Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs won the NCAA title in 2009 at 157 pounds. Larry Slater photo.

PHILADELPHIA – Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs envisioned a much different ending to his college wrestling career.

He had imagined a finish where he would walk on the elevated platform at the 2010 NCAA Championships in nearby Omaha and end his career with a second national title.

But something bad happened along the way.

Burroughs, the 2009 NCAA champion at 157 pounds, suffered a serious knee injury early in the 2009-10 season. He sat and watched while 10 NCAA champions were crowned in the state he competes in last March.

“I was sitting up in the stands last year in Omaha,” Burroughs said Thursday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center. “It was real tough. It was tough to see someone that you had beaten win my weight class. I was hoping and praying I could get my medical redshirt and take care of some unfinished business.”

Burroughs received a medical redshirt and came back with a vengeance for his senior season. He enters the 2011 NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Center with an unbeaten record and the No. 1 seed at 165.

Burroughs is trying to become the first two-time NCAA champion in Nebraska history.

“The deal with Jordan is that he just has to wrestle his match,” Nebraska coach Mark Manning said. “He just has to do what he does best, and go out there and relax and perform. He’s really hungry after missing out on last year. He’s very hungry. We want to make sure he doesn’t get too overly excited and we keep him living in the moment. Jordan’s done a great job of staying focused and he’s wrestling really well right now.”

Burroughs beat returning NCAA champion Andrew Howe of Wisconsin in the Midlands finals in late December. Howe is seeded No. 2 after recently returning from a serious hamstring injury.

“Howe’s a tough kid,” Burroughs said. “I knew he was going to come back. He was going to have to forfeit the rest of this season if he didn’t come back, so it didn’t surprise me when he came back. He’s a real tough kid and did what he had to do to get back.”

Burroughs edged Oklahoma All-American Tyler Caldwell, the No. 3 seed at NCAAs, 2-1 in the Big 12 finals.

“He wrestled a smart match,” he said. “He wrestled a strategic match. Sometimes you have to do what you need to do to keep matches close at the end. That’s what he did. I can’t allow that. I just have to open it up more. I need to push the pace more. I need to score takedowns and look for back points. I can’t let guys hang around and keep it close.” 

Burroughs, from nearby Sicklerville, N.J., is a top prospect in freestyle with goals of making the 2011 World Team and 2012 Olympic Team at 74 kg/163 lbs.

“This could be an amazing year for me,” Burroughs said. “I want to win the NCAA title, and then set my sights on the World Team and win a gold medal there.”

For now, he’s focused on the five matches he has left in his college career.

“I’m very eager and very excited for this tournament,” he said. “I have a lot of family and friends from home who will be here supporting me. I can’t get any closer to home for me. It would be a great way to go out, by winning this again.”