Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Romney Captures 133-Pound Title at Cliff Keen Invitational
12/7/2024 7:00:00 PM | Wrestling
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Redshirt sophomore Zeth Romney became the first Mustang in 15 years to capture a title at 133 pounds at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to highlight a strong showing by the Cal Poly wrestling program at the 42nd edition of the prestigious tournament this Friday and Saturday.
Romney stole the spotlight with a phenomenal performance, defeating four ranked opponents en route to claiming the 133-pound championship with a 5-0 record. Seeded fifth entering the tournament, the Simi Valley, Calif. native capped his impressive weekend on the mat by defeating 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.
Zeth hits the jackpot in Vegas ??
— Cal Poly Wrestling (@CalPolyWrestle) December 7, 2024
Zeth Romney captures the 133-pound title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational!! He is Cal Poly’s first champion in the weight class at the tournament in 15 years ??#RideHigh?? #HorsePower pic.twitter.com/VgBn5JY7Am
Romney’s victory allowed him to become the first Cal Poly wrestler to win a weight class at the tournament since Evan Wick captured the 165-pound title in 2021.
“It feels good, but it’s just another step,” Romney said after his title-winning performance Saturday, “… it’s just something to build off of, so it’s exciting but I’m ready to just keep getting better.”
The 12th-ranked 133-pounder in the country started his championship run Friday with a 19-2 technical fall over Oregon State’s Chase Deblaere in his opening match before pinning No. 28 Derrick Cardinal from South Dakota State at 2:09 in his second round bout. In the quarterfinals, Romney upset No. 4 seed and 11th-ranked Nic Bouzakis from Ohio State by a tightly-contested 6-5 decision to punch his ticket to the semifinals Saturday.
In the semifinals, Romney upended No. 8 seed and 19th-ranked Jacob Van Dee from Nebraska by a 5-2 decision to earn a spot in the title match. Romney also beat Van Dee at last year’s Cliff Keen Invitational.
“I think it was all just mindset mainly,” Romney said about what allowed him to succeed in Vegas. “I’ve just been feeling really good and just excited to wrestle … I knew all these guys were good and every match was going to be a dogfight, so I just tried to look forward to that knowing it was going to be a scrap, and I think it paid off.”
Zeth Romney caps off an incredible performance at the CKLV with a 7-3 win over Evan Frost in the finals ??#cklv #ncaawrestling pic.twitter.com/F8NwM5zhAp
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) December 8, 2024
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’s performance coupled with a handful of other standout performances allowed Cal Poly to place 13th out of 30 teams with 38 points, their best finish at the tournament since taking 10th in 2021.
Two of those standout performances came courtesy of redshirt junior Trevor Tinker and redshirt freshman Daschle Lamer, who both made it to the Round of 12 in their respective weight classes. Seeded 10th at 285 pounds, Tinker posted a 3-2 record at the tournament. The 28th-ranked heavyweight scored an impressive 54 points across his five matches and came up just short of earning an opportunity to place, dropping a thrilling battle with No. 31 Harley Andrews from Nebraska by a 16-13 decision in the Round of 12.
Tinker grabbed a dominant 18-1 technical fall over Northwestern’s Dirk Morley, pinned Purdue’s Hayden Filipovich and secured an 11-0 major decision over Columbia’s Vincent Mueller. Tinker is now 10-5 this season.
After dropping his opening match at 184 pounds, Daschle bounced back in a big way in his next match, upsetting 2024 NCAA All-American and No. 12 ranked TJ Stewart by a decisive 10-0 major decision. He earned a 9-4 decision over Ohio’s Jeremy Olszko before seeing his tournament come to an end in the Round of 12.
Graduate student Legend Lamer (157 pounds) and true freshman Jagger French (149 pounds) both went 2-2 at the tourney. Legend bounced back from an opening round defeat to No. 8 ranked Paddy Gallagher from Ohio State with an 18-3 technical fall and a win by decision. He fell to Oklahoma State’s Caleb Fish by a 5-0 decision in a consolation match to end his tournament.
French made quite the impression in his first career appearance at the Cliff Keen, grabbing a 4-1 decision over Navy’s Nick Vafiadis to open the tournament. He fell to No. 1 seed and defending 149-pound national champion Caleb Henson in his next match before pinning Cal State Bakersfield’s Steve Caday (6:46) in a consolation match. French lost a tightly-contested 5-2 decision to No. 14 ranked Ethan Fernandez from Cornell to see his tournament come to a close.
Redshirt junior Jarad Priest (197), redshirt sophomore Koda Holeman (125) and freshman Alek VanBebber (141) all went 0-2, but fought extremely hard in their matches.
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.
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Cal Poly Results
125
No. 12 Vincent Robinson (NC State) md. Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 10-2
No. 29 Adrian Meza (Iowa State) d. Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 8-5
133
No. 12 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) tf. Chase Deblaere (Oregon State), 19-2
No. 12 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) f. No. 28 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State), 2:09
No. 12 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) d. No. 11 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), 6-5
No. 12 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) d. No. 19 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 5-2
No. 12 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) d. No. 6 Evan Frost (Iowa State), 7-3
141
No. 28 Cole Brooks (Wyoming) md. Alek VanBebber (Cal Poly), 11-2
No. 29 Greyson Clark (Purdue) tf. Alek VanBebber (Cal Poly), 16-0
149
Jagger French (Cal Poly) d. Nick Vafiadis (Navy), 4-1
No. 1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) tf. Jagger French (Cal Poly), 19-3
Jagger French (Cal Poly) f. Steve Caday (Cal State Bakersfield), 6:46
No. 14 Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) d. Jagger French (Cal Poly), 5-2
157
No. 8 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State) tf. Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), 21-5
Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) tf. Devon Deem (Navy), 18-3
Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) d. Jurius Clark (Hofstra), 5-0
Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State) d. Legend Lamer (Cal Poly), 5-0
165
No. 25 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State) md. No. 19 Luka Wick (Cal Poly), 11-3
Drayden Morton (Cal Baptist) d. No. 19 Luka Wick (Cal Poly), 4-3
174
Aiden Riggins (Iowa State) md. No. 18 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly), 11-3
No. 32 Sean Harman (Oregon State) mf. No. 18 Adam Kemp (Cal Poly)
184
No. 5 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) tf. Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly), 22-6
Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly) md. No. 12 TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech), 10-0
Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly) d. Jeremy Olszko (Ohio), 9-4
Seth Shumate (Ohio State) f. Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly), 1:55
197
Max Acciardi (Arizona State) md. Jarad Priest (Cal Poly), 11-3
Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) f. Jarad Priest (Cal Poly), 2:20
285
No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) tf. Dirk Morley (Northwestern), 18-1
No. 18 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) md. No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 13-1
No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) md. Vincent Mueller (Columbia), 11-0
No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) f. Hayden Filipovich (Purdue), 5:18
No. 31 Harley Andrews (Nebraska) d. No. 28 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 16-13
