STEELE SPORTS

Former Owatonna Huskies wrestler Peyton Robb recently shook up the college wrestling world, beating the defending national champion at 157 pounds in the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ meet against the University of North Carolina.
Robb, a sophomore at Nebraska, defeated Austin O’Connor by points in a 5-2 victory that helped propel Nebraska to a 27-6 team win against the Tarheels.
“It’s almost like so much is going through your mind that nothing is going through your mind at that point. It’s pretty hard to think when you’re that tired. Like after a long, hard-battled match you’ve got the exhaustion. So, I just tried to stay focused in the moment and not give up anything,” said Robb.
According to Robb, everything went as planned and he was able to secure two takedowns while relying on his strong “gas tank” to outwork his opponent.
Robb secured his first two-point takedown right before time expired in the first period on a successful shot at the edge of the out-of-bounds section of the mat.
Robb said that the timing of the takedown worked in his favor as time expired without his opponent having the opportunity to try and escape to earn himself a point.
Leading 2-0 going into the second period, O’Connor chose the bottom in the referee’s position to attempt to earn an escape point and draw closer to Robb’s lead.
After applying some pressure and resistance, O’Connor managed to escape to make the score 2-1, however, Robb said that he felt that he was able to take a good amount of energy from O’Connor which played in his favor.
After the escape, O’Connor followed with a shot of his own that Robb stuffed to negate his opponent the opportunity at two points.
The score remained at 2-1 at the end of the second period.
To begin the third period, Robb chose the bottom in referee’s position to earn an escape point of his own and go up 3-1.
With takedowns earning two points, Robb said that he wanted to ensure that he had a lead that could not be beaten by a single takedown.
He scored another successful takedown on what he described as a “sucker drag” with one minute remaining in the third period.
The takedown moved the score to 5-1 where Robb said he felt like he had “iced” the match as O’Connor would need two takedowns just to tie his score.
One more escape by O’Connor made the match 5-2; the final score when the third period ended.
The emotion poured out of Robb as the referee raised his hand.
However, according to Robb, business was not finished.
“Right after the match I ran off into the tunnel and my coaches made me do a bunch of cardio work right after it like sprints and stuff to build the gas tank up. So, like right after that it wasn’t too much fun, but good for the gas tank,” said Robb.  “After that, I talked with my coaches and they were super pumped up. They reminded me that you have to go into this expecting this every time.”
Ranked at No. 16 in the nation before the match, Robb took on No. 2 Austin O’Connor as an underdog in the biggest wrestling match of Robb’s career.
However, Robb’s victory on the big stage shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have followed his illustrious wrestling career.
A three-time state champion in high school for Owatonna, Robb compiled an overall record of 155-6 over his four years.
Robb took home the state title in 2015, 2016 and 2018, while coming in second place in state in 2017.
After defeating O’Connor, Robb said that his biggest goal is helping get his team to the national championship and earning a trophy.
The win improved Robb’s record to 2-0 on the season, while the Nebraska Cornhuskers as a team improved to 3-0 overall.