2015 Cliff Keen Gives UNI Wrestling Big Opportunities

No. 25 UNI wrestling at Cliff Keen Invite
Las Vegas, Nevada – Cashman Center
Live video (for fee)
COMPLETE NOTES

Dec. 4, 2015

11 a.m.: Round 1 Pig Tail Championship, Round 2 of (32) Championship, Round 3 Consolation of (32), Round 4 Championship of (16), Consolation 1st of (16) Round 5 Consolation 2nd of (16)
8 p.m.: Round 6 Championship Quarter Finals & Consolation Round 1st of (8)

Dec. 5, 2015

11 a.m: Round 7 Consolation 2nd of (8)
noon: Round 8 Championship Semi-Finals, Round 9 Consolation Semi Finals, Consolation Finals 5th & 6th, 7th & 8th Places
5 p.m.: CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th Places

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – UNI wrestling heads into the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite with three wrestlers seeded in the top five.

Heavyweight Blaize Cabell and Cooper Moore (165 pounds) are seeded third. Dylan Peters is seeded fourth at 125 pounds.

"We haven't had a champ yet (at the Cliff Keen)," said head coach Doug Schwab. "So it's time to put some guys in the finals and get them recognized nationally. Every weight class is going to be stacked, so every guy has a huge opportunity in front of them."

Five of the nation's top-ranked wrestlers will be competing.

The Panthers had a third-place finisher in 2012 and 2013. Last year, Moore was the highest finisher, taking fourth at 165 pounds. He had been seeded sixth.

Last year, three Panthers medaled. Four Panthers medaled in 2012 and 2013.

The team placed 14^th last year, after having finished 6^th and 8^th in 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Four Panthers with Cliff Keen medals return to compete this year.

Peters – sixth in 2014 / fifth in 2013
Moore – fourth in 2014 / fourth in 2013
Cabell – eighth in 2014
Cody Caldwell – seventh in 2012

MOORE IN PRE-SEEDS:
Moore returns to the tournament seeded third at 165 pounds. No. 2 Bo Jordan of Ohio State grabbed the tournament's top seed, and No. 3 Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin is seeded second. The weight class is stacked with at least eight wrestlers ranked in the nation's top 20.

Familiar matchups:

Isaac Jordan beat Moore three times by decision when Moore wrestled unattached as a freshman.
Bo Jordan gave Moore his first loss at the 2015 NCAA championships, pinning Moore in 3 minutes, 56 seconds.
Moore beat the fourth seed, No. 9 Clark Glass of Oklahoma in a 6-2 decision at Oklahoma in the 2013-14 season.

CABELL IN PRE-SEEDS:
Cabell is looking to improve on his eighth-place finish from last year. He beat the top seed twice last year and already wrestled the second seed this year. No. 2 Ty Walz of Virginia Tech grabbed the top seed, and No. 5 Amarveer Dhesi of Oregon State is seeded second. At least seven of the top-20 nationally ranked heavyweights are expected to compete.

Familiar matchups:

Top seed Walz has not been able to beat Cabell in their last three visits. Cabell has won by two points each time. The final bout was at the NCAA championships and ended in sudden victory.
Dhesi beat Cabell 11-5 in Cabell's second dual of this year.
Cabell has the advantage on No. 9 Michael Kroells of Minnesota. Cabell beat Kroells 5-3 last year at the Cliff Keen. Kroells is seeded fifth.
Sixth seed No. 11 Joe Stolfi of Bucknell and seventh seed No. 18 Nick Tavanello of Ohio State have both beaten Cabell. Stolfi ended Cabell's NCAA run in 2014 and Tavanello edged out Cabell 3-2 at Cliff Keen last year.

PETERS IN PRE-SEEDS:
No. 7 Peters is seeded fourth at 125 pounds. He is the only seeded Panther to have the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class.

"The thing that I like about Dylan is he is finding ways to win, and he's maybe doing it different than he's had before," said Schwab. "He does have a lot of tools in that tool bag. I know he has a lot of offense. It's just believing and trusting in that and creating some flurries. I like how he kept his composure (last week)."

Peters took sixth at last year's Cliff Keen.

Eight of the top 11 nationally ranked wrestlers are expected to compete.

Familiar matchups:

Peters knocked off this year's top seed and nation's No. 1 Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State by pinning him in 4:36 at the Cliff Keen.
No. 3 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech is seeded second and has beaten Peters three times. Dance handed Peters his only career fall last year at Cliff Keen. Peters was edged out 5-3 in their last meeting at a dual in the West Gym, Cedar Falls.
David Terao is seeded sixth. As an unranked wrestler, he beat Peters 12-10 in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.
Sixth seed No. 9 Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State has not beaten Peters in their last two matches. Peters beat him 3-2 earlier this year and won 8-5 in the first round of the Cliff Keen last year.
No. 11 Connor Youtsey grabbed the eighth seed and was pinned by Peters at Midlands in 2013.

OTHER MATCHUPS
At 141 pounds, UNI's Trevor Jauch has beaten No. 15 Jamel Hudson of Hofstra, who is seeded fourth.

Cody Caldwell and No. 5 Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State have both moved up a weight class since their last meeting. The series is tied 1-1. Caldwell beat Zillmer 4-1 for the 2013 Finn Grinaker Cobber Open title, but Zillmer won 5-1 a week later in a dual.

Jared Bartel picked up a win at 197 pounds at last year's Cliff Keen over eighth-seeded Derek Thomas of Utah Valley. Bartel won 11-4.

UNI COMPETITION
Action will get started at 11 a.m. CT Friday and Saturday. Wrestlers will compete again 8 p.m. CT Friday. The finals are set for 5 p.m. CT Saturday. Most of the UNI squad will be headed to Storm Lake, Iowa, to compete in the Buena Vista Open Saturday.

"There are three really big tournaments throughout the college year," said Schwab. "Las Vegas is one. Midlands is one, and then the Southern Scuffle is one. And we're going to two out of the three, so we'll be battle-tested."

UNI returns home to host the UNI Open 9 a.m. Dec. 12. Fans are asked to bring Toys for Tots donations. They will be back on the road for the Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30 to close out 2015.
"We have two huge tournaments within a month's span, so we are going to see where we are as a team," said Schwab.

2015 Cliff Keen Pre-Seeds
125 pounds:

Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State
Joey Dance, Virginia Tech
David Terao, American
Dylan Peters, UNI
Chasen Tolbert, Utah Valley
Ronnie Bresser, Oregon State
Zeke Moisey, West Virginia
Conor Youtsey, Michigan

133 pounds (Josh Alber, UNI):

Cody Brewer, Oklahoma
Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin
Nahshon Garrett, Cornell
Johnni DiJulius, Ohio State
Rossi Bruno, Michigan
Earl Hall, Iowa State
George DiCamillo, Virginia
Josh Martinez Air Force

141 pounds (Trevor Jauch, UNI):

Solomon Chishko, Virginia Tech
Tommy Thorn, Minnesota
Todd Preston, Harvard
Jamel Hudson, Hofstra
Micah Jordan, Ohio State
Danny Sabatello, Purdue

149 pounds (Gunnar Wolfensperger, UNI):

Lavion Mayes, Missouri
Michael DePalma, Kent State
Sal Mastriani, Virginia Tech
Davion Jeffries, Oklahoma
Alec Pantaleo, Michigan
Gabe Moreno, Iowa State
Matt Kraus, Arizona State
Geordan Martinez, Boise State

157 pounds (Bryce Steiert, UNI):

Ian Miller, Kent State
Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech
Joey Lavallee, Missouri
Doug Welch, Purdue
Aaron Walker, The Citadel
Dylan Cottrell, West Virginia
Jake Ryan, Ohio State
John Boyle, American

165 pounds:

Bo Jordan, Ohio State
Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin
Cooper Moore, UNI
Clark Glass, Oklahoma
Duke Pickett, Cornell
Tanner Weatherman, Iowa State
Seth Thomas, Oregon State
Garrett Sutton, Michigan

174 pounds (Drew Foster, UNI):

Brian Realbuto, Cornell
Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech
Blaise Butler, Missouri
Lelund Weatherspoon, Iowa State
Matt Reed, Oklahoma
Bryce Hammond, CSU Bakersfield
Jadaen Bernstein, Navy
Ricky Robertson, Wisconsin

184 pounds (Cody Caldwell, UNI):

Gabe Dean, Cornell
Blake Stauffer, Arizona State
Kenny Courts, Ohio State
Hayden Zillmer, North Dakota State
Willie Miklus, Missouri
Dominic Abounader, Michigan
Mathew Miller, Navy
Tom Sleigh, Bucknell

197 pounds (Jared Bartel, UNI):

J'den Cox, Missouri
Max Huntley, Michigan
Brett Pfarr, Minnesota
Jake Smith, West Virginia
Zach Nye, Virginia
Jared Haught, Virginia Tech
Mark Martin, Ohio State
Derek Thomas, Utah Valley

Heavyweight (285 pounds):

Ty Walz, Virginia Tech
Amarveer Dhesi, Oregon State
Blaize Cabell, UNI
Ross Larson, Oklahoma
Michael Kroells, Minnesota
Joe Stolfi, Bucknell
Nick Tavanello, Ohio State

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