Michigan
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Four Semifinalists Pace U-M Effort at Cliff Keen Invitational
12/3/2021 11:47:00 PM | Wrestling
» Michigan sits in fourth place in the team standings with 51 points after the first day at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational; Nebraska leads the team race with 79.5 points.
» Jack Medley (125 pounds), Dylan Ragusin (133), Cameron Amine (165) and Patrick Brucki (197) all advanced to the semifinals.
» Cole Mattin (141), Will Lewan (157) and Max Maylor (174) also are alive in the wrestlebacks.
Site: Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas Convention Center)
Event: Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Day 1 of 2)
U-M Team Standing: 4th Place of 26 Teams (51 points) after Day 1
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Dec. 4 -- at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - Day 2 (Las Vegas, Nev.), 9 a.m. PST
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team advanced four into the championship semifinal round to headline the first day of competition at the 39th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday (Dec. 3) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. With three additional Wolverines still alive in the consolation bracket, U-M sits in fourth place in the team standings with 51 points.
The Wolverines went 4-for-5 in the quarterfinal round with fifth-year senior Jack Medley (125 pounds), sophomore/freshman Dylan Ragusin (133), junior/sophomore Cameron Amine (165) and graduate student Patrick Brucki (197) all pushing through to the semifinal round.
Medley, ranked 16th in the latest InterMat poll, earned a 6-3 decision over Columbia's 17th-ranked Joe Manchio in the quarterfinals -- his second win over the Lion wrestler in two weeks. Medley scored two takedowns, striking first out of a scramble midway through the opening period before adding a late double leg in the second. Medley went 3-0 on the day and picked up bonus points with an 18-3 technical fall against Nebraska's Jeremiah Reno in the second round behind four takedowns and eight back points.
Ragusin, ranked 16th nationally, cruised to a 16-1 technical fall against Navy's Josh Koderhandt in the 133-pound quarterfinals. He broke it open early with a six-point, feet-to-back single leg less than a minute into the bout and posted 10 total back points before ending it at the 4:43 mark with another single-leg takedown.
Amine, ranked 10th, finished on a single leg in the waning seconds of the sudden-victory period to defeat Harvard's 12th-ranked Philip Conigliaro, 3-1, in the 165-pound quarterfinals. Amine pushed the pace all match and drew a stall warning but not two. He shot in on the single with 30 seconds on the clock, made a couple adjustments on the edge of the mat and finished with just six seconds remaining.
Brucki, ranked eighth at 197 pounds, scored three takedowns and was in control from start to finish in an 8-5 decision against Ohio State's Gavin Hoffman in the quarterfinals. He cut Hoffman loose to pursue bonus but gave up a takedown out of a scramble late in the second to narrow the score. Brucki earned bonus points in both of his preliminary bouts, including 13-3 major decision against Minnesota's Michial Foy in the second round. He overcame an early deficit in the match, scoring takedowns late in the first and second periods before breaking it open with a six-point pancake on the edge in the third.
The Wolverines also have three alive in the wrestlebacks. Junior/sophomore Will Lewan, ranked 15th at 157 pounds, dropped a 6-3 decision to Princeton's fifth-ranked Quincy Monday in the quarterfinals on takedowns in the first and second periods. Lewan opened the day with a 3-1 decision over Ohio State's Bryce Hepner, finishing on a single leg in the final five seconds of the second period to provide the difference.
Junior/sophomore Cole Mattin and senior/junior Max Maylor also bounced back from early losses with wrestleback wins at 141 and 174 pounds, respectively. Mattin used a leg turk to score a first-period pin (2:44) against Binghamton's Michael Zarif in his final bout of the day.
Maylor closed out the day with back-to-back third-period comebacks. He scored two takedowns in the last 90 seconds against Princeton's Michael Squires, countering a single leg for the latter and splitting the legs to tack on two back points late for the go-ahead points in an 11-10 decision. He then defeated CSU Bakersfield's Albert Urias, 4-3, in the evening session. After giving up the go-ahead takedown midway through the third, Maylor escaped then finished on a single on the edge with six seconds on the clock.
Michigan will return to action Saturday (Dec. 4) for the second and final day of competition at the 2021 Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. U-M will hit the mat at 9 a.m. PST for the semifinals and continued wrestleback rounds, while the championships finals are slated for a 3 p.m. PST start. All matches will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Top 10 Teams (After Day 1)
1. Nebraska         79.5 2. Ohio State       71 3. Purdue           53 4. Michigan         51 5. Northwestern     44.5 6. Oregon State     44 7. Wyoming          43 8. Cornell          38.5 9. Cal Poly         35 10. Oklahoma         30.5
Michigan Results (Day 1)
Numbers listed are tournament seeds
125 Pounds -- Jack Medley
First Round - dec. Joshua Portillo (Nebraska Kearney), 6-1
Second Round - tech. fall Jeremiah Reno (Nebraska), 18-3 (7:00)
Quarterfinals - dec. #5 Joe Manchio (Columbia), 6-3
Semifinals - vs. #1 Patrick Glory (Princeton)
133 Pounds -- #3 Dylan Ragusin
First Round - Bye
Second Round - dec. Dominic LaJoie (Cornell), 10-4
Quarterfinals - tech. fall Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 16-1 (4:43)
Semifinals - vs. #7 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley)
141 Pounds -- Cole Mattin
First Round - dec. Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern), 3-2
Second Round - dec. by #4 Grant Willits (Oregon State), 6-1
Consolations - dec. Zack Zeamer (Oklahoma), 6-2
Consolations - pinned Michael Zarif (Binghamton), 2:44
Consolations - vs. #7 Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly)
149 Pounds -- #8 Kanen Storr
First Round - Bye
Second Round - injury def. by #9 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota), 2:31
Withdrew with a 0-1 record
157 Pounds -- #7 Will Lewan
First Round - Bye
Second Round - dec. #10 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State), 3-1
Quarterfinals - dec. by #2 Quincy Monday (Princeton), 6-3
Consolations - vs. Charles Darracott (Stanford)
165 Pounds -- #4 Cameron Amine
First Round - dec. Clayton Wilson (Nebraska), 5-3
Second Round - major dec. Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart), 10-2
Quarterfinals - dec. #5 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 3-1 SV
Semifinals - vs. #1 Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
174 Pounds -- Max Maylor
First Round - dec. Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia), 7-5
Second Round - tech. fall by #2 Ethan Smith (Ohio State), 26-9 (6:52)
Consolations - dec. Michael Squires (Princeton), 11-10
Consolations - dec. Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield), 4-3
Consolations - vs. #4 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming)
197 Pounds -- #2 Patrick Brucki
First Round - pinned Mateo Morales (CSU Baksersfield), 4:14
Second Round - major dec. #15 Michial Foy (Minnesota), 13-3
Quarterfinals - dec. #10 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State), 8-5
Semifinals - vs. #3 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming)
Heavyweight -- Blake Querio
First Round - dec. by #2 Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 6-0
Consolations - pinned by Lee Herrington (Nebraska Kearney), 2:02
Eliminated with a 0-2 record
Players Mentioned
