Nebraska football standout Nash Hutmacher was a four-time state wrestling champion in high school and has officially joined Nebraska wrestling.
The Polar Bear could be coming to a wrestling mat near you soon.
Nash Hutmacher, the Nebraska football player known as the “Polar Bear” has been practicing with the Nebraska wrestling team and it wasn’t just for fun. Hutcmacher, a four-time state wrestling champion in the state of South Dakota has been added to the Huskers’ official roster at the 285-pound weight class.
That’s the heavyweight division and dropping that much weight — about 45 pounds according to the official Nebraska football roster — would be quite the feat. Matt Rhule said he supports Hutmacher making the move and frankly, after the way he played last season, the Polar Bear can do whatever he wants.
The Polar Bear has a wrestling background
We’ll see if Hutmacher competes in a match. His parents post on social media that makes you believe it could be happening and there are no other heavyweights on the Nebraska wrestling roster.
It should be noted that the Huskers are ranked among the top 10 in the nation and have five wrestlers ranked in the top six of their weight class led by No. 1 Ridge Lovett (according to Intermat rankings).
The Big Ten is essentially the SEC of college wrestling and that’s putting it mildly. Five of the top nine teams in the most recent D1 wrestling rankings reside in the Big Ten, which includes No. 1 Penn State and No. 3 Iowa, as well as No. 7 Nebraska.
It might be worth asking how this could impact Hutmacher as a Nebraska football player. But wrestling translates pretty well. He’d have to put some weight back on, but the leverage and the hand strength you develop in wrestling correlate directly to the defensive line.
As long as Hutmacher can get back to 300-plus pounds by the 2024 season and there is zero reason to doubt him at this point, then I’m all for this. It could help the wrestling team fill a weight class and give Nebraska fans a chance to see Hutcmacher compete in something else, which feels like a win.
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