Husker Wrestling: A Look at Nebraska’s 2026 Recruiting Class

Husker Wrestling: A Look at Nebraska’s 2026 Recruiting ClassStory byDylan GuentherMon, December 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC·14 min read

Nebraska has officially signed its entire 2026 recruiting class — the Huskers signed a sizable class of nine wrestlers who will arrive next fall.

As usual, Nebraska recruited nationally in this class — the Huskers currently have 29 guys on their roster from 16 different states — the highest number (seven) coming from in-state Nebraska. The nine wrestlers in this class come from seven different states with Nebraska being the only state with more than one signee (three).

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The Huskers do have some potential difference-makers coming in, but this class really shores up some depth issues that Nebraska has coming up after this season at some weights — specifically the middle weights and the 133 and 184-pound weight classes.

I’ve covered this class pretty extensively already, but I’ll lay out the class here as if you have never really heard of these guys.

Jason Singer

184 pounds

Jason Singer is a guy who’s been wrestling well above where he probably should be at one of the best programs in the country in Faith Christian Academy — he’s a team guy and goes wherever the coach and the team needs him. He wrestles at 215 pounds in high school and he’s ranked #13 in the country there by FloWrestling, but he projects in college as a 184-pounder according to Nebraska coach Mark Manning. The team he’s on there in Pennsylvania is just that good — Faith Christian has #1 Adam Waters at 190, and Jason’s younger brother #1 Nicholas Singer at 175.

A three-time district champion in the toughest wrestling state in the country, Singer is also a three-time state placer in Pennsylvania. Singer finished seventh as a freshman at 189 before placing fourth and fifth the past two years at 215.

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Jason Singer was a late addition to this class after he and his brother Nick visited the weekend of the Michigan State football game — he flipped from Lehigh shortly after that. One of the top prospects in the 2027 class, Nick Singer had Nebraska in his final list but ultimately picked Ohio State — the Buckeyes just won the inaugural National Duals Invitational in dominant fashion. I do believe that Nebraska still has a shot at flipping Nick with Jason heading to campus, but it won’t be easy.

As for rankings, Jason Singer is ranked nationally in both prominent 2026 Big Boards — #54 overall by MatScouts and #73 by FloWrestling. He’s a legitimate upper-weight prospect who will arrive battle-tested.

Nebraska will be in major need next season at 184 with All-American Silas Allred set to graduate after this season. It’s possible that Christopher Minto or Ty Eise moves up to 184 next year, but if they don’t Singer could see the mat early and often.

Noah Bull

157 pounds

Nebraska’s first commit for this class — out of Layton, Utah — Noah Bull was a top recruit in this class who looked to be on the ascent, but he suffered a shoulder injury this past spring at the U17 US Open in the semifinal round that’s kept him out the entire summer. Bull defaulted early in a scoreless match to Arseni Kikiniou who went on to win the Open and represented Team USA at the U17 World Championships — Kikiniou is a Husker target for the 2027 class.

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As for his rankings, Bull comes in nationally in the class of 2026 at #73 by MatScouts and #79 by Flo. Before his injury, he was consistently ranked nationally at 144 and 150 pounds.

A two-time state champion in Utah’s 6A class, Bull will be going for his third this season as he returns from injury.

In 2024, Bull burst on the scene with a 16U Fargo National Championship in freestyle at 144 pounds — he finished third in Greco that same weekend after a run to the semis. Bull also won a Folkstyle National Title that year at 144. He then placed seventh at Ironman — the nation’s toughest in-season folkstyle tournament.

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A serious middleweight prospect for Nebraska, Bull will add a lot of depth to a room that’ll need it — he’ll also be a lead candidate to take over for NCAA Champion Antrell Taylor at 157 after he graduates.

Elijah Collick

133 pounds

The newest commit to this class — he pledged in late November — Elijah Collick may end up being the best of the bunch.

A three-time state champion out of Maryland’s Stephen Decatur High School, Collick really put himself on the national radar this fall when he placed fourth at Super 32 at 126 pounds — he wrestled a tough 4-1 decision loss to #1 Antonio Mills (an Ohio State signee) in the quarterfinal round.

Collick is currently ranked #10 in the country at 126 pounds and comes in at #80 on the FloWrestling Big Board for 2026.

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Collick projects at 133 pounds for the Huskers, but I could also see him go 125 to start his career if he’s needed there as a true freshman.

Mason Petersen

165 pounds

Nebraska isn’t putting all of its middle-weight eggs in the Noah Bull basket — that will be a theme going forward in this recruiting class breakdown — Nebraska also signed in-state stud Mason Petersen there.

One of the best recruits in the state, Petersen is a two-time Class A state champion out of Columbus and has solid results nationally as well — he went 51-1 as a junior at 150 pounds before pinning his way through the state tournament.

Just this year, Petersen placed seventh at Fargo in the U20 Greco division, he took 6th place at Super 32 at 150 after making the semifinal round, and he went 14-0 in both freestyle and Greco at National Duals. He’s also a two-time Fall Brawl champion and has finished third at Preseason Nationals twice.

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As for his ranking nationally, Petersen comes in at #114 on MatScout’s 2026 Big Board.

Notably, back in 2023, Petersen beat Bull in Greco at the 16U Freestyle Nationals. He also beat fellow Husker signee Nolan Fellers (see his bio below) 13-6 at Iowa Wrestling’s Night of Conflict on Oct. 10.

According to Manning, he expects Petersen to end up at 165 pounds for the Huskers.

Davis Parrow

149 pounds

Out of Farmington, Minn., Davis Parrow is going into his senior season as a former 2024 state champion and a three-time state finalist in Minnesota’s largest class AAA. As an 8th grader, Parrow made the state final at 106 pounds before placing third as a freshman at 126. As a sophomore, Parrow won his state title with a 50-1 record on the year at 139. This past year, Parrow went 44-2 but fell in the state final.

In 2024, Parrow was a double All-American at Fargo Nationals — he placed third in both freestyle and Greco in the 16U division. This year, Parrow went 3-2 at Super 32 at 150 pounds and went 9-0 at National Duals.

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As for his national rankings, Parrow comes in at #146 in the 2026 class by MatScouts. He’s currently ranked #18 nationally at 150 pounds by Flo.

According to Manning, Parrow projects at 149 for the Huskers.

Nolan Fellers

165 pounds

Another middleweight prospect for Nebraska here is Nolan Fellers, a three-time placer in Iowa from Bondurant-Farrar — he’s placed third each of the past three season at 138, 150 and 157.

In 2025, Fellers went 4-2 at Super 32 after going 3-2 at Fargo — both at 157 pounds. At National Duals, he went 6-2 overall.

In 2024, Fellers went 6-1 at National Duals and placed third at the Dan Gable Donnybrook. Fellers was a 16U Fargo finalist in Greco, and he placed third at Folkstyle Nationals.

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A guy who’s already been up at 157 with a year left of high school, Fellers could be a 165 or even a 174-pounder in college, so I expect him to start at 165.

Zaiyahn Ornelas

133 pounds

One of the best prospects in the state of Nebraska the past few years, Zaiyahn Ornelas committed to Nebraska in late October after visiting during the wrestle-offs.

An undefeated three-time state champion for Wilber-Clatonia in Class C — he went 49-0 as a junior and didn’t give up a single offensive point — Ornelas has since transferred to Class A Creighton Prep for his senior season where he will put his undefeated (121-0) high school record on the line against a much tougher schedule. At the state tournament as a junior, Ornelas teched his way through the bracket, outscoring his opponents 65-0.

Nationally, Ornelas has certainly held his own. In Greco, Ornelas was a Fargo 16U finalist in 2024 and placed 7th (2024) and 8th (2025) the past two years in freestyle. In 2023, he placed third at the U17 US Open and 7th at the U17 World Team Trials.

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This summer, Ornelas went 4-2 at Super 32 and won a title at Fall Brawl.

I’ll be really interested how Ornelas handles a Class A schedule this year after three years in Class C — Prep hits a lot of national and regional competition as well. He’s still arguably the top wrestler in the state, but the uptick in competition will be something to monitor this season.

In addition to wrestling, Ornelas trains boxing out of the B&B Academy in Omaha that’s run by three-weight undisputed World Champion Bud Crawford — maybe there’s even an MMA career in his future.

As for his lineup fit, he’s an obvious 133-pounder for Nebraska. He’ll likely redshirt during All-American Jacob Van Dee’s senior season and contend for a starting spot in 2027.

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Tad Forsyth

197 pounds

A guy who this Husker staff got to know when he attended their camp this summer, Forsyth was a Kansas state champion this past season as a junior at 175 pounds.

Out of Blue Valley Southwest High School, Forsyth also placed third at state as a sophomore at 175 and fourth as a freshman at 165.

This offseason, Forsyth went 3-2 at Super 32 and made it to the finals at Fall Brawl — he dropped that final 2-1 to Creighton Prep’s JT Smith, the top-rated 190-pounder in the state of Nebraska. A 2027 recruit, Smith has not made his college commitment and could certainly be the next in-state Husker target.

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A future 197-pounder in Lincoln, Forsyth is a guy that Manning loves and figures to be at the very least a valuable training partner in the room who helps make everyone else better. He’ll definitely be in the conversation to start after All-American Camden McDanel graduates — McDanel is a sophomore this season, so that’s not until 2028.

Niko Rotella

165 pounds

One of Nebraska’s first commits to this class, Rotella will add some depth for the Huskers — likely at 165 or 174 pounds.

A Class B state finalist this past year for Omaha Skutt, Rotella scored bonus points every match before the state final where he fell to four-time champ Kyler Lauridsen of Bennington 8-5, the younger brother of Nebraska redshirt freshman Kael Lauridsen.

Nebraska loses Jagger Condomitti after this season at 165 pounds, leaving LJ Araujo as the only returning guy at this weight next season. Rotella will jump into a weight class that needs more training partners.

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My Read On Things

I will say that Nebraska really swung for the fences with some big-time prospects in this class but were unable to land any of them. As long as I’ve been following Nebraska wrestling, I haven’t seen this many top prospects including Nebraska as a finalist — they were considered the heavy favorite in the end for the #2 Big Board prospect Bo Bassett before he chose Virginia Tech instead. Nebraska also came down to the end with #1 Jax Forrest (Bassett’s teammate), #5 Jordyn Raney and #6 Jayden Raney — all three chose Oklahoma State. Then there were #8 Antonio Mills, #9 Moses Mendoza, #15 Kellen Wolbert, #16 Aaron Stewart, #17 Dom Munaretto, #18 Dean Bechtold, and #23 Keanu Dillard — they all came in for official visits and considered Nebraska up until the end.

Despite those top guys choosing other schools, I think Nebraska did a great job of putting together a really solid class — it just lacks the crown jewel piece that past classes have included — like Eise, Cade Ziola, Jake Hockaday and Zinkin a year ago, Araujo in 2024, McDanel in 2023, and Taylor in 2022.

With that said, the main point of emphasis for Nebraska with this class was to add depth and potentially some future starters. This class is split up enough that Nebraska could end up having nine commits spread out between eight different weight classes.

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Nebraska has to re-stock some lower weights with the impending graduations this year of Brock Hardy and Blake Cushing — both at 141 pounds. Jacob Van Dee and Hayden Mills — both at 133 — will be graduating next season. The Huskers added two really solid prospects there in Collick and Ornelas. Collick projects at 125 or 133, while Ornelas projects at 133 but could grow into a 141. The Huskers will need to add a few more bodies from 125-141 in next year’s class as well though.

At 149 pounds, Nebraska will graduate transfer Chance Lamer after this season, so freshman Nikade Zinkin will take that spot over next season — he’s filled in nicely while keeping his redshirt intact during the first semester while Lamer is ineligible. Beyond Zinkin though, Nebraska isn’t deep here, so Parrow will be a nice addition to the room.

Both Antrell Taylor and Dez Gartrell at 157 will graduate in 2027, so Nebraska needs both a future starter and the added depth there. Bull figures to redshirt next season then be first in line to start after Taylor graduates. The Huskers also have Mac Crosson (ranked #86 on the 2027 Big Board) coming in the following year at this weight.

As I mentioned, Araujo will be Nebraska’s only returning wrestler at 165 pounds next year with backup Jagger Condomitti graduating this season, so the addition of both Petersen and Fellers there injects some depth and quality training partners while they redshirt next season.

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At 184, Singer could be an immediate starter when he arrives on campus — barring a move up by either Minto or Eise. He was a great late addition to this class.

As is typically the case, Nebraska has already filled most of its upcoming roster holes with its previous classes — the Huskers largely have heirs apparent waiting in the wings — so they have the luxury of being able to redshirt this entire class next season just like they’re currently doing with its elite 2025 class.

The most likely guy to take the mat for Nebraska as a true freshman would be Singer at 184 if neither Minto or Eise don’t move up, although I fully expect Minto to move up again next season to both replace Allred and open up a spot at 174 for the uber talented Eise who will be coming off redshirt.

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