Romney Earns Fourth Career Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week Award
12/10/2024 2:00:00 PM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — After an incredible showing at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past Friday and Saturday, redshirt sophomore Zeth Romney has been named the Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week for the fourth time in his career and the second time this season.
Romney had a sensational weekend on the mat at the prestigious tournament, claiming the 133-pound championship with a perfect 5-0 record, defeating four nationally ranked opponents and two wrestlers that beat him at last year’s Cliff Keen in the process.
The Simi Valley, Calif. native became the first Mustang in 15 years to earn a title at 133 pounds at the Cliff Keen Invite. He’s also the first Cal Poly wrestler to win his respective weight class at the tournament since Evan Wick captured the 165-pound title in 2021.
Romney’s incredible run in Vegas allowed him to soar up the national rankings this week. According to the latest InterMat individual rankings, Romney is now the fourth-ranked 133-pounder in the country. Prior to the Cliff Keen, Romney was ranked No. 12 in the nation.
In Vegas, Romney started his championship run Friday with a 19-2 technical fall over Oregon State’s Chase Deblaere before pinning No. 28 Derrick Cardinal from South Dakota State at 2:09 in his second round bout. In the quarterfinals, Romney upset 11th-ranked Nic Bouzakis from Ohio State by a tightly-contested 6-5 decision and in the semifinals Romney secured a 5-2 decision over Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee.
Seeded fifth at 133 entering the tournament, Romney capped his championship performance by taking down 2024 NCAA All-American and No. 2 seed Evan Frost from Iowa State — ranked No. 6 in the country — by a 7-3 decision in the title match to improve to 9-1 on the year.
Romney’s performance coupled with a handful of other standout performances allowed Cal Poly to place 13th out of 30 teams at the Cliff Keen Invitational, its best finish at the tournament since taking 10th in 2021.
Thanks to Romney’s championship appearance, Cal Poly was the only team not from one of the three major power conferences (Big 12, Big Ten and ACC) to have a wrestler in this year’s Cliff Keen Invitational finals. The high-level tournament featured 14 of the top 25 teams in the country and seven of the top 10.
Romney now has six victories over nationally ranked opponents this season and 14 in his career.
Romney won Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week for the first time this season on Nov. 12. Cal Poly has won three of the five weekly awards given out this season, which leads the conference.
Cal Poly returns home to host a pair of duals at the Mott Athletics Center on Thursday, Dec. 19. The Mustangs take on Cal Baptist first at 5:30 p.m., and then cap the doubleheader at 7 p.m. against Northwestern.
#Pac12Wrestle Wrestler of the Week: Zeth Romney, @CalPolyWrestle
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) December 10, 2024
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