Michigan
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Wolverines Claim Second Place at CKLV Invitational, Put Five on Podium
12/6/2025 9:36:00 PM | Wrestling
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The University of Michigan wrestling team claimed second place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with five individual placewinners -- four in the top four at their respective weights -- on Saturday (Dec. 6) at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center. It was the Wolverines' highest finish at the annual tournament in eight years.
Redshirt freshman Brock Mantanona was the Wolverines' top performer with a runner-up finish at 184 pounds, improving on his seventh-place showing last season at 165 pounds. Mantanona fell 5-0 to Franklin and Marshall's 12th-ranked James Conway in the championship match. He could not finish on a single in the air in the first period, then gave up a last-second takedown on the edge to fall behind 3-0 after the first. Conway added an escape point and rode out the third to seal the win.
Mantanona, the top seed and ranked seventh nationally, cruised to an 18-5 major decision against Oklahoma's 13th-ranked Brian Soldano in the morning semifinals. The Wolverine freshman scored four takedowns, including two in the third period and one at the final buzzer, and a four-point cradle in the first. Mantanona is 9-2 on the season with four ranked wins and five bonus wins.
The Wolverines went 8-1 in the morning session with eight bonus wins to surge back from fifth to second place. Redshirt sophomore Beau Mantanona and graduate student Taye Ghadiali bounced back from quarterfinal losses to post 6-1 records and claim third place at 174 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
Beau Mantanona, seeded third and ranked 13th, avenged his only loss of the tournament in the medal round, using a counter scramble takedown midway through the third and 1:23 in riding-time advantage to earn a 6-3 decision against South Dakota State's 24th-ranked Moses Espinoza-Owens. He cradled and pinned Cal Poly's Cash Stewart at 1:16 in his first bout of the day, then won by injury default after scoring a first-period takedown at 2:23 against West Virginia's 19th-ranked Brady Conley. Mantanona posted two pins this weekend and leads the Wolverines with four on the season; he is now 10-3.
Ghadiali, seeded second and ranked fifth, closed out his tournament with an 8-2 decision against Arizona State's 23rd-ranked David Szuba in the third-place match, scoring takedowns in the second and third periods and riding for 1:29. Ghadiali earned bonus points in both of his morning matches, rolling to a 15-0 technical fall against Northern Illinois' Devon Dawson with two takedowns and eight back points and a 9-1 major decision against Cal Poly's Trevor Tinker on two singles, a reversal and 2:10 riding time. Ghadiali improved to 11-2 on the season with nine bonus wins.
Redshirt freshmen Cameron Catrabone also earned two bonus wins in the morning wrestleback rounds, including a first-period fall (2:30) against Purdue's 19th-ranked Stoney Buell in the consolation semifinals. Buell scored on an early takedown, and Catrabone spent most of the first period working toward a reversal, finally getting it late to put the Boilermaker on his back for his second pin of the tournament and third of the season. Catrabone fell 15-0 to Stanford's fourth-ranked Daniel Cardenas in the third-place bout -- his second loss to the Cardinal wrestler this weekend.
Graduate student Diego Sotelo split his matches on the day to claim seventh place at 125 pounds. Sotelo, seeded ninth and ranked 23rd nationally, closed out his tournament with a 15-0 technical fall against Columbia's Suleyman Bah in the medal round, scoring on a quick single leg then turning Bah three times for 12 total points off a tilt and two bow-and-arrow in just 3:00. It was his second win over Bah this season and improved on his 12-6 decision from the dual matchup. Sotelo dropped his earlier consolation bout, 4-1 in overtime, to Cal Poly's 26th-ranked Koda Holeman after a late stall call on Sotelo -- despite Holeman pushing him out of bounds -- tied the match. Sotelo is 9-3 on the season.
Michigan will take a hiatus from competition over the next several weeks to train and for the holiday season. The Wolverines will send a contingent of wrestlers to the Kent State Open on Dec. 20 in Kent, Ohio, and the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill., before returning home to host in-state rival Michigan State on Friday, Jan. 9, at Crisler Center. The dual, U-M's Big Ten Conference opener, is slated for 7 p.m. and tickets are available through the U-M Ticket Office.
Top 10 Teams (Final)
1. Iowa State             183.5 2. MICHIGAN                99 3. Stanford                97.5 4. West Virginia           97 5. Arizona State           92 6. Oklahoma                80.5 7. Wyoming                 70.5 8. South Dakota State      61.5 9. Cal Poly                56.5 10. Oregon State           56     Purdue              56
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seeds
125 Pounds -- #9 Diego Sotelo
Consolations - dec. by #10 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 4-1 SV
Seventh Place - tech. fall Suleyman Bah (Columbia), 15-0 (3:00)
Finished in seventh place with a 4-2 record
157 Pounds -- #7 Cameron Catrabone
Consolations - win by medical forfeit vs #6 Jimmy Harrington (Harvard)
Consolations - pinned #4 Stoney Buell (Purdue), 2:30
Third Place - tech. fall by #2 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford), 21-5 (5:43)
Finished in fourth place with a 4-2 record
174 Pounds -- #3 Beau Mantanona
Consolations - pinned Cash Stewart (Cal Poly), 1:16
Consolations - injury def. over #4 Brody Conley (West Virginia), 2:23
Third Place - dec. #6 Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State), 6-3
Finished in third place with a 6-1 record
184 Pounds -- #1 Brock Mantanona
Semifinals - major dec. #5 Brian Soldano (Oklahoma), 18-5
Final - dec. by #3 James Conway (Franklin & Marshall), 5-0
Finished in second place with a 4-1 record
Heavyweight -- #2 Taye Ghadiali
Consolations - tech. fall #9 Devon Dawson (Northern Illinois), 15-0 (5:43)
Consolations - major dec. #5 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 9-1
Third Place - dec. #8 David Szuba (Arizona State), 8-2
Finished in third place with a 6-1 record
Players Mentioned
