Husker Wrestling Finishes Second at Cliff Keen
The Nebraska wrestling team claimed second at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, which concluded with final bouts on Saturday. The Big Red finished with 115 points, among the 30 programs competing at the tournament. Antrell Taylor (157) claimed his first Cliff Keen title, after winning his top-10 matchup in the final.
The two-day invitational hosted five top-10 teams, including No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 8 South Dakota State and No. 9 Michigan. Three Huskers finished on the podium, matching last season.
Finals:
No. 5 Ridge Lovett went 4-0 to start the tournament, as the reigning champ in the 149 weight class. Lovett tallied two ranked wins and two bonus point wins on his way to the championship match, where he faced No. 1 Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech. The familiar foes were tied at three-all, taking the bout to overtime, where Henson claimed the title with a takedown.
No. 3 Taylor went 5-0, claiming the 157 championship. Taylor took down four ranked opponents, and had a major dec. and pin along the way. Taylor faced No. 6 Ryder Downey of Northern Iowa in the final, where he persevered to a 4-3 victory. Taylor’s Vegas run improved his season record to 12-0.
Third-place Matches:
No. 2 Caleb Smith (125) took his first three matches and suffered his first loss against No. 11 Eddie Ventresca in overtime in the semifinal. Smith took his next match to stay alive, putting him in the consolation semifinals against No. 10 Brendan McCrone. Smith won in overtime, 6-3, but fell in the third-place match to No. 4 Troy Spratley.
No. 4 Brock Hardy (141) opened the tournament with two major decisions. Hardy dropped his semifinal match against No. 10 Tagen Jamison, but bounced back in his final two matches to take third place. The junior sealed his podium finish with a 40-second fall, and improved on his previous sixth-place finish. Hardy’s 4-1 stretch also notched his 70th career win.
No. 20 Bubba Wilson (165) claimed two upsets in his 4-2 run to fourth place. Wilson opened with three wins, including a 6-4 decision over No. 7 Sammy Sasso. The senior fell in overtime in his semifinal match, but took down No. 25 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State) for a spot in the third-place match. For the second time this season, Wilson faced UVU’s No. 4 Terrell Barraclough, and dropped the tight match, 1-0.
Fifth-place Match:
No. 22 Jacob Van Dee (133) had a dominant start, with a pin, major decision and then a 10-4 upset decision over No. 4 Dylan Ragusin. Van Dee fell in the semifinal to No. 12 Zeth Romney, and then to Reece Witcraft in overtime of the consolation semifinal. The sophomore met No. 9 Tyler Knox on the mat for fifth place, and fell by 5-0 decision.
Seventh-place Match:
Harley Andrews (HWT) started his Cliff Keen run in the Round of 16, where he pinned No. 17 Cory Day in 38 seconds. Andrews fell to No. 8 Nick Feldman in the quarterfinals, but took his next match against No. 30 Trevor Tinker in overtime. The sophomore dropped his last two to finish in eighth place.
Consolation:
Lenny Pinto (174) and Camden McDanel (197) were the only Huskers to not place, going 1-2 and 3-2 respectively. Pinto opened with a technical fall in his first match, but then fell to No. 13 Simon Ruiz and No. 21 Jared Simma. McDanel claimed a major decision in the first round, before dropping his match against No. 12 Luke Sarber. The freshman won his next two with bonus points, before falling to No. 17 Joey Novak in his last bout.
Husker History at the Cliff Keen Invite: Nebraska has now competed at the Las Vegas Invitational a total of 29 times, finishing first in 2003, 2008, 2019, 2021 and 2022. The Big Red have placed second seven times: 1992, 1995, 2000, 2004, 2013, 2023 and 2024.
Up Next: NU will return home for a triangular on Friday, Dec. 20. After the neutral match, the Big Red will face Augustana at 6 p.m. (CT), followed by UN-Kearney. Action will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.