Several notable upsets occur in the opening rounds of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Photo of Owen Webster courtesy of University of Minnesota Athletics

Las Vegas, Nev. – The round of 16 has concluded at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and the quarterfinals are set for later this evening. While all of the No. 1 and 2 seeds are still alive in the brackets, there were still some noteworthy upsets in the opening rounds.

Probably the biggest upset occurred in the 184 pound bracket, where Minnesota’s Owen Webster pinned Cornell’s Ben Darmstadt in a near side cradle in 1:00. Darmstadt did not compete last season, but placed sixth two years ago at 197 pounds and is currently ranked No. 4. Webster was 7-9 last season and did not compete in the post season. He is currently unranked.

Another big upset came at 133 pounds, where Nebraska’s true freshman Ridge Lovett defeated the No. 3 seed Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley, 6-1, in the opening round. LaMont is currently ranked No. 10 in the Flowrestling rankings, while Lovett is unranked.

Also in the 133 pounds bracket, Dylan Koontz of Ohio State defeated the No. 5 seed, Josh Kramer of Arizona State in sudden victory, 8-6. Kramer is currently ranked No. 12, while Quinn Kinner had been the primary starter for Ohio State so far this season and is ranked No. 19.

Another upset in the lightweights came at 125 pounds where unranked Jack Medley of Michigan defeated No. 14 Jakob Camacho of NC State, who was the No. 4 seed, 6-5. In the quarterfinal, Medley will wrestle Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern, who pulled an upset of his own, defeating the No. 5 seed Jacob Schwarm of Northern Iowa. Schwarm is currently ranked No. 15.

At 174 pounds, No. 12 seed Marcus Coleman of Iowa State defeated No. 5 seed Devin Skatzka of Minnesota, 9-6. Skatzka is a returning All-American that placed eighth at the NCAA Tournament last season and is currently ranked No. 9. Coleman was an NCAA qualifier last season that went 1-2 at the tournament. He is currently unranked.

Quarterfinal action will resume at 9:00 pm Eastern Time and can be streamed live on Flowrestling.

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

at Las Vegas, Nev.

Quarterfinal Pairings

125
Jack Mueller (Virginia) vs. Patrick McKee (Minnesota)
Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) vs. Jack Medley (Michigan)
Devin Schroder (Purdue) vs. Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
Alex Thomsen (Nebraska) vs. Alex Mackall (Iowa State)

133
Charles Tucker (Cornell) vs. Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech)
Dylan Koontz (Ohio State) vs. Jarrett Trombley (NC State)
Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs. Louie Hayes (Virginia)
Tim Rooney (Kent State) vs. Montorie Bridges (Wyoming)

141
Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) vs. Cole Mattin (Michigan)
Tariq Wilson (NC State) vs. Chad Red (Nebraska)
Mitch McKee (Minnesota) vs. Ian Parker (Iowa State)
Mitch Moore (Virginia Tech) vs. Dom Demas (Oklahoma)

149
Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) vs. Yahya Thomas (Northwestern)
Brayton Lee (Minnesota) vs. Brock Zacherl (Clarion)
Griffin Parriott (Purdue) vs. Sam Sasso (Ohio State)
Collin Purinton (Nebraska) vs. Jarrett Degen (Iowa State)

157
Hayden Hidlay (NC State) vs. Peyton Robb (Nebraska)
Justin McCoy (Virginia) vs. Kendall Coleman (Purdue)
David Carr (Iowa State) vs. Justin Thomas (Oklahoma)
Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)

165
Isaiah White (Nebraska) vs. Bailee O’Reilly (Minnesota)
Thomas Bullard (NC State) vs. Ethan Smith (Ohio State)
Andrew Fogarty (ND State) vs. Philip Conigliaro (Harvard)
Emil Soehnlen (Purdue) vs. Josh Shields (Arizona State)

174
Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) vs. Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State)
Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) vs. Anthony Valencia (Arizona State)
Dylan Lydy (Purdue) vs. Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma)
Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) vs. Michael Labriola (Nebraska)

184
Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. Sam Colbray (Iowa State)
Taylor Venz (Nebraska) vs. Lou Deprez (Binghamton)
Trent Hidlay (NC State) vs. Owen Webster (Minnesota)
Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) vs. Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa)

197
Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State)
Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) vs. Eric Schultz (Nebraska)
Tanner Sloan (SD State) vs. Jake Woodley (Oklahoma)
Christian Brunner (Purdue) vs. Jay Aiello (Virginia)