Las Vegas, Nev. – Three Huskers made the Cliff Keen Invitational finals, which tied for the most NU wrestlers in the finals since 2013. Six of the ten Huskers who competed at the Cliff Keen Invitational placed in the top seven of their weight class. Three Huskers, Isaiah White (165), Taylor Venz (184) and Eric Schultz (197) all made it to the championship of their weight class.
Isaiah White took home the 165-pound title, while Schultz and Venz both finished in second place. Tyler Berger (157) took third place, winning four-straight consolation bouts after losing his quarterfinal match. Mikey Labriola (174) finished fourth and Zeke Moisey took seventh place.
As a team, Nebraska finished in third place with 105.5 points, its highest finish since the 2013-14 season, when it finished second.
"The team did a good job this weekend," Nebraska Head Coach Mark Manning said. "It's what we train for, a tough tournament against great competition. We had some good performances against some of the best competition."
Semifinals:
Heading into Saturday’s action, four NU wrestlers were set to compete in the semifinals. Isaiah White (165) squared off with the No. 5 ranked wrestler in the country at 165-pounds in Logan Massa of Michigan. A late takedown by White pushed his lead to 6-2, which ended up being the final score in a decision victory. The win was his third of the year against top-20 opponents.
Redshirt freshman Mikey Labriola (174) competed with #3 Myles Amine (MICH) in the semifinals. He dropped a 5-1 decision to Amine, who is a two-time All-American for the Wolverines. Labriola will likely get at least one more chance to battle Amine, as the two could square off at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.
Taylor Venz (184), a redshirt sophomore from Farmington, Minn., continued to roll through the competition at the Cliff Keen Invitational as he edged out #10 Drew Foster of Northern Iowa in an 11-8 decision.
Eric Schultz (197) kept up his outstanding tournament with an 8-6 victory by decision over Greg Bulsak (Clarion) to advance to the championship.
Consolation Bracket:
Zeke Moisey won his first bout of the day against Clarion’s Tyshawn White in the Cons. of 8 (#2), earning an 8-2 decision. He fell in his next match, however, to #7 Drew Mattin of Michigan, 3-1. The loss moved him to the seventh-place match, where Moisey finished out the tournament with a 4-3 decision over #15 Devin Schroder. The senior 125-pounder won four of his six matches this weekend.
After suffering a loss to eventual 157-pound runner-up Griffin Parriott of Purdue in the quarterfinals, two-time All-American Tyler Berger reeled off four straight victories in the consolation bracket on his way to a third-place finish. Berger defeated #10 Ke-Shawn Hayes by the score by decision, 5-3, to finish off a weekend that saw him go 6-1.
After falling in the semifinals, Mikey Labriola’s (174) consolation semifinals opponent, Dylan Lydy (PUR) dropped out in a medical forfeit, moving Labriola to the third-place bout. The Easton, Pa., native was a bit banged up himself and ended up taking a medical forfeit (medical forfeits don’t count as W/L). This resulted in a fourth-place finish for Labriola.
Championship:
Isaiah White (165) battled #14 Mehki Lewis (VT) in the 165-pound championship, grinding out a 2-0 victory to cap a 5-0 weekend. White, who came into the weekend 1-3 overall, was dominant in his five bouts. He defeated three top-20 opponents on the way to his first-place finish.
Taylor Venz (184) dropped his first bout of the weekend against the No. 1 ranked 184-pounder in the country in Ohio State’s Myles Martin. Venz finished the weekend with a 5-1 record and has won ten of his eleven matches on the year. In his five wins this weekend, he had two wins by fall, two tech. falls and one decision.
Eric Schultz fell just short of winning the 197-pound title, dropping an 8-3 decision to #3 Kollin Moore of Ohio State. However, he proved why he should be considered one of the top 197-pounders in the country this weekend, winning each of his first four bouts. One of the top moments of the weekend came in a 5-3 decision victory (sv-1) over #16 Jackson Striggow (MICH) in the Sweet 16.
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational
Nov. 30- Dec. 1, 2018
Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas Convention Center)
Match Results:
125: #9 Zeke Moisey (4-2) – 7th Place
Round of 32: #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB) major dec. Josh Jensen (UVU), 11-3
Round of 16: #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB) dec. Sidney Flores (USAF), 5-2
Quarterfinals: Brent Fleetwood (NDSU) dec. #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB), 10-3
Cons. of 8 (#2): #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB) dec. Tyshawn White (CLAR), 8-2
Cons. of 4: #7 Drew Mattin (MICH) dec. #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB), 3-1
7th Place: #9 Zeke Moisey (NEB) dec. #15 Devin Schroder (PUR), 4-3
133: Christian Miller (0-2) – DNP
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: John Twomey (AF) dec. (sv-1) Christian Miller (NEB), 4-2
Cons. of 16 (#1): Anthony Madrigal (OU) dec. Christian Miller (NEB), 5-0
141: #13 Chad Red Jr. (1-2) – DNP
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: #13 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) dec. Gavin Sutton (NDSU), 8-5
Round of 16: #20 Kanen Storr (MICH) dec. (tb-2) #13 Chad Red Jr. (NEB), 2-1
Cons. of 8 (#1): Taylor Ortz (CLAR) dec. #13 Chad Red Jr. (NEB), 4-2
149: Collin Purinton (3-2) – DNP
Round of 64: Collin Purinton (NEB) dec. Hunter Richard (Cornell), 11-6
Round of 32: Collin Purinton (NEB) dec. John Van Maanen (NDSU), 7-3
Round of 16: #2 Anthony Ashnault (RUT) dec. Collin Purinton (NEB), 8-5
Cons. of 16 (#2): Collin Purinton (NEB) major dec. Brock Wilson (HARV), 13-1
Cons. of 8 (#1): Khristian Olivas (FRES) major dec. Collin Purinton (NEB), 9-1
157: #3 Tyler Berger (6-1) – 3rd Place
Round of 64: BYE
Round of 32: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) major dec. Jarrett Jacques (MIZ), 10-1
Round of 16: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) dec. Jordan Robison (NCU), 8-3
Quarterfinals: Griffin Parriott (PUR) dec. (SV) #3 Tyler Berger (NEB), 4-2
Cons. of 8 (#2): #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) dec. Dom Mandarino (STAN), 10-7
Cons. of 4: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) dec. Eric Barone (ILL), 5-1
Cons. Semifinals: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) dec. Kennedy Monday (UNC), 4-3
3rd Place: #3 Tyler Berger (NEB) dec. #10 Ke-Shawn Hayes (OSU), 5-3
165: #10 Isaiah White (5-0) – 1st Place
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: #10 Isaiah White (NEB) major dec. Joshua McClure (UNC), 16-5
Round of 16: #10 Isaiah White (NEB) dec. Kaleb Romero (OSU), 7-1
Quarterfinals: #10 Isaiah White (NEB) dec. #12 Joey Gunther (ILL), 7-3
Semifinals: #10 Isaiah White (NEB) dec. #5 Logan Massa (MICH), 6-2
Championship: #10 Isaiah White (NEB) dec. #14 Mehki Lewis (VT), 2-0
174: #11 Mikey Labriola (3-1) – 4th Place
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. Lorenzo De La Riva (NDSU), 10-4
Round of 16: #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. Gregg Harvey Jr. (PITT), 7-2
Quarterfinals: #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB) dec. Spencer Carey (NAVY), 6-2
Semifinals: #3 Myles Amine (MICH) dec. #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB), 5-1
Cons. Semifinals: Dylan Lydy (PUR) M. FOR #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB)
3rd Place: #11 Mikey Labriola (NEB) M. FOR #9 Taylor Lujan (UNI)
184: #3 Taylor Venz (5-1) – 2nd Place
Round of 64: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) FALL (0:49) Tyler Wiederholt (USAF)
Round of 32: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) tech. fall Owen Brooks (DRX), 20-2
Round of 16: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) tech. fall Colby Harlan (STAN), 15-0
Quarterfinals: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) FALL (5:29) #13 Nino Bonaccorsi (PITT)
Semifinals: #3 Taylor Venz (NEB) dec. #10 Drew Foster (UNI), 11-8
Championship: #1 Myles Martin (OSU) dec. #3 Taylor Venz (NEB), 11-5
197: Eric Schultz (4-1) – 2nd place
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Eric Schultz (NEB) major dec. Austin McNeill (Campbell), 15-4
Round of 16: Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. (sv-1) #16 Jackson Striggow (MICH), 5-3
Quarterfinals: Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. Jay Aiello (UVA), 3-2
Semifinals: Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. Greg Bulsak (CLAR), 8-6
Championship: #3 Kollin Moore (OSU) dec. Eric Schultz (NEB), 8-3
HWT: Patrick Grayson (3-2) DNP
Round of 64: Jacob Aven (PUR) SV-1 Patrick Grayson (NEB), 7-5
Cons. Round of 32 (#2): Patrick Grayson (NEB) dec. Luke Ready (MICH), 3-2
Cons. Round of 16 (#1): Patrick Grayson (NEB) dec. Thomas Ott (NAVY), 3-0
Cons. Round of 16 (#2): Patrick Grayson (NEB) major dec. Christian Colucci (RUT), 9-1
Cons. Round of 8 (#1): #20 Zach Elam (MIZ) dec. Patrick Grayson (NEB), 2-1