Ohio State sends six to Saturday’s CKLV Invite semifinals

Photo: Ohio State’s Kollin Moore won four matches Friday at 197 pounds and is one of six Buckeyes to qualify for Saturday’s semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

By Mike Finn

Chase Singletary

LAS VEGAS — Chase Singletary may never be a Kyle Snyder, Ohio State’s former three-time NCAA champion and World/Olympic gold medalist.  But the redshirt freshman from Naples, Fla., proved the heavyweight spot in OSU’s lineup will not be a weak link for the Buckeyes this winter after Singletary won three matches as an unseeded wrestler Friday in the 37^thannual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Singletary, whose victories included a 6-5 second-round win over No. 2 seed Conan Jennings of Northwestern and a 4:33 pin against No. 10 Matt Stencel of Central Michigan, in the quarterfinals, is one of six Buckeyes who advance to the semifinals, which begin Saturday morning at 10 (PST). It also helped give Ohio State a team lead with 88 points. Other Buckeyes semifinalists include Luke Pletcher (133), Joey McKenna (141), Micah Jordan (149), Myles Martin (184) and Kollin Moore (197).

Standing in second place is Missouri with 77.5 points and three semifinalists: John Erneste (133), Jaydin Eierman (141) and Daniel Lewis (174). Rounding out the top five teams are Nebraska (four semifinalists, 64.5 points), Northern Iowa (four, 62) and Michigan (two, 48.5).

Singletary was one of three unseeded wrestlers to win quarterfinal bouts. The others were North Dakota State’s Brent Fleetwood, who defeated Nebraska’s Zeke Moisey, 10-3, in a battle of wrestlers who transferred from other schools; and Clarion’s Greg Bulsak, who defeated Virginia Tech’s Tom Sleigh, 8-1.

Another upset came at 157 pounds where Purdue’s Griffin Parriott, a No. 8 seed, stunned Nebraska’s No. 1 seed Tyler Barger, 4-2, in overtime.

Top 20 Teams After Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal results (Tourney seeds are listed before each name)

125 pounds

Northwestern’s Sebastian Rivera (top) gave up a takedown to Michigan’s Drew Mattin before rallying with five points to advance to the semis at 125 pounds. (John Sachs photo)

#1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. #8 Drew Mattin (Michigan), 5-2

US Brent Fleetwood  (North Dakota State) dec. #5 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska), 10-3

#3 Sean Russell (Minnesota) dec. #6 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), 2-0

#2 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) major dec. #7 Devin Schroder (Purdue), 12-2

133 pounds

#1 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. #8 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech), 7-2

#4 John Erneste (Missouri) pinned US Noah Gonser (Campbell University), 1:15

#6 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) dec. #3 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 4-0

#2 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. #7 Charles Tucker (Cornell), 4-3

141 pounds

#1 Joseph McKenna (Ohio State) dec. #8 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 8-3

#4 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) dec. #5 Nicholas Gil (Naval Academy), 2-1 TB2

#3 Michael Carr (Illinois) major dec. US Sam Turner (Wyoming), 14-3

#2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. #10 Kanen Storr (Michigan), 3-2

149 pounds

Duke’s Mitch Finesilver (left) advanced to the semis at 149 pounds after edging Northern Iowa’s Max Thomsen, 3-2. (John Sachs photo)

#1 Anthony Ashnault  (Rutgers) won by TF over US Alec Opsal (Air Force), 18-2 5:33

#5 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. #4 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), 3-2

#6 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) dec. #3 Grant Leeth (Missouri), 3-2

#2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) dec. #7 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina), 7-3

157 pounds

#8 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. #1 Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 4-2 SV

#5 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) major dec. US Eric Barone (Illinois), 12-4

#3 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) dec. #6 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 11-4

#2 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) major dec. #7 Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 11-2

165 pounds

#1 Logan Massa (Michigan) won by TF over #8 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 18-0 4:24

#4 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. #5 Joey Gunther (Illinois), 7-3

#3 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) dec. #6 Connor Flynn (Missouri), 6-3

#7 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. #2 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming), 3-1

174 pounds

#1 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. #8 Matthew Finesilver (Duke), 11-5

#4 Michael Labriola (Nebraska) dec. US Spencer Carey (United States Naval Academy), 6-2

#3 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) dec. #6 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 16-9

#2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned #10 Devin Skatzka Min (Minnesota), 2:27

184 pounds

#1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) major dec. #9 Lou Deprez Binghamton, NY (Binghamton), 13-3

#5 Maxwell Dean (Cornell) major dec. #4 Chip Ness (North Carolina), 10-0

#6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. #3 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 9-6

#2 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) pinned Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), 5:29

197 pounds

#1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) dec. #8 Ben Honis (Cornell), 7-2

#5 Christian Brunner IL (Purdue) dec. US Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley), 7-3

US Greg Bulsak (Clarion) dec. #6 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 8-1

#10 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec. US Jay Aiello (Virginia), 3-2

Heavyweight

Minnesota true freshman Gable Steveson won all three of his heavyweight bouts, one by fall, one by tech fall and one by major decision (over Fresno State’s A.J. Nevills). (John Sachs photo)

#1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) major dec. #8 AJ Nevills  (Fresno State), 15-6

#4 Cory Daniel (North Carolina) dec. US Jake Boyd (Oklahoma), 3-0

#6 David Orndorff (Utah Valley) dec. US Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 6-2

US Chase Singletary (Ohio State) pinned Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 4:33