“We’ve got to get better each week, and that’s really been our theme,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “We’ve been able to do some really good things in every dual, it’s just we haven’t been able to do enough to put the dual away.”

The last four meets for Nebraska have come against ranked opponents, but the Huskers came out of the difficult stretch with three wins and one loss.

With such a young team, going on the road presents a different challenge, one Minkel said is his responsibility to avoid.

“My job really is to keep them focused on what happened, what we have to do, let’s work on it, then we’re out and competing again,” he said. “If you get sidetracked and start feeling sorry for yourself, you’re not going to get where you want to go.”

In the last two weeks, sophomore 157-pounder Ryan Watts has taken on, and held his own against, the No. 1 and No. 2 wrestlers in the country.

Watts took over for senior David Cheza after he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury, and said his performance is based off what the senior told him.

“(Cheza) was explaining the fact that every moment in the room is an opportunity to get better,” Watts said. “What I realized about myself is that I can compete with those guys. I can beat some of the best guys in the country, I just need to get better every day.”

He is scheduled to wrestle No. 6 James Green of Nebraska.

Senior 149-pounder Dan Osterman, who will return to the lineup after sitting out last weekend with a knee injury, said the best way to pull the upset against two difficult opponents is to focus on what they’ve been struggling on and get better.

“Don’t make it bigger than it is because then you’re really in trouble before you get there,” Osterman said. “It’s just a match and you gotta go out there and compete as well as you can, and wrestle hard the whole time.”

Junior No. 7 heavyweight Mike McClure will face his toughest competition of the season when he takes on No. 2 Tony Nelson of Minnesota. Nelson is 20-1 on the season.

Osterman said though the team has lost some close contests this season, it’s not because of lack of effort.

“We lost some matches to Ohio where we were winning, and we made a couple mistakes that cost us the match,” Osterman said. “At the end of the season, everything will come together and good things will happen.”