LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Senior
Chris Villalonga (149) captured his first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title and junior
Nahshon Garrett (125) earned his second straight as Cornell finished fifth as a team in the tournament that concluded on Saturday evening. The Big Red had two other wrestlers that finished fourth on the podium in senior
Jace Bennett (197) and
Gabe Dean (184).
Garrett remained unbeaten on the season with his third straight win over top 20 wrestlers in a span of 24 hours. The defending national runner-up knocked off a pair of top wrestlers at his weight, claiming a 20-4 tech fall in the morning session's semifinals over seventh-ranked Josh Martinez of Air Force before controlling the match against No. 5 Joey Dance in the finals en route to a 6-4 decision.
Villalonga grinded out his first Las Vegas title with a 9-3 decision over Iowa State's Gabe Moreno in the semis, then earning a strong 4-0 victory over Michigan's Alex Pantaleo in the finals.
Two other Big Red wrestlers earned spots in the semifinals and won a match back to the third place match before falling to fourth. Dean was upset twice, first by Taylor Meeks of Oregon State (4-3), then by Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State (8-3). In between, he pressed out a 10-8 win over familiar foe Ophir Bernstein of Brown. The losses were the first two of the season for Dean.
Bennett opened the day with a loss to top-ranked Scott Schiller of Minensota, but bounced back to pin Virginia Tech's Jared Haught in the consolation semifinal. In the third place match with seventh-ranked Kyle Snyder of Ohio State, Bennett dropped an 18-7 contest.
Taylor Simaz (13-3 loss to Alex Elder of Oregon State) also opened the day in the back draw before suffering his second loss of the tournament.
Cornell's 93.5 points placed them fifth as a team behind champion Minnesota (146),Ohio State (120), Virginia Tech (110) and Iowa State (106) despite missing four starters for the tournament.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Cornell's three top-seeded wrestlers will be joined by a fourth who will try and knock off a top seed himself on Saturday when the Big Red hits the semifinals of the 2014 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. In all, five of the team's eight competing wrestlers advanced through to Saturday.
Senior
Chris Villalonga (149) and
Jace Bennett (197), junior
Nahshon Garrett (125) and sophomore
Gabe Dean (184) are all alive to still claim individual titles after the first day in Sin City at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Big Red, without four regular starters, including a pair of top five wrestlers, enter day two solidly in the top 10 of the team standings.
Garrett, looking to defend his Las Vegas title from a year ago, posted three easy wins to march on to the semifinals. He opened the day with a 15-2 major over Sean McCabe of Rutgers, then earned consecutive tech fall wins over The Citadel's Joaquin Marquez (20-4) and No. 16 Paul Petrov of Bucknell (19-3). He will face seventh-ranked Josh Martinez of Air Force in the semifinals tomorrow.
Villalonga had to escape a scare in the second round after a 41 second pin in his opener against Cole Moseley of American. The senior held off James Dekrone of West Virginia for the second time this week, 4-3, before putting a major decision on Arizona State's Preston McCalmon in the quarters. He advances to face Iowa State's Gabe Moreno for a spot in the finals.
Dean advanced to the semifinals after winning a war against 15th-ranked Brett Pfarr of Minnesota, 2-1 in the tiebreaker. After both wrestlers earned escapes in regulation, it appeared Dean earned a takedown late in the one minute sudden victory session, but after the officials discussed, wiped away the point and sent the match to the ride-out periods. Dean escaped 20 seconds in, then rode out Pfarr for 30 seconds to earn the hard-fought win. Dean dominated his first three matches, earning a tech fall, a major decision and a seven-point decision in getting to the quarters.
Bennett earned first period falls in both his first and second round matches and a major decision over North Dakota State's Thomas Petersen in the quarters to set up a matchup with top-ranked Scott Schiller of Minnesota in tomorrow's semifinals.Taylor Simaz won a pair of matches in the back draw to stay alive after falling in the second round to Russell Parsons on Army, 2-0. He earned a pair of major decisions to collect bonus points for the team, then reached Saturday with an 8-1 decision over Indiana's Luke Blanton.
Pickett also had a busy day after losing his first match of the day on a tough last-second procedure violation. He earned three straight decisions over wrestlers from The Citadel, American and Army before getting nationally ranked Pete Renda of NC State for the second time in a week. After upsetting Renda at the Northeast Duals, Renda turned the tables in picking up an 11-0 major decision over the Big Red junior to end his tournament run.
Both
Mike Grey, the sixth seed at 141 pounds, and
Jesse Shanaman at 165 pounds, dropped first round matchups. Grey won his first wrestleback before falling in his second. Shanaman won a pigtail match in his first bout, but dropped consecutive matches to fall out of the event.
#2 Nahshon Garrett – (No. 1 seed at 125)First Round: Garrett won by major decision over Sean McCabe (Rutgers), 15-2
Second Round: Garrett won by tech fall over Joaquin Marquez (The Citadel), 20-4
Quarterfinal: Garrett won by tech fall over #16 Paul Petrov (Bucknell), 19-3
Semifinal: Garrett won by tech fall over #7 Josh Martinez (Air Force), 20-4
Final: Garrett won by decision over #5 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 6-4
#11 Mark Grey – (No. 6 seed at 141 pounds)First Round: George Fisher (Michigan) won by decision over Grey, 13-7
Consolation First Round: Grey won by decision over Tom Page (American), 8-1
Consolation Second Round: Dante Rodriguez (Iowa State) won by decision over Grey, 10-6
#6 Chris Villalonga – (No. 1 seed at 149 pounds)First Round: Villalonga won by fall over Cole Moseley (American), 0:41
Second Round: Villalonga won by decision over James Dekrone (West Virginia), 4-3
Quarterfinal: Villalonga won by major decision over Preston McCalmon (Arizona State), 10-2
Semifinal: Villalonga won by decision over Gabe Moreno (Iowa State), 9-3
Final: Villalonga won by decision over Alec Pantaleo (Michigan), 4-0
Taylor Simaz – (unseeded at 157 pounds)First Round: Simaz won by major decision over Ryan Slaugh (Western Wyoming), 14-1
Second Round: Russell Parsons (Army) won by decision over Simaz, 2-0
Consolation Second Round: Simaz won by major decision over Nolan Kistler (Cal Baptist), 15-6
Consolation Third Round: Simaz won by decision over Luke Blanton (Indiana), 8-1
Consolation Fourth Round: Alex Elder (Oregon State) won by major decision over Simaz, 13-3
Jesse Shanaman – (unseeded at 165 pounds)Pigtail: Shanaman won by decision over Terrell Forbes (The Citadel), 2-0
First Round: #2 Nick Sulzer (Virginia) wins by major decision over Shanaman, 13-0
Consolation First Round: Jacen Peterson (Arizona State) won by major decision over Shanaman, 16-7
#15 Duke Pickett – (No. 9 at 174 pounds)First Round: Phillip Bakuckas (Rutgers) won by decision over Pickett, 5-4
Consolation First Round: Pickett won by decision over Kenneth Radford (The Citadel), 11-4
Consolation Second Round: Pickett won by decision over Jeric Kasunic (American), 16-10
Consolation Third Round: Pickett won by decision over Brian Harvey (Army), 3-1
Consolation Fourth Round: #17 Pete Renda (NC State) won by major decision over Pickett, 11-0
#1 Gabe Dean – (No. 1 seed at 184 pounds)Pigtail: Dean won by tech fall over Kyle Lux (Northern Iowa), 17-1
First Round: Dean won by decision over Mike Woulfe (Navy), 11-4
Second Round: Dean won by major decision over Hayden Hrymack (Rutgers), 14-3
Quarterfinal: Dean won by decision over #15 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 2-1 (tb-2)
Semifinal: #8 Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) won by decision over Dean, 4-3
Consolation Semifinal: Dean won by decision over #12 Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 10-8
Consolation Final: #14 Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota State) won by decision over Dean, 8-3
#18 Jace Bennett - (No. 5 at 197 pounds)First Round: Bennett won by fall over Sebastian Levin (Brown), 1:21
Second Round: Bennett won by fall over Joshua Dasilveira (Arizona State), 1:49
Quarterfinal: Bennett won by major decision over Thomas Petersen (North Dakota State), 8-0
Semifinal: #1 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) won by fall over Bennett, 4:15
Consolation Semifinal: Bennett won by fall over Jared Haught (Virginia Tech), 3:53
Consolation Final: #7 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) won by major decision over Bennett, 18-7
