The 33rd Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is this Friday and Saturday with eight of the top twenty teams in the country headed down to Sin City for the event. Northern Iowa and #12 Iowa State will both be going down to join the stacked field.
The pre-seeds were announced Tuesday, with UNI earning four and ISU earning six. The four for UNI are Dylan Peters (#3 at 125), Levi Wolfensperger (#8 at 133), Cooper eeoore (#6 at 165) and Blaize Cabell (#8 at 285). ISU’s pre-seeded wrestlers are Earl hall (#5 at 133), Gabe Moreno (#5 at 149), Michael Moreno (#2 at 165), Tanner Weatherman (#3 at 174) Lelund Weatherspoon (#10 at 184) and Kyven Gadson (#2 at 197).
The tournament looks to be a good one, especially at 125, where eleven of the top twenty wrestlers will be competing. This will be the best opportunity for UNI’s Peters to show that he has taken another step competitively and can continue to beat the top wrestlers in the country.
“Las Vegas is going to be a great tournament, a lot of good teams there, a lot of really, really strong individuals,” Head Coach Doug Schwab said of the tournament. “It’s a great opportunity to make yourself known, it’s a great opportunity to put yourself on the national scene right now. Lets start making ourselves a household name and you do that by beating top-ranked guys; beating guys that you’re not supposed to beat. That’s what we need out of this program.”
That is the theme with all of the Panthers this weekend and this season: taking the next step. While this group of Panthers have been good, they have yet to be great and that’s the opportunity that wrestling in big tournaments such as this one provides.
Levi Wolfensperger looks to get on the right track after a loss to Purdue’s Danny Sabatello. Cooper Moore at 165 is continuing to build after an early season setback. Blaize Cabell has looked good against some decent competition, but he’ll get some tougher guys this weekend as well.
Cody Caldwell, who is out with an injury from the opening tournament of the year, would probably be seeded at 184 if he was healthy, but he will be out for most of December. Curt Maas has just entered a poll today for the first time all year (The Open Mat, #16) and may end up having a big showing this weekend as well.
It is going to take aggressive, smart wrestling for UNI to do well this weekend. Their ranked wrestlers are right there, but can they take that next step? And there are still issues revolving around 141-157. Pick up two or three wins each at those weights and it is a successful weekend for those guys.
For Iowa State the goal will be to wrestle to their seeds. With five wrestlers pre-seeded in the top 5 wrestling to their seed will ensure them a very good finish on the day. ISU is making improvements over years past and this would be another step in the right direction. If Weatherspoon can score an upset or two on the guys above him, and if Dante Rodriguez (141) and Kyle Larson (125) can score two or three wins on the day, it will have been a great showing for ISU.
The event could also pit two sets of #1 vs #2 ranked wrestlers at 157 in Dylan Ness (Minnesota) and James Green (Nebraska) and at 174 in Logan Storley (Minnesota) and Robert Kokesh (Nebraska). ISU’s Gadson (ranked number three) could also face off against number one Scott Schiller from Minnesota.
A full schedule can be found below, as well as a complete list of schools participating in the event. All rankings are either the pre-seeds or FloWrestling’s unless otherwise noted. FloWrestling will also broadcast the event live.
Friday (all times are in MDT):
9:00am: Pigtail Round, Round 1, Round 2, Consolation Pigtails & Consolation Round 1
6:00pm: Quarter Finals & Consolation Round 2 & 3
Saturday:
9:00am: Consolation Round 4
10:00am: Semi-Finals and Consolation Round 5, Consolation Semi Finals, Consolation Finals (5th/6th, 7th/8th)
3:00pm: Championship Finals: 1st Place Match and 3rd Place Match.
Participating Teams:
Air Force
American University
Army
Arizona State University
Boise State University
Brown University
Bucknell
Cal Poly
Cal State Bakersfield
California Baptist University
Citadel
Colorado State University Pueblo
Columbia
Cornell University
Grand Canyon University
Harvard University
Hofstra
Indiana
Iowa State
University of Michigan
Minnesota
Navy
NC State
Nebraska
Nebraska-Kearney
Northern Colorado
Northern Iowa
North Dakota State
North Idaho College
Ohio State University
Oregon State
Rutgers University
San Francisco State University
Utah Valley University
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Western State Colorado University
West Virginia
Western Wyoming
First Round Results for ISU:
125: (Pigtail match) Kyle Larson won 12-1 over Connor Bolling from Nebraska-Kearney
125: Larson lost 7-4 (TB2) Joe DeAngelo from North Carolina State
133: Earl hall won 7-3 over Zachary Shank from Western State Colorado
141: Dante Rodriguez won 13-2 over Anthony Finocchiaro from Brown
149: (Pigtail match) Gabe Moreno won 8-7 over Coleman Hammond from CSU Bakersfield
149: Moreno won 11-0 over Ezekiel Mammals from Western Wyoming College
157: Daniel Woiwor lost 10-3 to Justin Staudenmayer from Brown
165: Michael Moreno won 701 over Ethan Orr from Rutgers
174: Tanner Weatherman won 6-3 over Scott Reilly from Air Force
184: Lelund Weatherspoon won 16-4 over Konner Witt from Air Force
197: Kyven Gadson won by pinfall (1:25) over Brett Dempsey from American
285: Quean Smith won by pinfall (0:15 or 0:11, conflicting reports) over David Dill from California Baptist
Second Round Results for ISU:
133: Hall won 11-9 over Ian Nickell from CSU Bakersfield
141: Rodriguez lost by Tech Fall (2:41, no score listed) to Logan Stieber of Ohio State
149: Moreno won 6-5 in SV over Andrew Mendel of Army
165: Moreno won 4-0 over Ross Renzi of West Virginia
174: Weatherman won 3-2 over Brian Harvey from Army
184: Weatherspoon lost 4-3 to Hayden Zillmer from North Dakota State
197: Gadson won 19-6 over Matt Idelson from Columbia
285: Quean Smith lost by pinfall (3:47) to Adam Coon from Michigan
Third Round Results for ISU
133: Hall lost 9-2 to George DiCamillo from Virginia
149: Moreno won 13-8 in SV over Ken Theobold from Rutgers
165: Moreno won 14-6 over Peyton Walsh from Navy
174: Weatherman won 3-2 over Zach Epperly from Virginia Tech
197: Gadson won 8-3 over Jared Haught from Virginia Tech
First Consolation Round Results for ISU:
125: Larson lost 5-2 to Ronnie Bresser from Oregon State
157: Woiwor won by pinfall over Colton Peppelman from San Francisco State
Second Consolation Round Results for ISU:
141: Rodriguez won 10-6 over Mark Grey from Western Wyoming College
184: Weatherspoon won 4-3 TB2 over Cody Dixon from Boise State
285: Smith won 11-0 over Nate Keeve from Oregon State
Third Consolation Round Results for ISU:
141: Rodriguez lost by TF (5:37, no score listed) to Geo Martinez from Boise State
184: Weatherspoon lost by medical forfeit to Kenny Courts from Ohio State
285: Smith lost 2-0 to Michael Hughes of Hofstra
Iowa State sits in 2nd place after the first day of competition.
2nd Round Results for UNI:
125: Peters won 7-5 over Joe DeAngelo from NC State
165: Cooper Moore won by pinfall (6:20) over Richard Muniz from Brown
285: Cabell won 5-3 over Michael Kroells from Minnesota
3rd Round Results for UNI:
125: Peters won by pinfall (4:36) over Nathan Tomasello from Ohio State
165: Moore won by pinfall (6:20) over Richard Muniz from Brown
HWT: Cabell lost 4-1 to Nick Gwiazdowski (Defending NCAA Champion) from NC State
First Consolation Round Results for UNI:
133: Gual lost 11-6 to Maverick Passaro from Hofstra
141: Hodges lost by pinfall (2:19) to Logan Everett from Army
149: Witte won by pinfall (4:23) over Cole Moseley from American
157: Jensen won 12-4 over David Wesley from Virginia Tech,
174: Maas won 9-4 over Scott Reilly from Air Force
184: Lux lost 5-2 to Sean Pollock from CSU Bakersfield
197: Bartel won 7-1 over Paul Head from California Baptist
Second Consolation Round Results for UNI:
149: Witte won 8-3 over Tyler Booth
157: Jensen won 10-3 over Steve Keogh from North Dakota State
174: Maas lost 3-2 from Phillip Bakuckas from Rutgers
197: Bartel won 11-4 over Derek Thomas from Utah Valley
Third Consolation Round Results for UNI:
149: Witte lost by pinfall (5:27) to Justin Arthur from Nebraska
157: Jensen won 7-4 over Aaron Walker from The Citadel
197: Bartel won 3-2 over Micah Barnes from Nebraska
The Panthers are in 11th place after the first day of competition
First Round Results for UNI:
125: Peters won in OT 8-5
133: Gaul not Levi, he lost 9-8 in TB
141: Hodges lost to Devin Carter
149: Witte lost by fall
157: Jensen lost in pigtails 3-2 to Murphy of Michigan
165: Cooper won by TF
174: Maas lost 3-2
184: Lux lost by MAJ to Gabe Dean in pigtail
197: Bartel lost a close one 2-1
285: Cabel won 8-3
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