Ohio State
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Buckeyes Stretch Vegas Heater to Three Straight Years
12/1/2018 10:22:24 PM | General, Wrestling
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Ohio State raked in its third consecutive Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship, creating 32.5 points worth of separation between their first-place total of 148 points and second place Missouri’s 115.5 tallies. Three Buckeyes were crowned individual champions: Joey McKenna (141 lbs), Myles Martin (184 lbs) and Kollin Moore (197 lbs).
in a row for the Buckeyes out in Vegas!
2016
2017
2018Ohio State clears the field by a whopping 32.5 points#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/yU1X4KuBS1
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) December 2, 2018
BUCKEYE BITS
Third straight CKLV team title
Myles Martin named event’s Most Outstanding Wrestler
3 individual champions
7 placers
38-11 (.776) overall record
16-6 mark (.727) vs. nationally-ranked opponents
13 major decisions
4 pins
3 tech falls
Sixth CKLV team title since 2009 (2009, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18)
Eighth straight CKLV Top-5 finish
Martin, McKenna and Moore all earned their second career CKLV title. McKenna did not compete last season, but won the premier event as a Stanford sophomore in 2016 while Martin and Moore are back-to-back winners (2017-18).
McKenna opened competition in the “pigtail” round, majoring Rutgers’ Peter Lipari, 12-4. He then added more bonus points in an 18-2 tech fall over Garrett Lambert of Hofstra. McKenna would then go on to record four decisions in a row, including wins over No. 15 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), No. 11 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) and No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri).
Joey McKenna stays solid and rolls past Jaydin Eierman to win 6-2 and pick up the 141 CKLV title. pic.twitter.com/xDLXTKHSfr
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) December 1, 2018
Martin was fortunate to avoid the pigtails and immediately began a bonus point barrage en route to the finals. He surrounded a pin with three major decisions to set up a title bout against No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska). Martin wasn’t far off from his third major, besting Venz 11-5.
Absolutely beautiful. Myles Martin dominates his way to another CKLV title. pic.twitter.com/ouJzhbejYt
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) December 2, 2018
Moore mirrored McKenna’s trek to the trophy, launching off via a pigtail major decision, and rattling off six straight triumphs for the hardware. He posted wins over No. 10 Christian Brunner (Purdue) and No. 18 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) to cap off the podium topping performance.
Kollin Moore wins his second CKLV title and gives Ohio State back to back champs. pic.twitter.com/q0CNC9BPkR
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) December 2, 2018
Micah Jordan finished as the 149-pound runner-up, going 5-1 over the weekend. It marks Jordan’s fourth finals appearances in as many CKLV events. He placed first in 2015 and 2016. In ’18, Jordan majored No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) to claim his finals spot and nearly mounted an epic comeback in the finals. Trailing 10-0 to third-ranked Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), Jordan stormed back to pull within four at a final ledger of 14-10.
Luke Pletcher and Chase Singletary joined the aforementioned OSU wrestlers in the semifinals. Following a loss there, Pletcher ended on a high note by getting past No. 13 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) and No. 7 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) to earn third place at 133 pounds.
Singletary emerged on the national stage. Despite a 9-0 start entering the event, he was not nationally-ranked nor seeded for the tournament. He first made folks take notice by knocking off No. 9 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) in the round of 16. He doubled down in the quarterfinals, sticking 13th-ranked Matt Stencel of Central Michigan late in the second period. Facing his third Top-15 opponent in a row, Singletary dropped his first bout of the season and eventually took a medical forfeit to ultimately place sixth.
Ke-Shawn Hayes found much success as well, winning five of seven bouts to place fourth in the 157-pound division. He suffered an unexpected early loss, but responded by cruising through the wrestlebacks. His 7-5 decision over No. 10 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) pushed him into the third-place match.
COMPLETE RESULTS (brackets & team standings)
125 LBS
Rd. 1 | Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State) def. Brakan Mead (Ohio State) | MD, 8-0
WB Rd. 1 | Brakan Mead (Ohio State) def. Korbin Meink (Campbell) | D, 4-1
WB Rd. 2 | Nolan Hellickson (Harvard) def. Brakan Mead (Ohio State) | PIN, 3:45
133 LBS
Rd. 1 | No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) def. Anthony Le (Stanford) | PIN, 2:51
Rd. of 16 | No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) def. Kegan Calkins (Oregon State) | MD, 15-5
Quarterfinals | No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) def. Chas Tucker (Cornell) | D, 4-3
Semifinals | No. 17 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) def. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) | D, 2-1
WB Semifinals | No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) def. No. 13 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) | SV1, 3-1
3rd-Place Match | No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) def. No. 7 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) | D, 5-4
141 LBS
Pigtail | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. Peter Lipari (Rutgers) | MD, 12-4
Rd. 1 | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. Garrett Lambert (Hofstra) | TF, 18-2
Rd. of 16 | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. Austin Headlee (North Carolina) | D, 4-1
Quarterfinals | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. No. 15 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) | D, 8-3
Semifinals | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. No. 11 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) | D, 8-1
Finals | No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) def. No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) | D, 6-2
149 LBS
Rd. 1 | No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) def. Matthew Ontiveros (Utah Valley) | TF, 22-7
Rd. of 16 | No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) def. Requir van der Merwe (Stanford) | D, 10-4
Quarterfinals | No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) def. No. 10 Austin O’Conner (North Caorlina) | D, 7-3
Semifinals | No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) def. No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) | MD, 19-6
Finals | No. 3 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) def. No. 2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) | D, 14-10
157 LBS
Rd. 1 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) def. Dom Mandarino (Stanford) | TF, 18-1
Rd. of 16 | Eric Barone (Illinois) def. No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) | D, 2-1
WB Rd. 2 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) def. Jakob Brindley (Cornell) | D, 7-1
WB Rd. 3 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) def. Dewey Krueger (Wyoming) | MD, 12-3
WB Rd. 4 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) def. No. 17 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) | MD, 12-3
WB Semifinals | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) def. No. 10 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) | D, 7-5
3rd-Place Match | No. 4 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) def. No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) | D, 6-3
165 LBS
Rd. 1 | Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) def. Cameron Pine (Campbell) | MD, 11-2
Rd. of 16 | No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska) def. Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) | D, 7-1
*Romero withdrew from the tournament
174 LBS
Rd. 1 | No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) def. Ethan Smith (Ohio State) | D, 6-1
WB Rd. 1 | Ethan Smith (Ohio State) def. Conner Allshouse (American) | MD, 18-9
WB Rd. 2 | Rico Stormer (Stanford) def. Ethan Smith (Ohio State) | D, 10-5
184 LBS
Rd. 1 | No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) def. Tanner Harvey (American) | MD, 20-7
Rd. of 16 | No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) def. Trey Rogers (Hofstra) | PIN, 2:25
Quarterfinals | No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) def. No. 16 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) | MD, 13-3
Semifinals | No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) def. No. 8 Max Dean (Cornell) | MD, 17-7
Finals | No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) def. No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) | D, 11-5
197 LBS
Pigtail | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. Cale Davidson (Wyoming) | MD, 17-5
Rd. 1 | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. Cordell Eaton (North Dakota State) | MD, 12-3
Rd. of 16 | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. Tom Lane (Cal Poly) | D, 13-6
Quarterfinals | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. Ben Honis (Cornell) | D, 7-2
Semifinals | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. No. 10 Christian Brunner (Purdue) | MD, 22-11
Finals | No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) def. No. 18 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) | D, 8-3
HWT
Rd. 1 | Chase Singletary (Ohio State) def. Evan Barger (Highline College) | PIN, 1:43
Rd. of 16 | Chase Singletary (Ohio State) def. No. 9 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) | D, 6-5
Quarterfinals | Chase Singletary (Ohio State) def. No. 13 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) | PIN, 4:33
Semifinals | No. 14 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) def. Chase Singletary (Ohio State) | D, 8-2
WB Semifinals | Zach Elam (Missouri) def. Chase Singletary (Ohio State) | PIN, 3:21
*Singletary was a medical forfeit in the 5th-place match
