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Wrestling

Green Captures Cliff Keen Crown

Las Vegas, Nev.James Green won the 157-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to lead No. 10 Nebraska to a second-place finish on Saturday.

The Huskers’ 130.5-point total was 24 points behind team champion Oklahoma.

Green opened his day with a 7-5 sudden victory over Michigan’s Brian Murphy in the semifinals. In the finals, Green outlasted No. 12 Brian Realbuto of Cornell, 6-5, to capture the title. Green, the No. 4 wrestler in the country, improves to 13-0 on the season.

Anthony Abidin (141), Jake Sueflohn (149), Robert Kokesh (174) and TJ Dudley (184) each advanced to the finals in their respective weight classes, but fell in the championship bout.

Abidin earned a medical forfeit win over Virginia Tech’s Devin Carter in the semifinals before losing to No. 1 Logan Stieber of Ohio State by a 16-1 technical fall. Sueflohn managed a 7-6 win over No. 7 Eric Grajales of Michigan, but fell by an 8-3 margin to No. 5 Kendric Maple of Oklahoma in the finals.

Kokesh won a 6-0 decision over No. 11 Stephen Doty of Virginia in the semifinals, but lost a 3-2 decision to No. 1 Andrew Howe of Oklahoma. Kokesh suffers his first loss of the season after a 14-0 start.

Dudley defeated No. 18 Benjamin Stroh of Wyoming in the semifinals, 18-9, before losing a 13-3 major decision to No. 12 Gabriel Dean of Cornell in the finals.

Austin Wilson (165) and Colton McCrystal (133) each started the day in the consolation bracket and managed top-eight finishes. After a decision and a pin for Wilson, he fell by a 4-2 margin to Northern Iowa’s Cooper Moore. In the fifth-place match, Wilson bounced back to win a 9-8 decision over Cornell’s Dylan Palacio.

McCrystal opened his day with a 5-2 decision over Rutgers’ Vincent Dellafave before being pinned by No. 18 Rosario Bruno of Michigan. In the seventh-place, McCrystal fell to Navy’s Colton Rasche, 8-5.

At heavyweight, Collin Jensen dropped his lone match of the day to No. 14 Ross Larson of Oklahoma by fall.

Complete brackets and team scores from the Cliff Keen Invitational can be found on Escape Sports at http://openliveresults.escapesports.com/2013-OPEN-Standalone-2013_Cliff_Keen_LV_Invitaional-1386385008.html.

The Huskers return to Nevada in two weeks at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 22. The tournament is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. CT. Nebraska’s next dual is Jan. 3 against Wyoming at the Devaney Center. The matchup is slated for 7 p.m., and will be available on the Big Ten Digital Network.