Manning excited to welcome Farmer to wrestling team
It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen an athlete take part in football and wrestling at the University of Nebraska.
The last two that come to mind were quarterback Ryan Goodman (2004) and running back Dan Alexander (1996-2000). Goodman came in as a wrestler and was the No. 2 QB for the Huskers in 2004 before transferring to NC State to pursue football full-time despite being a No. 1 ranked national high school wrestler.
Alexander did some limited work with the wrestling team at the end of his Husker career in the heavyweight division. That’s why when NU head coach Mike Riley announced redshirt freshman offensive lineman Tanner Farmer would be joining the wrestling program this winter, it came somewhat as a surprise, because two sport athletes at the Big Ten level are rare.
Nebraska head wrestling coach Mark Manning told HuskerOnline on Tuesday he was excited to bring Farmer into his program, but the former two-time state champion in Illinois still is a long ways away from being competition ready.
"Tanner reached out to me about a little over a month ago and said ‘hey when our season is done would you mind if I came up and worked with you guys,’” Manning said. “I said ‘sure, but have you talked to Coach Riley and Coach (Mike) Cavanaugh?’ He said ‘they think it’s a great idea.’ I think it will just help him to get into better shape and to slim down a little bit.
"I think Coach Riley and Coach Cavanaugh talked to him a lot about it. I talked to him a little bit about it during the season as well because I knew about him in high school and was a little bit involved with him in the recruiting process when he came here. I think they just want to keep him active and with him knowing the sport and even though he’s been away 18 or 24 months from it, he’s just trying to get back into it, but he’s really been doing well the last few practices just getting more accustomed into the sport.
"However just like football is at this level, it’s another jump, especially when you’ve been away from it. He’s just getting his head wrapped around it, but he’s in a lot better shape now than he was when he started coming to practice."
The biggest benefit Manning sees for Farmer is it will help him keep his weight in check. Just the other day he weighed in at 301 pounds after practice, but would have to be at 285 to compete in the heavyweight division. Manning said that won't be an issue for Farmer.
Wrestling will help Farmer stay at a leaner weight, which will help him for football.
“I think it’s really going to help him (in football) being more physical with his hands,” Manning said. “Football is not much different from wrestling, especially form the offensive and defensive linemen perspective. You use your hands and move people with your hands. You move your feet and move your hips – there’s a lot of carryover. We can provide him some help and just keeping him active is a big thing.”
Manning emphasized that Farmer will do everything required by the football team this off-season—running, lifting, etc.
For example the other day he didn’t come to wrestling practice until after 4 pm because he was completing his football duties. Ideally Manning hopes to get Farmer to a point in late January or early February where he’ll get an opportunity to compete in a few matches.
“There’s just so much being thrown at him and he’s not in good enough shape yet,” Manning said. “He’s a lot better though than when he came over a few weeks ago. He needs another good month of training before I put him in an open tournament to compete or I get him some matches. He’s definitely shown some promise the last couple of practices. He’s strong as a bull – he’s really strong.”