Malcolm X was born there, as was dancer extraordinaire Fred Astaire and actor Marlon Brando. Warren Buffet, one of the world’s richest men, makes his home in this county seat of Douglas County, Neb. and it boasts Henry Doorly Zoo, one of the premier zoos in the world, complete with an indoor swamp, desert and rainforest. But this weekend Omaha, Neb. will host another of what some (potentially) might argue is currently one the country’s top attractions — in NCAA athletics, that is — the Division I wrestling championships. Ranked No. 3 in the nation, the Red will open the championships this morning at 11 a.m., with eight Cornell athletes set to attempt to overshadow even the acclaimed indoor swamp.

Wrestling has certainly flooded this city, home to just under 440,000 citizens. “It’s all wrestling people,” said senior Troy Nickerson. “You can just tell. They’ve all got their school colors on. The girl to guy ratio is really offset. Everyone’s really excited.”

Five Cornell wrestlers are seeded in the top seven of their respective weight classes, with junior Mack Lewnes and freshman Kyle Dake holding the top spots at 174 and 141, respectively. The two swept the Ivy year-end honors this season as well, with Lewnes earning Ivy League MVP — for the second-straight season — and Dake bringing home the hardware for Ivy Rookie of the Year. Four All-Americans will be returning to the championship event for the Red, including last year’s national champion at 125 pounds, Nickerson, seeded No. 2 this year due in part to an injury forfeit earlier in the season.Omaha: welcome to the jungle: Junior Mack Lewnes hopes to continue his dominance at Nationals today. - By: Matt Hintsa

Nickerson will be coming into the championships with a 16-0 Ivy duals career record, while junior Mike Grey is 15-0. Lewnes has been perfect in 11 matches, and sophomore Cam Simaz is 10-0. Both Lewnes and Nickerson also sport impressive winning percentages — both are tied for second on the Cornell all-time list with 93.8 percent.

Rounding out Cornell’s roster will be Grey, No. 7, wrestling at 133 pounds, unranked junior Justin Kerber wrestling at 165 pounds, senior Steve Bosak wrestling at 184 pounds, No. 4 Simaz, wrestling at 197 pounds, and senior Josh Arnone holding down the fort in the heavyweight class.

For the past few days the team has been working out in the Quest Center, where the matches will take place. “It’s nice to finally get in the arena,” Nickerson said. “You can finally say, ‘it’s go time’.”

As it stands, the Cornell program enters this year’s championships following its eighth-straight Ivy title and fourth-straight EIWA Regionals title. Head coach Rob Koll, in his 17th year with the program, has amassed an impressive 198-73-5 overall duals meet record, with 11 total Ivy League titles.

To put the Red’s recent past into perspective, Cornell has placed in the Top-10 as a team at the NCAA championships in five of the past seven seasons.

“I think that the team is feeling really well,” Nickerson said. “Everyone is healthy, which is really good. Hopefully, if everyone does his part, we should be right in there.”

While Iowa enters the tournament as the overwhelming favorite, the Red has seen its fortunes steadily rise throughout the season — a season where it had been ranked as low as No. 7. Key match-ups for the Red will doubtless occur in the quarterfinals, semifinals and title matches, when the Red’s top-ranked wrestlers will, if they advance, be matched up against the best Iowa has to offer.

But the team morale remains high, according to Nickerson, with the team completely focused on what they has to do in the next three days.

“I think everyone knows we compete the best at the end of the year,” he said.