Iowa State atop team standings, Stanford plays spoiler on day one at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

LAS VEGAS – The tenth-ranked Iowa State Cyclones have stormed to an early lead after day one of the vaunted Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational that featured nearly 140 nationally-ranked wrestlers and 15 teams ranked inside the top 20 of FloWrestling’s Team Tournament Rankings.

Friday’s action on the championship side of the brackets concluded with an explosive set of quarterfinals. The Cyclones boast four semifinalists—Evan Frost at 133 pounds, David Carr at 165 pounds, Will Feldkamp at 184 pounds and Yonger Bastida at Heavyweight—which is tied with Nebraska and Michigan for the most of any team.

As a past NCAA champion and U20 World champion Carr is without question the catalyst for this Iowa State unit. He won two bouts by technical fall to open the day before scoring a 15-3 major decision over No. 8 seed Garrett Thompson of Ohio in the quarterfinals. Carr stands opposite 2023 U23 Freestyle Nationals champion Julian Ramirez of Cornell in one of tomorrow morning’s premier semifinals.

The other NCAA champion entered in the field was Shane Griffith of Michigan, the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds. Unfortunately for the Wolverine faithful, Griffith was upended in the second round by Lorenzo Norman of Stanford, 4-2. Ironically, Griffith earned his NCAA title for the Cardinal in 2021 and holds a pair of degrees from the highly touted academic institution.  

Purdue’s Matt Ramos joined Griffith as the only other No. 1 seed to fall on Friday. The up-and-down start to the Boilermaker’s season continued as he fell by an 8-1 score to No. 9 seed Nico Provo of Stanford in the 125-pound quarterfinals.

One might say Stanford and first-year head coach Chris Ayres had itself a day based on its two upsets of top seeds. However, the crew from Palo Alto wasn’t done there. Stanford 133-pounder Tyler Knox was the only unseeded wrestler of the event to move into the semifinals. Knox downed U20 World silver medalist and No. 6 seed Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State, No. 11 seed Richie Koehler of Rider and No. 14 seed Reece Witcraft of Oklahoma State on his path to the semis.

Just three-of-10 weight classes went chalk with the top four seeds advancing to the semifinal round: 141 pounds, 149 pounds and 165 pounds.

12 athletes who qualified for the semifinals have won at least one medal at an age-group World Championships for Team USA.

In addition to Carr, those who have stood atop a World podium are Wyoming freshman Jore Volk, who won the U20 World Championships in 2022, and Michigan All-American Will Lewan, who was a U17 World champion in 2017.

The 197-pound semifinals feature three age-group World medalists—Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State, Jacob Cardenas of Cornell and Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State. Toss in past U20 World Team member Jaxon Smith of Maryland and one can make the case for this being the toughest weight class of the event. Of note, Hidlay is fresh off a gold medal performance at the Bill Farrell Memorial International where he booked his spot in April’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials at 86 kg.

At 141 pounds, U20 World silver medalist Jesse Mendez of Ohio State and U23 World bronze medalist Brock Hardy of Nebraska will square off in a classic No. 2 versus No. 3 matchup tomorrow morning.

Pending a pair of semifinal wins, fans could see a showdown between U20 World silver medalist Lucas Davison of Michigan and two-time age-group World medalist Yonger Bastida of Iowa State in the Heavyweight finals. Davison made the move to Michigan this year as a graduate transfer after earning NCAA All-America honors for Northwestern. Bastida, a NCAA All-American at 197 pounds previously, won his World medals while competing under the Cuban flag.

2017 U17 World bronze Jacori Teemer of Arizona State at 157 pounds and 2016 U17 World bronze Travis Wittlake of Oregon State at 184 pounds round out the list of age-group World medalists representing in the semifinal round.

Two age-group World medalists remain alive for third place—Bouzakis and Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech at 157 pounds. Bouzakis is a three-time U20 World Team member who made his way to the World finals earlier this year. Andonian was a U20 World bronze medalist in 2021.

Following a promising start that included a dominant, major decision win over Andonian, U17 and U20 World champion Meyer Shapiro of Cornell dropped two-straight bouts after making the 157-pound quarterfinals to finish outside the top eight.

At 88.5 team points Iowa State currently holds a slight 2.5-point lead over second place Ohio State. Nebraska sits within striking distance, six points behind the Cyclones. Cornell and North Carolina State round out the top five teams after day one in Las Vegas.

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational will resume at 10 a.m. (PT) with the semifinals. The championship finals are set for 3 p.m. (PT) at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Real-time results, updated brackets and a live stream of the event are available on Flowrestling.com.

2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

At Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 1-2

Team Standings

1. Iowa State, 88.5

2. Ohio State, 86

3. Nebraska, 82.5

4. Cornell, 73

5. North Carolina State, 72

6. Oregon State, 69

7. Michigan, 67.5

8. Stanford, 65

9. South Dakota State, 57.5

10. Oklahoma State, 50

Semifinal Matchups

125 pounds

No. 9 Nico Provo (Stanford) vs. No. 5 Jore Volk (Wyoming)

No. 3 Brett Ungar (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan)

133 pounds

No. 1 Kai Orine (North Carolina State) vs. No. 13 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State)

US Tyler Knox (Stanford) vs. No. 2 Evan Frost (Iowa State)

141 pounds

No. 1 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) vs. No. 4 Ryan Jack (North Carolina State)

No. 3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs. No. 2 Brock Hardy (Nebraska)

149 pounds

No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska vs. No. 4 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State)

No. 3 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 2 Kyle Parco (Arizona State)

157 pounds

No. 1 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) vs. No. 4 Will Lewan (Michigan)

No. 6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) vs. No. 2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)

165 pounds

No. 1 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. No. 4 Julian Ramirez (Cornell)

No. 3 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 2 Cameron Amine (Michigan)

174 pounds

No. 9 Danny Wask (Navy) vs. No. 4 Travis Wittlake (Oregon State)

No. 3 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) vs. No. 2 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State)

184 pounds

No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska)

No. 14 Sam Wolf (Air Force) vs. No. 7 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State)

197 pounds

No.1. Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) vs. No. 5 Jaxon Smith (Maryland)

No. 3 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) vs. No. 2 Trent Hidlay (North Carolina State)

285 pounds

No. 1 Lucas Davison (Michigan) vs. No. 5 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)

No. 3 Grady Griess (Navy) vs. No. 2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State)

Quarterfinal Results

125 pounds

No. 9 Nico Provo (Stanford) dec. No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue), 8-1

No. 5 Jore Volk (Wyoming) dec. No. 4 Caleb Smith (Nebraska), 4-2

No. 3 Brett Ungar (Cornell) dec. No. 6 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State), 2-1, TB-2

No. 2 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) dec. No. 7 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State), 6-3

133 pounds

No. 1 Kai Orine (North Carolina State) dec. No. 9 Gabe Whisenhunt (Oregon State), 6-4

No. 13 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) maj. dec. No. 5 Domenic Zaccone (Campbell), 14-3

US Tyler Knox (Stanford) dec. No. 14 Reece Witcraft (Oklahoma State), 2-1

No. 2 Evan Frost (Iowa State) maj. dec. US Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), 16-3

141 pounds

No. 1 Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) dec. No. 8 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State), 9-6

No. 4 Ryan Jack (North Carolina State) maj. dec. No. 5 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa), 15-6

No. 3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) tech. fall No. 6 Vince Cornella (Cornell), 18-1

No. 2 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) dec. No. 10 Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), 4-0

149 pounds

No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) dec. No. 9 Quin Kinner (Rider), 13-6

No. 4 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) dec. No. 5 Jackson Arrington (North Carolina State), 9-8

No. 3 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 6 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly), 10-6

No. 2 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec. No. 10 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State), 4-2

157 pounds

No. 1 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) maj. dec. No. 8 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State), 10-0

No. 4 Will Lewan (Michigan) dec. No. 12 Peyten Kellar (Ohio), 5-2, SV-1

No. 6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) dec. No. 14 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell), 8-5

No. 2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) dec. US Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa), 7-2

165 pounds

No. 1 David Carr (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 8 Garrett Thompson (Ohio), 15-3

No. 4 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) fall No. 5 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State), 2:48

No. 3 Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 11 Giano Petrucelli (Air Force), 8-1

No. 2 Cameron Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 10 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton), 4-2

174 pounds

No. 9 Danny Wask (Navy) dec. US Lorenzo Norman (Stanford), 5-0

No. 4 Travis Wittlake (Oregon State) dec. No. 5 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly), 5-4

No. 3 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) maj. dec. No. 6 M.J. Gaitan (Iowa State), 10-2

No. 2 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Austin Murphy (Campbell), 6-0

184 pounds

No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj. dec. No. 8 Gavin Kane (North Carolina), 13-3

No. 5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) dec. No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), 12-10

No. 14 Sam Wolf (Air Force) dec. No. 6 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State), 4-1, SV-1

No. 7 Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) fall No. 2 Trey Munoz (Oregon State), 2:21

197 pounds

No. 1 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) dec. No. 9 Max Shaw (North Carolina), 2-0

No. 5 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) med. for. No. 4 Luke Surber (Oklahoma State), 0:00

No. 3 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) tech. fall No. 6 Silas Allred (Nebraska), 17-1

No. 2 Trent Hidlay (North Carolina State) vs. No. 10 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley), 21-5

285 pounds

No. 1 Lucas Davison (Michigan) maj. dec. No. 8 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech), 11-2

No. 5 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec. No. 4 Owen Trephan (North Carolina State), 2-1

No. 3 Grady Griess (Navy) inj. def. No. 6 Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State), 0:06

No. 2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 7 Nick Feldman (Ohio State), 13-5