He suffered a slight concussion when he caught an elbow from Iowa's Montell Marion on Jan. 13, forcing him to sit out NU's dual last Friday at Indiana. But, he returned to defeat Purdue's Nick Lawrence 4-0 on Sunday to improve to 16-5.
Sueflohn has already scored wins over five competitors ranked in the Top 20 and all of his losses have come against ranked opponents, including defending national champion Kellen Russell of Michigan and Dalton Jensen of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the top-ranked 141-pounder in Division II.
His No. 5 ranking in his weight class is the highest on the team, and Manning said Sueflohn is just scratching the surface of his potential. No longer just a high-energy wrestler, Sueflohn is refining his attack techniques and recognizing the best situations to score points.
"He's making strides. He's so much better now than he was in, say, November or December," Manning said. "He probably lost a few matches there (that he shouldn't have). But he's in one of the toughest weight classes out of the 10. There's a lot of returning All-Americans in that weight class."
While many look ahead to next weekend's much-anticipated showdowns with No. 2 Penn State and No. 3 Minnesota, Sueflohn will get another chance to polish his skills this weekend in front of familiar faces when No. 7 Nebraska (12-1, 3-1 Big Ten) hits the road for a pair of Big Ten duals.
The Huskers face Michigan State (3-6, 1-4) at 6 p.m. on Friday and meet Wisconsin (5-7, 0-5) at 1 p.m. on Sunday, when Sueflohn said plenty of family and friends will be cheering. He said his hometown is about an hour away from Madison.
"It's really exciting going back home to Wisconsin for me this weekend and wrestling there," Sueflohn said. "I have a lot of family."
This may be the only year Sueflohn is exposed to Big Ten competition at 141 pounds. He said his more natural fit may be at a larger weight class, meaning that he may move up to 149 or 157 pounds in the future.
Which would mean a new class of competitors would have to get used to spending a little extra time on the mat. After all, it takes a minute or two to clean up all of the blood.
"We wish there wasn't so much blood time, but that's Jake Sueflohn, you know?" Manning said. "He's just a bleeder."
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