Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Cal Poly Wrestling Earns Best Finish in 16 Years at Cliff Keen Invitational
12/6/2025 11:33:00 PM | Wrestling
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Cal Poly wrestling program wrapped up a stellar showing at the 43rd Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday, securing its best finish as a team at the prestigious tournament in 16 years.
The Mustangs racked up 56.5 team points to place ninth out of 30 scoring teams, the seven highest finish in program history at the tourney and best since finishing seventh in 2009.
The historic team finish was due in large part to the five wrestlers that placed in their respective weight classes, the most in program history at the tournament.
Koda Holeman (125 pounds) and Trevor Tinker (285) led the way with fifth place finishes, Cash Stewart (174) and Ceasar Garza (184) both took seventh and Zeth Romney finished eighth at 141.
The Mustangs finished 0.5 team points in front of Pac-12 rival Oregon State in 10th.
Holeman shined in Las Vegas, posting a 5-2 record to take fifth at 125 pounds and improve to 7-2 on the season. The redshirt junior went 2-1 on the final day of action Saturday. He earned a thrilling upset sudden victory over No. 23 ranked Diego Sotelo from Michigan in his opening match before dropping a 15-3 major decision to No. 11 ranked Nico Provo from Stanford. Then to close out the tourney, the 26th-ranked 125-pounder used a clutch third-period takedown to defeat No. 28 Dedrick Navarro from Northwestern by decision in the fifth-place match.
After advancing to the semifinals with a 3-0 record on the first day, Tinker lost two straight matches Saturday against a pair of the best heavyweights in the country, falling to No. 1 Yonger Bastida from Iowa State and No. 5 Taye Ghadiali from Michigan. The 17th-ranked 285-pounder in the country then finished the tournament by winning the fifth-place match by medical forfeit, going 4-2 at the tourney and improving to 6-2 on the year.
Garza, ranked 21st in the country at 184 pounds, lost his first consolation match Saturday by a major decision to the 11th ranked wrestler in the nation, Wyoming’s Eddie Neitenbach, before winning the seventh-place bout by medical forfeit. With his 4-2 showing in Las Vegas, Garza improved to 10-2 on the season.
Stewart had a breakout performance at the tournament, going 1-1 on Day 2 and 3-2 overall at the tournament to place seventh at 174 pounds and improve to 7-6 this season.
After dropping his quarterfinal bout and posting a 2-1 record on the first day of wrestling, Romney, ranked fifth, medically forfeited his two matches Saturday to finish eighth at 141 pounds. This is the second straight year the Simi Valley, Calif. native has earned a placing position, winning the Cliff Keen 133-pound title a season ago.
Garza, Holeman and Tinker all grabbed upset victories over ranked opponents during the two-day tournament.
With one of the season’s biggest tournaments now over, Cal Poly will enjoy a much-needed break in action for returning home on Saturday, Dec. 20 to host a tri-dual with Drexel and Cal Baptist at Mott Athletics Center. The Mustangs will face the Dragons at 1 p.m. and the Lancers at 4 p.m. with CBU and Drexel set to wrestle each other at 2:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Cliff Keen Invitational Final Results
125
No. 16 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) md. No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 8-0.
No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) d. Chris Vargo (Edinboro), 6-4.
No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) d. Brayden Teunissen (Ohio), 3-2.
No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) d. Conrad Hendriksen (Oklahoma), 7-3.
No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) sv. No. 23 Diego Sotelo (Michigan), 4-1
No. 11 Nico Provo (Stanford) md. No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 15-3
No. 26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) d. No. 28 Dedrick Navarro (Northwestern), 4-2
133
No. 3 Evan Frost (Iowa State) fall Anthony Lucio (Cal Poly), 4:52.
Carter Schmidt (Oklahoma) d. Anthony Lucio (Cal Poly), 7-3.
141
No. 5 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) fall John Hildebrandt (Sacred Heart), 4:24.
No. 28 Nash Singleton (Oregon State) d. No. 5 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), 10-9.
No. 5 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) d. Billy DeKraker (Northwestern), 5-3.
No. 24 Tyler Wells (Oklahoma) medical forfeit No. 5 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly)
No. 29 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) medical forfeit No. 5 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly)
149
No. 3 Lachlan McNeil (Michigan) d. Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly), 8-1.
Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly) tech fall Carson Weber (Ohio), 17-2 (3:42).
Noah Tolentino (Oregon State) d. Andre Gonzales (Cal Poly), 8-5.
157
No. 23 Chance McLane (Arizona State) d. No. 32 Jagger French (Cal Poly), 8-1.
No. 32 Jagger French (Cal Poly) d. Ray Camil (VMI), 8-1.
No. 32 Jagger French (Cal Poly) d. Jeremiah Price (App State), 10-4.
No. 19 Jimmy Harrington (Harvard) d. No. 32 Jagger French (Cal Poly), 2-0.
165
No. 15 Ty Whalen (Princeton) tech fall Luke Gayer (Cal Poly), 15-0 (4:07).
No. 17 Dylan Gilcher (Michigan) d. Luke Gayer (Cal Poly), 9-6.
174
Cash Stewart (Cal Poly) d. Guillermo Escobedo (CSUB), 6-5.
No. 25 Carter Schubert (Oklahoma) d. Cash Stewart (Cal Poly), 4-1.
Cash Stewart (Cal Poly) md. Leo Tukhlynovych (Arizona State), 14-4.
No. 12 Brock Mantanona (Michigan) fall Cash Stewart (Cal Poly), 1:17.
Cash Stewart (Cal Poly) medical forfeit No. 21 Brody Baumann (Purdue)
184
No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) fall Chris Neal (CSUB), 3:46.
No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) d. Kole Mulhauser (Princeton), 5-4.
No. 7 Brock Mantanona (Michigan) md. No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly), 17-7
No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) d. Shay Addison (Arizona State), 11-10
No. 11 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) md. No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly), 14-4.
No. 21 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) medical forfeit No. 15 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia)
197
No. 29 Karson Tompkins (Air Force) md. Cole Jackson (Cal Poly), 11-0
Cole Jackson (Cal Poly) md. RJ Moore (Franklin & Marshall), 20-12
Cole Jackson (Cal Poly) d. Chris Delena (Sacred Heart), 4-2
Angelo Posada (Stanford) fall Cole Jackson (Cal Poly), 0:21
285
No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) medical forfeit Stephan Moncherry (App State)
No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) md. Parker Ferrell (Virginia Tech), 8-0
No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) d. No. 12 Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State, 6-2
No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) tech fall No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 23-4 (4:38)
No. 5 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) md. No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly), 9-1
No. 17 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) medical forfeit No. 10 Spencer Lanosga (Navy)
