Las Vegas Invitational
DesRoches Captures 174-Pound Title in Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Cal Poly senior Ryan DesRoches captured the 174-pound championship with a pair of overtime decisions Saturday at the 2011 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
DesRoches, seeded third, earned a 6-5 tiebreaker victory over fourth-seeded Justin Zeerip of Michigan in the title match, hours after scoring a reversal in a 3-2 tiebreaker win over No. 2 Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the semifinals.
Mustang 141-pounder Boris Novachkov and 285-pounder Atticus Disney both placed fifth.
"Overall, it was a good weekend for us," said first-year Mustang head coach Brendan Buckley. "We knew this weekend would be a good test for us and let us know where we stand."
DesRoches trailed Zeerip 5-2 after two periods in the championship final, but rallied with an escape and takedown in the third period to tie the match at 5-5. Neither wrestler scored in the sudden victory period. DesRoches rode out Zeerip in the first tiebreaker, then escaped quickly in the second tiebreaker and held on for the 6-5 victory and the title.
DesRoches and Zeerip met for the first time. Zeerip advanced to the title match when top-seeded Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford was forced to default for medical reasons.
In the semifinals, DesRoches and Heflin exchanged escapes during the first three periods. There was no scoring in the sudden victory period, but DesRoches earned a reversal in the first tiebreaker and Heflin mustered only an escape in the second tiebreaker, giving DesRoches the 3-2 decision.
DesRoches (pictured above) is a two-time NCAA qualifier and sports an 11-0 mark so far this season.
"Ryan had a terrific weekend as he battled from behind three times in a row to win the tournament," said Buckley. "He can never be counted out and he gets better as the match goes on."
Meanwhile, two-time NCAA All-American Boris Novachkov was upset in the semifinals by third-seeded Michael Mangrum of Oregon State in a 4-3 decision.
In the consolation semifinals, Novachkov, the No. 2 seed, faced top-seeded Kellen Russell of Michigan. Novachkov posted a 31-2 record a year ago en route to a second-place NCAA finish. Both of his losses were to Russell by 3-2 decisions. Russell was upset in the quarterfinals by No. 8 Hunter Stieber of Ohio State 6-5 Friday night.
This time, Russell earned a tiebreaker victory based on a two-second advantage in riding time. The two wrestlers fought to a 2-2 draw in regulation.
Later on Saturday, Novachkov secured fifth place with a 5-3 decision over Tyler Small of Kent State. Novachkov, a two-time Pac-12 champion, is 11-2 on the year.
"Boris lost a couple close matches, one to the eventual champion and one to Russell, who was also upset," said Buckley. "He most certainly learned from those losses and now knows what adjustments he needs to make."
Mustang 285-pounder Atticus Disney, seeded 11th, was the third Cal Poly wrestler to reach the semifinals Friday night, but dropped a 6-2 decision to No. 2 Clayton Jack of Oregon State on Saturday morning.
In the wrestlebacks, Disney fell 7-3 against sixth-seeded Brendan Barlow of Kent State. Disney pinned Barlow in 1:19 in a second-round match Friday.
And in the match for fifth and sixth place, Disney won by medical forfeit against Levi Cooper of Arizona State. Disney is now 4-3 on the year.
"Atticus started off very well, beating two highly ranked wrestlers on Friday, and demonstrated his athleticism," said Buckley. "He held back a little today, but I know this will be a boost to his confidence moving forward."
The lone Cal Poly wrestler still alive in the wrestlebacks after Friday's action was 133-pounder Brandan Rocha, but he was eliminated Saturday morning in a 9-2 loss to Ridge Kiley of Nebraska. Rocha is 4-3 for the season.
The Mustangs finished 11th in the 34-team field with 54 points. Ohio State claimed the team title with 129 points, followed by Michigan at 116 and Wyoming with 114.5 points.
Results for Cal Poly wrestlers:
125
Britain Longmire was dec. by Zachary Zimmer (Indiana) 6-1
Britain Longmire dec. Michael Gomez (Drexel) 5-4
Britain Longmire dec. David Prado (Arizona State) 5-3
Britain Longmire lost by default to Billy Watterson (Brown) (Longmire eliminated)
133
Brandan Rocha was dec. by No. 11 Thomas Kelliher (Wisconsin) 4-2
Brandan Rocha dec. Nikkolas Pena (Cornell) 6-1
Brandan Rocha dec. Richard Serna (Western Wyoming) 10-8
Brandan Rocha dec. Sam Bauer (Northern Colorado) 3-2
Brandan Rocha was dec. by No. 7 Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) 9-2 (Rocha eliminated)
141
No. 2 Boris Novachkov bye
No. 2 Boris Novachkov dec. Shay Warren (Harvard) 4-1
No. 2 Boris Novachkov pinned Mitchell Richey (Indiana) 5:52
No. 2 Boris Novachkov dec. No. 7 Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 8-1
No. 2 Boris Novachkov was dec. by No. 3 Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) 4-3
No. 2 Boris Novachkov was dec. by No. 1 Kellen Russell 2-2, TB3 RT :02
No. 2 Boris Novachkov dec. No. 4 Tyler Small (Kent State) 5-3 (fifth place)
149
Adam Aslam was pinned by Brandon Wilbourn (Nebraska) 4:43
Adam Aslam was dec. by Marcel Clopton (Kent State) 9-1 (Aslam eliminated)
157
Elijah Jackson bye
Elijah Jackson was pinned by No. 9 Brandon Zeerip (Michigan) 5:00
Elijah Jackson was maj. dec. by Zach Basich (Navy) 15-5 (Jackson eliminated)
165
None
174
No. 3 Ryan DesRoches dec. Scotty Bacon (Boise State) 8-2
No. 3 Ryan DesRoches dec. Tyler Koehn (Nebraska) 6-1
No. 3 Ryan DesRoches dec. No. 6 Ethan Headlee (Pittsburgh) 3-2
No. 3 Ryan DesRoches dec. No. 2 Nick Heflin (Ohio State) 3-2 2OT
No. 3 Ryan DesRoches dec. No. 4 Justin Zeerip (Michigan) 6-5 2OT (first place)
184
Sean Dougherty was dec. by No. 8 Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) 4-3
Sean Dougherty bye
Sean Dougherty was dec. by No. 7 Ben Clymer (Hofstra) 7-1 (Dougherty eliminated)
197
No. 6 Ryan Smith maj. dec. Matt Loew (Hofstra) 10-2
No. 6 Ryan Smith was dec. by Maxwell Huntley (Michigan) 11-5
No. 6 Ryan Smith dec. Joshua Mohr (Air Force) 9-3
No. 6 Ryan Smith was pinned by John Gusewelle (North Dakota State) 1:13 (Smith eliminated)
285
No. 11 Atticus Disney pinned Steven Wood (CSU Bakersfield) 2:54
No. 11 Atticus Disney pinned No. 6 Brendan Barlow (Kent State) 1:19
No. 11 Atticus Disney dec. No. 3 Tucker Lane (Nebraska) 5-4
No. 11 Atticus Disney was dec. by No. 2 Clayton Jack (Oregon State) 6-2
No. 11 Atticus Disney was dec. by No. 6 Brendan Barlow (Kent State) 7-3
No. 11 Atticus Disney by medical forfeit over Levi Cooper (Arizona State) (fifth place)
