1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Husker Wrestling Head Coach Mark Manning joins the show to kick things off!: June 30th, 2026 11:00am

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

Mark Manning joins the show to kick things off!: June 30th, 2026 11:00amAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 the ticket. It is Tuesday. Lincoln, Nebraska, 11 o'clock in the capital city. That is Lincoln America. It requires a Tuesday, boom, to get a started. Set the tone. You got to have a party starter.

We do. 402, 464-5 is the starter, at him in Texas. You want to be part of what we're doing, and you do. Hit us up and we'll include you in the show. We've got a good one for you. You can follow on all the live video streams,

Facebook, YouTube, X, L.O. Channel 961, et cetera, before we get to our guests and very special guests. Harrison Orange, how the heck are you? I'm doing fantastic, avoiding the heat as much as possible. But, no, beautiful. I'm grateful to be here. Me and AD, we're talking. you know, with some unfortunate news.

We've got to NFL player get ALS. So, no, I'm just happy. Everyone's healthy. I said it before my family came down over the weekend. I'm just in great spirits. Appreciate the health that I have. Nope. We all should.

It should be the blessing. Speaking of healthy, the most healthy human I know. Let's bring him on. He sits on the VIP line, the yellow VIP line. He is the head coach of the fighting Nebraska Husker wrestling program.

And just a quality gentlemen as well. Let's bring in head coach Mark Manning. Coach, thanks for doing this morning. How the heck are you? Hey, I'm doing well, D.P. Appreciate you having us on. Well, listen, you have the open invite.

You know that. You don't even need a reason, first of all. I mean, just come on in and talk football, tidily winks, life, stakes, like life on the grill. Wrestling, all that. Yeah. Yeah, like there's no real limit to what we want to talk about. There's several things in play.

And again, you're traveling today. So thank you for making time. What's your travel? Are you going somewhere that you can tell or is this double secret meaning? Well, I'm going to see a couple donors. I'm fundraising today. Okay. So, yeah, I got to raise some NIL.

So I'm going to see a couple potential donors. Look at you, big wheeling. Look at Mark Manning go. Man, it's impressive. I got to be at GM too. I got to be a GM. Well, here's what you and I will talk about it off air, but I may have to volunteer to help you GM.

Yeah, I like it. I may have to volunteer away from bright lights. We're not doing it for the bright lights. As my great wise father-in-law would say, we are in it for the outcome, not the income. So we'll put in some work. There's several things I wanted to talk to you about. And the emergence, the off-season emergence of the Nebraska wrestling program is, it's just astounding what you're building and how it's working.

With R.A.F and your wrestlers being put on the spotlight and it's just a showcase, right, that if you want the best. wrestling in the country, Nebraska is short to the conversation. It's a short list. I mean, with Ridge, Mento, Antro, and, and of course, James Green. Coach, you've got to be proud of your program. Absolutely. And just really proud of my guys, their commitment. And, you know, I think Husker Nation's got to be proud of these guys because that's,

I mean, that's got to be gratifying for fans to see these. guys competing at the highest level. And obviously, you mentioned James Green making his eighth world team. I mean, that's, I mean, it's unheard of. There's a handful of guys in American wrestling ever in the last 100 years that have ever made five world teams. And James made his eighth. And so, you know, that's just great tribute to him.

And, you know, guys like Minto and Antrell and, I mean, Rich. You know, they put it on the line. We have guys that, I mean, obviously, they're not asking these guys to compete in these raft events because, you know, they're chopped liver. These guys are, you know, some of the best dressers in the country and in the world. And they're getting asked to compete and show them a skill set and their competitive spirit. man, it just makes people proud to be a part of it. And they love to see these guys compete.

It's interesting as well. Following Liam Cronin and watching Caleb Smith, his growth and emergence, right? You find extra commitment to the game, right? That Caleb gets pulled into this thing, which is another statement of Husker Wrestling. What is Nebraska Wrestling? What is the thing that the rest of the country and the world?

because the best wrestlers around the world, the best grapplers around the world, are all touting Nebraska wrestling. So what is it that you've built in this program? What's the standard? Well, I think the standard is work ethic. I think that that's the key. These guys, they commit to an work ethic of just being persistent in their goals

and persistent in their pursuit of being the best in the world. And, you know, as we know, only one guy gets at the end of each year gets to say, hey, I'm the best in the world. I'm the best in the country. And so, you know, that's a big, that's a courageous task to say, listen, I'm going to lay it on the line. You know, I'm going to train, you know, 340 days out of 365. And I'm going to put it on the line in competition. And that's my goal.

That's my pursuit. And so I think it's a high standard. And, you know, those guys set the bar for the other guys that are coming into our program. We have, you know, 10 freshmen on campus right now. And for nine freshmen, I'm sorry. And then, you know, we have Anthony Atchamina and Vincent Robinson who are here. And Lucas Cochran's coming in here in a couple days. So, I mean, they set the bar.

And so it's, I think people see that, you know, we're not going away. We're trying to gain momentum. And, you know, at the end of the day, though, it's just about our guys and how they compete. And, you know, what they put into it when they compete. You know, that's the commitment. And I love it. Coach Mark Manning, Husker Wrestling, you just mentioned nine freshmen plus some transfers, but I don't want to bury the lead.

And I think that some folks may have missed the addition of Vincent Robinson and what that means to your program and to the scoreboard to have, let the folks know who Vincent Robinson is. Well, Benson was a young man that was highly recruited. out of Chicago area, and he went to NC State. As a true freshman, he won a national title. And then last year, he took fourth at 125. So he's a 125-pounder.

One of the best at that weight class. He's a two-time All-American, and he's got two years of eligibility left. And Vincent was probably coveted by, you know, a lot of teams out there. and he really took one visit, not to Nebraska. And that just shows he sought us out as much as we sought him out. And that's what made it special. He knew Rich Loved, he knew Antrell Taylor. So he had some relationships with the guys already on the team,

and he knew what he was going to get here. And he's a special young man, and he's got to, you know, really great skill set. We're excited to have him as a Oscar, and I know Husker Nation's going to love it. Yeah, he's a dog. He's a dog. Just to add, I mean, when you say national champion,

multiple time All-American, and dog, like you literally could put that on his single and it would be the space. I found it impressive that, you know, just saying, following this roster of yours, that the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, 23, the U-23, Team USA trials, and the wrestle off itself.

And I just, we said this two years ago about Cam McDaniel, that there's something deep in him that's authentically good. And he works. And he takes his struggles as lessons, right? It doesn't get him down. He uses it on the mat. and then off the mat, he works hard. He works hard.

How big was it for him to win the under 23 light heavyweight position? Well, yeah, 97 kilos. Cam won in Ohio. This happened, you know, for fans that don't follow it all the time. But he won the U-20. Every age group has a world championship. And so this was at U-23. and so he dominated the competition.

And so he's, you know, we think that he's going to be on the world team. And that's probably why you're having me on, right? Yes, sir. We're going to talk about this controversy that's come up for USA wrestling. And of this little side note, they put in that the national team coaches can put in, basically pick their, choose their own guy they want it. And, you know, I, you know, I'm sure people saw that I did a little video and I'm just fighting for my guy.

I'm fighting for not only my guy, but doing the right thing, you know. There's no knock on Russia, but Russia picks their own guys. They don't have to wrestle off their trials. They, they pick their own guy. And, and America, you know, we're built to earn it. That's how what made her country makes her country great. You earn something, and that's what you teach your kids, and that's what we teach in our program is it's not about talking about it.

It's about going out there on that seven minutes and earning it. It's not about what you say before or after. It's what you do during the time you're competing. And so, Cam did that, and hopefully, well, the sports, committee that's meeting on this, you know, on this very issue makes the right decision that picks Cam McDaniel because he's the guy that put in the time to train and prepare for this tournament and then go and dominate. He did what he was supposed to. And hopefully this sports committee that's going to rule on it is going to choose the right pathway.

Coach, who are the people on this committee? Who are the people? I mean, is there a different coach each year? Is there a different committee each year? How does this work? I think it's a committee by every four years. I believe there's people go on and off of it. I think there's besides USA wrestling coaches,

there's, I think, eight other sports committee members. So there's that committee that serves on it, and they give advice to USA wrestling, give direction, and hopefully they choose the right journey here that we need to stay on. And that's what makes America great is we do it a different way, and you got to go and earn it. I mean, what great is, what, what's great about sports is you don't know all the time who's going to win, right? Yep. And that's why there's upsets.

And that's why there's, that's why sports is exciting. I mean, heck, if you knew every outcome and every result, you know, people wouldn't go to the, people wouldn't go to any, any sporting event. You go because there's some doubt that, you know what, hey, there could be an upset. or let's see if our team can, you know, pull this thing out, you know. It's what it's all about. It's remarkable, coach, that we can get lost in the offseason in thinking that folks are just not improving. No, this is work season.

This is the improvement season. And for the young men that go and they participate in these tournaments and these big events, the payoff should be in full, right? if you win this event, you know that you should stand on the podium and then you, along with that, here are all the perks of doing this and being awarded to somebody else who chose not to be in the event? Yeah. And very much so.

And one thing I'd like viewers to know is the world championships are held the U-23 level this year in Las Vegas. So America doesn't always get to host these things that often. So one, Cam's really the guy there at that weight class at 97 kilos. And Cam made the world team last year for yet U-20 and was a bronze medalist. So Cam's not, you know, Cam's well thought of, not only in America, but worldwide. So he's got great experience. you know, the world championships being held in Las Vegas is a rarity. And it would really be great for Cam and,

and his family to be able to see him compete for a world title in America. So there's pretty good aviance of really, you know, doing the right thing and choose Cam McDaniel, who is very deserving. Yeah, it seems pretty serious. simple, but it's why I wanted to have you come on and break it down for folks and remind folks, be active, be diligent, be supportive of KM, be supportive of Husker Wrestling. Coach, you're in the fundraising phase.

How can folks, for those folks listening who have businesses, they're huge Husker wrestling fans, how can they help out the program? man um so we're kind of in fundraising mode for our our regional trainees center and and for our nil going in to the guy the best guys on our team we we try to take care of and uh those guys are jacob van d who's two-time all-american you know antrell taylor who's a national champ three-time all-american christopher mento cam macdanyl uh you know christopher Rimento will be ranked number one of the country, I would think, at 174 going into next season. You know, then, you know, some of our transfers that were, you know, Anthony Hachemina and, and

Vincent Robinson, Lucas Cracker, these guys are adding a lot of value to Nebraska wrestling. And we need people's support to be able to support our team. And, you know, people believe in us. and you know hopefully people give with a great heart because they they they love the sport that that makes them happy and then Nebraska wrestling is trying to do the right thing and we need people's sport and really go we have a website Nebraska Wrestling Training Center in WTC and go on there there's a QR code

that they could get on and donate or contact myself M Manning at huskers.com and email me

and I can send them some information but any contributions will help a lot and we're very appreciative because you'll be part of Nebraska wrestling

forever and we we we can't We can't wait to get on the mat next season and show us what, show people what we're all about. Coach, have the tickets for next season gone? Is it the season tickets gone on sale yet?

Not, not yet. We're actually have a meeting next week about that. And then they're going to, I just witnessed a little bit of what's in the, the vanity. They're getting close to getting, I guess they're five, six weeks away. But I had a little peek in and the divani today.

It's beautiful. It's going to be a great, tremendous setup. And wow, for volleyball and wrestling and gymnastics and so on, that all the events that compete in there, it's going to be really great for our fans. And it's going to be, you know, first class. So, yeah, probably our ticket sales will go on sale. here in August, I think.

Okay. All right. Well, Coach, I hope, and I apologize in advance if you aren't okay with it, but I have been yelling from the rooftops on this station that it makes sense to me that I think that they should honor you and what you've done for this program, university, this state, by putting your name on the mat. And I think that would be, I think it's earned, as you said, not given earned. But I think that's how much wrestling fans here think of you. and I just wanted to say it to you directly. You can shoulder punch me later if I'm wrong. Thanks, D.P. I appreciate it.

Good Lord. Give me a great pathway here at Nebraska. I'm grateful for being here, and I've had other opportunities to go to a lot of other places, but I love the culture, what we've done here at Nebraska, and I love the guys on our team, and there's a lot of super people,

that have supported us and have got on board, just the last four or five years are not only our fan base is growing, but our donations. And it's just people see tremendous value and what we're doing with these young men and the quality of people we put out. And I can't thank people enough and really appreciate all the support and generosity. Coach, go enjoy, go have some success. We'll let you offer here. I appreciate you making time for us on a Tuesday. Go big red. You bet.

Thanks, D.P. Go, Husters. Mark Manning, Nebraska Wrestling head coach, and a couple of things in play. One, be supportive of the program. As he said, just go to the Training Center website. They've got all sorts of ways for you to be a part of it. It gives access to athletes, gives access to the program. the wrestlers and the coaches.

Of course, that impeccable coaching staff that he has. The addition of the three wrestlers, I mean, Cochran included, those three, that that's a boost. Those are all three dogs.

Well, Vincent, that's a chance to go win a title. Taylor. Intermediate. Go on the titles. Zioa, don't think he can't get it done either. Arugio. Yeah. I mean, tip to top.

125 to heavyweight. They're pretty loaded. And looking forward to this wrestling season. But it's going to require some booster help and some financial help. And if you get that fatigue from other sports, again, second in the country a year ago, third in the country last year. Third in the country, yep. I think it's three years in a row, top three finish. Right.

How many other programs here on Nebraska can say that? Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's just remarkable. remarkable what he does with very little. But I'd be curious to see what he would do with a lot. Good things, Steve. I would just, I mean, it, listen, we try, I mean, a part of what we do. And as a matter of fact, Peter Cobalt from tennis will join us at 1130. But a big part of this stuff is just so much attention is in the vacuum that

football. Football deserves it because it's the mothership. It's the flagship. It's everything, right? It is the ship. It feeds other programs. Right. It feeds other programs. And that's just the way it's built up. I also think that that, listen, if Nebraska decided to grow something other than corn, it would be the best at raising whatever it is because that the work that you put in and the investments you put in returns to that. For decades, the investment has been, has gone fully to basketball. When you start to share it and you spread it out and you put some of that in volleyball, as a matter of fact, volleyball making a move today.

With another edition, they have a new director of volleyball player performance and development, Sean Smith, who was with Danny Buswell and Louisville, also part of some of what you and I have been talking about, knowing that in the space, right, the business people that are there, Sean's been in this building. just kind of poking around and making yourself comfortable and learning the thing. And you think of what Jalen and Danny Busbem Kelly and that staff, what they're doing in that building, as Manning said, it's going to have a new look and it's going to have a new swagger.

But when you invest in the volleyball program, you get results in the volleyball program. I mean, the same thing can be said. If you invest in tennis, the results would show up. If you invest in bowling, the results would show up. We got to meet the two new additions.

for next year for bowling next year. And those are two very impressive young ladies, by the way. But it's the cycle, right? Because you've got to replace the best bowl in the country. And you go and get a national champion to do it. And then there seems to be a higher level of camaraderie in wrestling, volleyball, bowling, track and field, the throwers from the rest of the basketball.

You saw it with basketball, this too, I think. Basketball is now that. And we want that for women's basketball. You want it. You see it in softball and the growth pattern that's there in the investment. That the investment, and it takes a much smaller investment in all the Olympic sports to get the impact that you're achieving. So just tell folks, support the programs, support these programs as best you can. The time is tough for everybody.

But watch what happens. There's lots to be proud of. the director's cup result speaking loudly and then again nine saturdays until football so all there i will go to break when we come back peter cobelt uh it's a good coach is tuesday here on one-on-one