Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Mustangs Set to Battle the Nation's Best at Cliff Keen Invitational
12/4/2024 5:00:00 PM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly wrestling program descends upon the city of Las Vegas this Friday and Saturday to battle some of the top teams in the country at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational.
The 42nd edition of the tournament will serve as an early season litmus test for some of the best wrestlers in the country. Typically, a high percentage of the wrestlers that place at the Cliff Keen Invitational will also contend for All-American status at the NCAA Championships in March.
Per usual, the field at this year’s Cliff Keen Invitational is loaded with talent and a slew of nationally ranked wrestlers. Seven of the top 10 and 11 of the top 15 teams in the country are slated to take part in the two-day NCAA Championship preview, including No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 NC State, No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Michigan and No. 10 Northern Iowa.
Wrestling inside the Las Vegas Convention Center starts at 9 a.m. Friday. Action on the final day Saturday starts at 10 a.m. with first-place bouts scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m. The entirety of the tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling and you can follow Cal Poly wrestling on X/Twitter (@CalPolyWrestle) and Instagram (@cpwrestle) for live updates throughout.
A total of 10 Cal Poly wrestlers are slated to compete in the tourney, including four nationally ranked Mustangs — No. 12 Zeth Romney at 133 pounds, No. 18 Adam Kemp at 174 pounds, No. 19 Luka Wick at 165 pounds and No. 28 Trevor Tinker at heavyweight. All four of those Mustangs are also seeded in their respective weight classes at the invitational.
Romney leads the way as he is the No. 5 seed at 133. The redshirt sophomore is 4-1 this season with his only defeat coming against No. 12 Tyler Knox during an outdoor dual against Stanford on Nov. 16. The 2024 NCAA qualifier earned his third career Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week award just over three weeks ago when he defeated two nationally ranked opponents en route to capturing the 133-pound title at the Tiger Style Invite. Romney owns 10 career victories over ranked opponents and last year in Vegas grabbed two ranked wins, finishing with a 3-2 record at the tournament.
Kemp (174) and Tinker (285) are both seeded 10th in their weight classes. For Kemp, this week’s tournament will mark the graduate student’s first action on the mat since wrestling in Cal Poly’s season-opening home dual against Indiana on Nov. 3. The 2024 174-pound Pac-12 champion advanced to the quarterfinals and posted a 2-1 mark at the Cliff Keen Invitational last season, suffering an injury that forced him to medically forfeit a consolation match.
Tinker has had a strong season so far and boasts a 7-3 record entering the tournament. The St. Louis, Missouri native earned this season’s first Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week award on Nov. 5 after securing a dominant 17-1 technical fall victory just 3:40 into a bout with No. 16 Jacob Bullock from Indiana in the Mustangs’ season opener. Tinker placed second in Cal Poly’s last tournament — the Roadrunner Open on Nov. 24 — with a 3-1 record and also took third at the Tiger Style Invite.
Wick is seeded 12th at 165 and is 3-2 this season. After not competing last season due to injury, Wick has shown little rust, placing second in his weight class at the Tiger Style Invite, pinning No. 22 Stoney Buell from Purdue in the semifinals to reach the championship match.
Redshirt junior Jarad Priest (197) and Daschle Lamer (184) are also slated to wrestle at Cliff Keen for the Mustangs. Both are fresh off winning titles in their weight classes at the Roadrunner Open.
A pair of freshmen will take the mat for the Mustangs — Alek VanBebber and Jagger French. VanBebber finished fourth at 141 pounds at the Roadrunner Open and is 6-4 this season, while French went 4-2 at 149 pounds at the tourney hosted by Cal State Bakersfield.
Following the Cliff Keen Invitational, 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.
RV Cal Poly
125: Koda Holeman (7-3)
133: No. 12/15 Zeth Romney (4-1)
141: Alek VanBebber (6-4)
149: Jagger French (4-2)
157: Legend Lamer (3-4)
165: No. 21/19 Luka Wick (3-2)
174: No. 22/18 Adam Kemp (0-1)
184: Daschle Lamer (5-4)
197: Jarad Priest (4-5)
285: No. 30/28 Trevor Tinker (7-3)
InterMat/FloWrestling rankings
