2018 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Team Race

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Team Race

Here's what to expect and what to look out for regarding the Cliff Keen Las Vegas team race.

Nov 30, 2018 by Andrew Spey
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Ohio State took the Cliff Keen crown last year. With three champs, the Buckeyes out-pointed runner-up Michigan by 15.5 points. Who will be top dawg of the 2018 tournament? We will investigate. 

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Ohio State took the Cliff Keen crown last year. With three champs, the Buckeyes out-pointed runner-up Michigan by 15.5 points. Who will be top dawg of the 2018 tournament? We will investigate. 

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To project the final team scores, we will look to the preseeds. I'll post them at the bottom of this article so as not to dominate your screen with a giant table. 

Since each weight will have 40+ competitors, we'll have full NCAA style brackets with eight placers. Preseeds get us most of the way there as far as projecting team points, but 24 wrestlers will score at least half a point for advancement, so we need to project a few more placers on our own. 

Don't worry too much about who we placed in those spots between 25th place and the last preseed. It was done in haste (we have deadlines!) and this is all for entertainment purposes only.  

And now, here are the projected team point totals (advancement and placement points only, no bonus points were factored in). 

RANKSCHOOLPOINTS
1Ohio State106
2Nebraska79
3Michigan78.5
4Missouri70.5
5UNI64
6Northwestern61
7Minnesota56
8Rutgers54
9Virginia Tech49
10North Carolina47.5
11Oregon State41.5
12Purdue38
13Illinois37.5
14Cornell37
15Pittsburgh30
16Utah Valley28.5
17Wyoming27
18Drexel24
19Oklahoma20.5
20Stanford20.5
21Virginia20.5
22Clarion14
23Duke14
24ND State13
25Navy12
26Brown10.5
27Central Michigan10.5
28Fresno State8
29Campbell6.5
30Cal State Bakersfield6
31American4.5
32Harvard4
33Hofstra3.5
34Binghamton3
35Air Force2.5
36California Poly2.5
37The Citadel2.5
38N. Colorado1
39Nebraska-Kearney1
40California Baptist0.5
41Highline College0
42Western Wyoming0


Ohio State will start the 2018 CKLV as favorites to repeat as champions, which would be their third in a row, as they edged out Wisconsin by five points in 2016. Missouri, who returns to the CKLV after a two year absence, won in 2015.

Below we'll go weight by weight to see what the pivotal matchups will be with regards to the team race.  

125 Pounds

Michigan needs Drew Mattin to wrestle like he did last year, when he knocked off two All-Americans and placed fourth. If he ends up with the eighth seed, he'll have a very difficult quarterfinal bout with the electric Ronnie Bresser. 

Nebraska will have a lot riding on Zeke Moisey. Injuries may be Moisey's biggest obstacle, but if he's healthy, and preseeds hold, he'll have a winnable quarterfinal match against Virginia's Louie Hayes. 

133 Pounds

It appears Stevan Micic is still nursing a leg injury he picked up wrestling overseas this summer. His health, and points, will be critical for Michigan's team race. 

If Micic doesn't wrestle, it's a big opportunity for Ohio State's Luke Pletcher, who will then be favored to make the finals, where Rutgers' Nick Suriano will likely be waiting.

141 Pounds

Joey McKenna secured the #1 seed, which would be big points for Ohio State. McKenna missed last year's CKLV due to his participation in the 2017 U23 World Championships. Oklahoma's Dom Demas is a dark horse who might be able to upset McKenna in the quarterfinals. Demas is a home run threat from neutral, and a landmine for anyone in the bracket. 

149 Pounds

This is Missouri's chance to make up some ground, as Grant Leeth is in a battle royale with Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault and Ohio State's Micah Jordan for an individual title. 

157 Pounds

This may be one of Ohio State's most vulnerable weight, as Ke-Shawn Hayes will be manning the division for the Buckeyes. Though he is extremely talented, Hayes is also new to 157-pounds. He will have a tough test with the funky Taleb Rahmani of Pittsburgh in the quarters and then a war with two-time All-American Tyler Beger of Nebraska in the semis with critical team points on the line. 

165 Pounds

Logan Massa suffered an injury at last year's CKLV that appeared to linger all season long. He's looked healthy and in rare form so far this season, which is great news for Michigan. This is also a weight where Michigan can pick up big points on Ohio State, as Massa has the top seed and Ohio State will likely go unseeded. 

174 Pounds

Like the previous weight class, Michigan can gain serious ground on their rival at 174. Two-time All-American Myles Amine will be the #1 seed and once again, the Buckeyes will not be favored to finish on the podium. Amine will also benefit from the fact that Virginia Tech's David McFadden will probably not be competing in Vegas, despite being registered and receiving a preseed. 

Amine will still have a tough go in the semis, most likely against Mikey Labriola of Nebraska. It would be a huge team point benefit for the Huskers if the redshirt freshman can pull off the upset. 

184 Pounds

There are six All-Americans in this weight class as well as some serious up and coming young talent, so whoever makes the podium will have earned those team points. Ohio State's Myles Martin headlines the division, and the tournament, as the only national champ registered. Nebraska will be counting on Taylor Venz to do some damage in this loaded bracket, as will Virginia Tech with Zack Zavatsky. 

Venz vs Zavatsky could be a huge semifinal match, but that assumes they both get there, which is no sure thing, as landmines abound at 184. 

197 Pounds

Kollin Moore is heavily favored to win this division, which could cement the team title for the Buckeyes. With Northern Iowa's Jacob Holschlag likely not competing, Moore is the only All-American in the group, which means the next seven places are wide open with team points up for grabs. 

Though only seeded 6th and 7th respectively, Virginia Tech's Tom Sleigh and Michigan Jaackson Triggow could make deep runs in this tournament. 

285 Pounds

Minnesota is counting on, and will likely get, first place and bonus points from their true freshman phenom Gable Steveson. Ohio State, Michigan, and Nebraska are all expected to be absent from the podium, so perhaps Missouri's young Zach Elam can make some noise and pick up some points for the Tigers form the nine seed. 

And now below, please find the table of preseeds along with their corresponding rank.

PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1125Ronnie BresserOregon State3
2125Sebastian RiveraNorthwestern2
3125Sean RussellMinnesota8
4125Louie HayesVirginia6
5125Zeke MoiseyNebraska9
6125Travis PiotrowskiIllinois10
7125Devin SchroderPurdue13
8125Drew MattinMichigan16
9125Gabe TownsellStanford15
10125Jay SchwarmUNI19
11125Cole VernerWyoming20
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1133Stevan MicicMichigan3
2133Nick SurianoRutgers2
3133Luke PletcherOhio State5
4133Ethan LizakMinnesota7
5133John ErnesteMissouri10
6133Montorie BridgesWyoming13
7133Micky PhillippiPittsburgh17
8133Chas TuckerCornellUR
9133Korbin MyersVirginia Tech12
10133Dylan DuncanIllinois11
11133Ben ThorntonPurdueUR
12133Cameron SykoraND State15
13133Colin ValdiviezNorthwestern16
14133Sean NickellCal State Bakersfield18
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1141Joey McKennaOhio State2
2141Jaydin EiermanMissouri3
3141Michael CarrIllinois7
4141Josh AlberUNI11
5141Nicholas GilNavy16
6141Matthew FindlayUtah Valley8
7141Chad RedNebraska10
8141Dom DemasOklahoma15
9141Nate LimmexPurdue18
10141Kanen StorrMichigan19
11141Yahya ThomasNorthwestern20
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1149Anthony AshnaultRutgers3
2149Micah JordanOhio State2
3149Grant LeethMissouri4
4149Max ThomsenUNI6
5149Mitch FinesilverDuke9
6149Brock ZacherlClarion8
7149Austin O'ConnorNorth Carolina10
8149Tommy ThornMinnesota13
9149Ryan BleesVirginia Tech17
10149Josh HeilCampbell University15
11149Russell RohlfingCSU Bakersfield18
12149Jared PrinceNavy20
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1157Tyler BergerNebraska4
2157Ryan DeakinNorthwestern6
3157Kennedy MondayNorth Carolina7
4157Ke-Shawn HayesOhio State5
5157Taleb RahmaniPittsburgh10
6157John Van BrillRutgers20
7157Hunter WillitsOregon State17
8157Griffin ParriottPurdue18
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1165Logan MassaMichigan5
2165Branson AshworthWyoming9
3165Bryce SteiertUNI7
4165Isaiah WhiteNebraska10
5165Joey GuntherIllinois14
6165Connor FlynnMissouri15
7165Mekhi LewisVirginia Tech16
8165Demetrius RomeroUtah Valley13
9165Andrew FogartyND State11
10165Jonathan ViruetBrown19
11165Cam CoyVirginiaUR
12165Jake WentzelPittsburgh18
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1174Myles AmineMichigan3
2174Daniel LewisMissouri4
3174David McFaddenVirginia Tech5
4174Taylor LujanUNI9
5174Mikey LabriolaNebraska11
6174Dylan LydyPurdue15
7174Johnny SebastianNorthwestern13
8174Brandon WomackCornell16
9174Kimball BastianUtah Valley20
10174Matt FinesilverDuke18
11174Devin SkatzkaMinnesotaUR
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1184Myles MartinOhio State1
2184Taylor VenzNebraska3
3184Zack ZavatskyVirginia Tech4
4184Chip NessNorth Carolina9
5184Max DeanCornell8
6184Drew FosterUNI10
7184Nino BonaccorsiPittsburgh13
8184Christian LafragolaBrown18
9184Louie DePrezBinghamton16
10184Jelani EmbreeMichiganNR
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1197Kollin MooreOhio State3
2197Nathan TraxlerStanford8
3197Corey GriegoOregon State12
4197Stephen LoiseauDrexel9
5197Christian BrunnerPurdue10
6197Tom SleighVirginia Tech17
7197Jackson StriggowMichigan16
8197Jake WoodleyOklahoma15
9197Ben HonisCornellUR
10197Eric SchultzNebraska18
11197Zach ChakonisNorthwestern20
PreseedWeightNameSchoolRank
1285Gable StevesonMinnesota3
2285Conan JenningsNorthwestern9
3285Jeramy SweanyCornell11
4285Cory DanielNorth Carolina12
5285Joey GoodhartDrexel19
6285Tate OrndorffUtah Valley15
7285Matt StencelCentral Michigan13
8285AJ NevillsFresno State17
9285Zach ElamMissouriNR