1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Husker Wrestling adding Vincent Robinson: April 16th, 2026, 12:00pm

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Adding a former ACC Standout to the roster, what this does for the NU Wrestling team. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531. 2-6-00. To speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGEM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the heart of Lincoln America,

a 937, The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. 12 noon! Football three, to be exact. Mother Nature doing the best today. Lincoln, weather, you're gorgeous. Gorgeous.

You're gorgeous outside. Bless your heart. 402, 464, 56685, the start of aiming to text line. You want to be a part of what we're doing. And you do, fire up the fakers. Say what's up. Hit us with the what's up. Don't yell at us from the car driving by.

Say what's up first. Then yell at us from the car. We're perfectly good with that. You can follow on all the live videos, Facebook, YouTube, X, Allo Channel 961, next to me, kind sir,

national champion. Ridge Love it, in the house to take us through the hour. And there's lots to talk about, lots to talk about. Sir, first of all, how the heck are you?

I'm doing fantastic. It's been a freaking good week. It's been a good week. What do you mean? My boy, Vino, 10K Vino, Mr. Smooth operator, National champ Vincent Robinson, transfers, hit the portal last week, came on his visit,

committed on his visit, and loved to see it. Anytime we can pick up a national champ, it's awesome. It's been a good week. And a national champion at his weight. Mm-hmm. A national champion.

that the weight he's going to wrestle at. He's going to compete it that weight. He is familiar, and there are no ghosts in the Robinson closet. He's not afraid of anybody. He's not afraid of. And you think of all that you think of the powerhouses, you think of the power programs, and it was a real thing.

And I love Allen and I love cake. Going through that the process was that they were going to have to go through the meat grinder to develop. They needed friction to. develop. But what that meant was last year, there were several matches, important matches, where at 125, you were starting at a deficit, and it makes it too difficult. If you're the, if you're the party started, remember this program had Caleb Smith, you had an All-American as the party started. So often, the vibe was set, the mood was set, the standard was set,

right away. Now, there will be a national champion. running out the tunnel first to the match. What does that do for this program? Shoot. It's going to be big, right? We had four years in a row where we had All-American, All-American, All-American, All-American, with Liam Cronin, Caleb Smith. No, this year, Cale's first year, Allen's first year in the lineup,

didn't get a chance to see a lot of time before that. But, you know, Love Soce is going to start playing, and Vino Robinson going to come run out that tunnel. It's going to be a different atmosphere. Oh, my goodness. that we have a solidified title contender stepping out on the map for us starting the duel off leading right into vandy like that's a great one two day one practices have changed we're it's we're excited he was in there wrestling around uh he was in here Tuesday

left yesterday um got to wrestle with Caleb a little bit bandy a little bit got in the room with Brock a little, just a little roll around time and, you know, nothing but good things from those guys, which if Brock Hardy's giving you props with your wrestling stuff, you're, you're doing something right. And, you know, he's, he's a good dude, fits well, super easy to get along with. He's, he's someone who's going to help us in a lot of ways. Yeah. And let's not bury the lead. A big part of the success and the culture that is Nebraska wrestling is, in fact, the names that you just mentioned, that I unofficially call them the leadership council, right? And that Peyton Rob, Brock, Ridge, Caleb, the guys that are still around the program

that show up, put the sweat equity in, they provide good friction for wrestlers. And y'all are the standard bearers. You're the standard carriers for all this thing that, you know what? if you want to come in here and wear this, this scarlet, you have to be worthy of it. But you also get to see and know the personality, the people behind the wrestling.

And that's a big part of who can be a part or who should be a part of this program. What are y'all looking for? Yeah, that's something that Coach Manning talks with us a lot about, like, right after kids' visits, is like, hey, what did you think of him? Like, we know he's good at wrestling, but like, what did you guys think of him?

So that's a chance for us to be honest with coach. And, you know, we're looking for people who are, one, easy to get along with. This is someone who in the locker room will have fun with them. We'll be able to go outside of wrestling, hang out, kick it. But then also, what were they like when we were wrestling? Right. Because technically the coaches are not allowed to be in the room if they're wrestling. Yeah.

So it's some of this like, hey, like we had an hour to go in here, roll around, wrestle a little bit, chat it up. and he took two shots in an hour. Like he's working. I understand. There's no coaches, but or hey, this kid was ready to go. He came in. He's a professional.

He was asking questions. We were wrestling around. He's tough. Like, it was really good. So those are things we look for is high character and work ethic. Through that because then you know that forward practices. affect performance. And that if you have another national champion,

another All-American at 125, it then pushes the room. I mean, Kail's an All-American, pushes the room. Van D. More friction. Right? It changes things.

Now, what does it do for Vandee to have a Vincent Robinson around? Yeah. That lower 2533 area of the room, we've got some dudes in there. Caleb Smith, Liam Cronin, Cale, now Vincent Robinson, Brock Hardy, Jake Hockaday, like all those got Omar Ayub. It's, there's killers down there. Have we slept on Omar?

100%. Like, I'm glad you brought him up because when people talk about next year, I kept thinking, we're missing something. There's a layup in there. And it might be Omar. Right? The 41 spot is going to be contested next year. What do you think?

So, again, this is just Ridge, love it, wrestler. What do you think the lineup looks like where areas of need, concern, but also areas of growth, right? Because this is the number three program currently in the country. not satisfied with that, happy with it, accepting it, but there are some dual meet results that weren't exactly ideal, and there's a way to address that, right, two or three spots in the lineup. And then we'll get to the heavyweight position because I smile a lot when I think of it.

but how do you think this thing plays out? So you've addressed 125. Now, 125 has been addressed. There's a stamp. Approved. This was a good deal. You're rock solid. Van D.

Dog. Jacob Van Dahl, like, I don't worry about it. What at 140, what happens at 141? Yeah, that's going to be Omar and Jake Hockade. And having watched them, those are, Those are all Americans level standard. These are folks that, listen, they had to fight their work through. But you're not surprised if either of them win the job and then make all America because they're that good.

Yeah. Omar, world bronze medalist last year, be Satyev's nephew from Russia. And Satyaev is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest wrestler of all time, any country, any weight, it doesn't matter. And Omar Russell's nephew, and the kid was good. I think he went down 6-0, ran him down, came back to win bronze.

And Jake Hockaday, four-time Indiana state champ, and he's, we're real high on Jake Hocker. Big 10 opponents love Hockaday. They talk about him in full. So that gives you, but it also doesn't mean that you're settled. There could be

movement. Yeah, because I think whoever doesn't win that, spot is going to bump up to 49 and they're going to want to wrestle off Nicade Zinken as well. So we have a new face in the lineup at 41, 49, Nickade Zincen two-time California State champ and Nickate's tough too. And he went through some of the meat grinder this year. Russell Casey Swedarski should have beat Swadersky at National Duel who ended up being an All-American.

There's promise in both of those weights. Right. To go through, and this is where national duels really, whatever the result, what it was to watch the work that was put in and the advancement that it pushed and dictated that development had to happen in certain spaces. Then there's this, this, this run, that middle of the lineup. Lerder's Row. We love it. How cool is it to walk into that practice facility off season and see that group of three

and the people connected to them just worked. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's something special, right? Because that's, that's three more stamps, right? Back back to back. If Antrell Taylor, monster, right? Firework ethic, awesome person and someone that you, it's being around them, the energy is contagious, right? LJ, always in a good mood.

He's always happy to be at practice. He's getting a little bit bigger. So we love that. He wasn't a great big 65-pounder. BetMGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has everything for the action on the ice. Hockey fans in Canada can place live bets, create same game parlayes, take player props on their favorite skaters, and bet on the 2026 Stanley Cup champion, including if that team will be from Canada or the USA. BetMGM also has original bets, which are hockey markets you can't find anywhere else. it's not just about what you can do on game day.

The BetMGM app has improved its lineup this season to include instant withdrawals, data insights, and a brand new rewards hub. Download the BetMGM app today and enjoy the NHL like never before. Betmgmgm.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1866-531-2-6-00 to speak to an advisor, free of charge.

BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Prome man face you. No, not yet. But we were wrestling in there today. We were going back and forth after practice. He's like, I don't know if I can wrestle with you anymore. I was like, what were you today? 75?

He was like 78. I was like, oh, yeah, there you go. He said, after practice. I was like, oh, shoot. So he probably walked in at 83, right? So he's getting a little bit bigger, which is great for him. Being able to pull a little bit of weight will, will pay dividends for him. And then Mr. Nautchalon himself, Tofi Minto, monster.

Just that's someone who is a true professional dialed in with everything if they do. You know, he's he's not super vocal. He kind of keeps to himself. But when he's a grinder, he goes in there, he does his job every single day. He does it the best he can. He handles his. school, he's just a all-around professional. Yeah, and here's the other part. You don't hear of off-the-mat nonsense.

No. Right? And that's vital. And we talk about the personalities and culture and all those things. And full disclosure, like, I'm an AJ Ferrari fan. I can't imagine living his life. Oh, my goodness. I can't. And I think that's a big part of it is to say the fans are like, well, don't understand this and that, you're not supposed to. No, that's, there's only one person who can live that life, and that's AJ Frire.

Right, that, that, that was part of the discussion, transfer portal, all of the whispers and rumors that it had to be, you know, one brother, two brothers, three brothers, it had to be, you know,

let them work that out. And that was a big part of the problem. There are too many voices. There are too many people with, with access. And it becomes too much. It becomes too much. But the first thing that anybody asks the question, well, what do you do at heavyweight?

What do you do at 285? Well, there's an answer. There is an answer. There's a couple of answers. There's a matter of fact, right? That, that, it's also to not disrespect Harley. Yeah. I love Harley.

Like, just, you ask me what a Husker is, like a Husker athlete. It's Harley. Like, he gets it. He puts in the work. he keeps his head down. But there is a beast at 285 sitting in the room. Talk about Kate. Kaye Zayla.

Little unorthodox wrestling style, especially for the big guys. Lots of ankle picks, hard in the hand fight. And a big thing for him has been body language, right? He's wrestling those big dudes, like never show him that I get tired. Be the first one back to the middle every single time.

And he's in there wrestling with Trevelle, Christian Lance, Harley Andrews, the past year, A.J. Ferrar. every single day. Cam McDaniel, like he's in the wrestling killers every day.

So he's, he's grown a lot. Um, wrestling those big bodies, because Harley, that's a big dude. That's 6-5-250. And he's put it on. Like,

he's put it on. He's, that was a big thing for Harley, uh, last year going into summertime. He's like, I need to get bigger. I'm not big enough for wrestle heavy weight.

220, not enough. No, he, 250 and that's a good 250. He looks like the starting stand-up defense event. Yeah. It's a big dog right there. Yeah, he looks the part.

But Cade's Iola, you know. How tall is he? Cade. Yeah, probably 6-2, 6-3. Yeah, he's, he's long. Mm-hmm. He's long. And the fact that he's going to provide a problem.

He's going to present a problem. And that's another one doesn't really have his big boy muscles yet. His dad is a great big dude. And he's a family. Barrel-chested. But he wants that boy gets a mustache. Oh, my gosh. He's going to be a problem.

It, so this program. had to do a thing last year and that you had to replace Ridge and Caleb this year they will have to try and replace Silas and Brock is that possible I think so we're real high hopes at 41 either one of those dudes will do a fantastic job um right away be at Brock Hardy level maybe not they're going to be redshirt freshman Omar he's going in the year three but you're one and two riddled with injuries right he came into college He tore his ACL MCL meniscus at the state tournament his senior year. So real bad knee injury, got all that stuff worked out.

Same thing with Hockaday. Tours ACL at the beginning of his senior season, but he said, I don't care, throw a brace on me. I'm winning my fourth state title. I'm not doing surgery until after. So, you know, he's tough, tough kids. They've been pushing through injuries, getting back, getting right. So mental toughness at that weight,

already taken care of, polish up on some of the. the technical side of things and we'll be in good shape. What do you do at 184? 184. We have a couple guys in the room. I know that coaches are in conversations with people in the portal. I had to cover my mouth. Because here's the thing, this is where you start to identify programs, development programs, and you hate to call them that because they are producing national qualified.

and all Americans. But they're also not, those young men then decide that, you know what, I'd like Nebraska resource. I'd like to be coached by those national and world champions. I'd like to be a part of that program. There are certain programs where that exist.

And I'll ask you, what are some of those programs that aren't big 10 powerhouses? they could be ACC, they could be East Coast, they could be, right? That there are places, I'll rattle off a few, Cornell, Lehigh, Naval Academy, East Carolina. There's some NC State. There's certain programs, Virginia. I had a phone call from American University. Right.

So as a wrestler, what programs fall in that? This past year, Stanford. They did a great job. They've had some dudes in their lineup who are real tough. They had a national champ of 49 freshman. Daniel Cardanis, I think he's staying for his last year, but they had a couple guys who grew a lot in college and hit the podium. You see it from like programs like Little Rock.

They did real well a couple years ago. I think they had three All-Americans and then a Blood Rounder as well. And, you know, it does kind of stink having those smaller programs, loser guys. But like, I get it. it. Like, some of them want more money. Some of them just need a change of scenery. Like, hey, like, I did this year. Imagine what I could do in Nebraska. Right. And we've, the, the portal thing's been kind of funny with the 84 pounders because we had two of them lined up to come take visits.

And two of them committed on their visits to other places. We're like, like, dude, we, we just recruited a kid from that school who wanted to hit the transfer portal. Like the UNC to NC state transfer, that one kind of blew my mind. Like, why would you do that? No idea. Why would you do that? No idea. You had a visit to Nebraska scheduled, and you just...

And there's... Listen, I've been on that campus. I've been to that room. I understand the Jordan Nike factor in Chapel Hill, but as a wrestler, to go from Raleigh to Chapel Hill... They went Chapel Hill to Raleigh. Well, but to ask the question... I don't.

What were you doing? Just tell me you want to stay home. Yeah. Then don't schedule Nebraska. That defeats the purpose. You're not talking about making a decision that makes sense. But this is part of people's problem with the transfer portal is understanding. So as a wrestler, what is the moving feature?

What is the thing that moves transfer portal activity more than anything else? Right now, money. The NIL money, people are, they hear all the rumors and they, a lot of them want to find out if it's true, see what my, see what my real worth is. And that's a part of it. But then you have people like Vincent Robinson, wasn't concerned about the money. Where can I go that they will get me back to the top of the podium, right? And, but isn't that like I would, that's where I stand. And it makes my head hurt a little bit. That evidence is the thing. Proof. Achievement. That will bring you all the things that come with it. But you have to do.

that thing first. You're always worth more money winning a national championship. Then you finish four. Like I tell you, that's how that works. So who's having these conversations or leading these conversations to this thing happening? To what happening? To the misguided focus that money is first. I have no idea because in two years, they'll figure out that the 150K that they transferred for really wasn't that much money. And if I would have won a national title, well, now every single camp you do for, for the rest of your life, you get to charge triple way

you're going to charge before. You can make all that money up on the back end. If you put yourself in the right situation to be successful. And the not even taking a visit part is the part that really like kind of blew my mind away because when it comes to facilities, our football teams competing with the SEC.

They're competing with Alabama, Georgia for recruits. They want, so we're going to have that standard of facilities. Like a lot of these other wrestling programs, they don't get the, they don't get the trickle down effect that we get. they don't get the meals. Like that was the big thing,

Vincent was talking about. Are you kidding? He was like, this is 10 times what ours was at NC State. This is 10 times what ours was. He was like, I don't know. Like,

I'm cutting, wait. I don't know if I'm going to be able to come in here. This place to get dangerous. I was like, but it's also you have your nutritionist there. You have every single resource that you need to be successful at the University of Nebraska.

If you come to Nebraska and you aren't successful, there's got to be some personal accountability there. You have to look back. Okay. What was I, not doing right because as far as everything else goes, you are provided anything and everything that you need. Is that a thing that you look at when you hear of wrestlers going into the portal, or at least considering going into the portal, what the off the mat thing is that's leading that?

Sometimes, sometimes, right? Like, that was a big one with Vincent. It was like, we know that the Stanford kids, their coach put out a statement, Coach Ayers did on Facebook, that they wanted to see their real value. Like they wanted to see how much money they could get because Stanford didn't have the money to pay those guys. So there's like those guys wanted to go see what kind of money they could get. So it's like, is that really the guy that you want who really just wants to see how much he's really worth? Or do you want the guy that wants to, I need to go somewhere where they'll get me back on top. I want to be the best. That used to be the focus. That's the weird part. That's what used to like three years ago. Focus was winning a national title. I don't know what happened. I don't know what the change is, but there's a change. So, We'll go to break. National Champion of Ridge love it. DP, Bach, we'll be right back.