University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Roll into Vegas this Weekend
11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
After firing up the dual meet season with a pair of home matches in the past two weeks, Minnesota will head west and take a quick respite from dual action to compete in the 35th annual Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. Minnesota has been a frequent participant in the event over the years, a run that includes a pair of team titles (2002, 2014). Most recently, the Gophers placed third last December.
When, Where and How
The tournament's opening session will get going at 11 a.m. Central on Friday morning from the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center. That window will include championship bouts through the round of 16 and both sets of consolation rounds of 16. Starting at 8 p.m. Central that night, the second session will include quarterfinal and Round of 12 consolation matches. Action resumes at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday with consolation round of eight, followed immediately by semifinals on both the championship and consolation side, as well as fifth- and seventh-place matches. At 5 p.m. Central, the tournament's final session will include championship and third-place bouts.
Fans will be able to stream the action live on Flowrestling.org (live stream requires a FloPRO subscription) or keep tabs on the latest updates involving Minnesota's wrestlers by following Gopher Wrestling on Twitter (@GopherWrestling).
Dinkytown to the Desert
A mixture of the lineups that have taken the mat at the Sports Pavilion for the team's two opening duals will don the Maroon singlets this weekend: Skyler Petry (125), Mitch McKee (133), Gannon Volk (141), Fredy Stroker (149), Jake Short (157), Brandon Kingsley (165), No. 14 Nick Wanzek (174), Bobby Steveson (184), No. 2 Brett Pfarr (197) and No. 8 Michael Kroells (285).
So Far This Season
This weekend's competition will be the third tournament for Minnesota's starters so far this season but the first to keep a team score.
The team kicked off the 2016-17 campaign at the Daktronics Open, where Ethan Lizak captured the 125-pound title. The lineup Minnesota will wrestle this weekend includes three finalists from that tournament and two third-place finishers. McKee, Short and Kroells were runners-up at their weights, while Petry and Wanzek finished third. Pfarr did not compete in the event, as he was in Cleveland for the NWCA All-Star Classic. Also worth noting that 184-pound starter Steveson wrestled at 197, where he took fourth.
In a less-conventional tournament format, Minnesota competed at the Journeymen/Asics Collegiate Classic in Troy, N.Y. earlier this month. In that pool-based, round-robin event, four Gophers won titles. The two who will wrestle this weekend are McKee and Pfarr.
A Nationally Elite Field
The field in Las Vegas will provide the opportunity for a collection of key matches. Brackets will not be available until closer to the event but, based on the participating teams, they will be jam-packed with outstanding wrestlers at every weight. Including No. 18 Minnesota, nine top-20 teams (based on the latest NWCA poll) will be in the event: No. 4 Ohio State, No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 8 Cornell, No. 10 Michigan, No. 14 Central Michigan, No. 15 Stanford, No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 19 Arizona State. Coincidentally, the same number of top-20 teams were in last year's field. Beyond that collection, familiar foes for Minnesota including Iowa State and Purdue will be in Vegas.
What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas… Except Tournament Records
Three Gophers will return to the event after reaching the finals last season. Pfarr finished as the runner-up at 197 last year and will likely be the top seed at that weight this weekend. Kroells finished as the runner-up at 285. His opponent in his semifinal victory and championship defeat, Tanner Hall (Arizona State) and Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), respectively, are both expected to wrestle this weekend. Short reached the finals at 149 pounds last year and will look to replicate that feat at 157.
Five Gophers will be wrestling in the tournament for the first time: McKee, Volk, Stroker, Wanzek and Steveson.
As a team, Minnesota has twice won the event, first claiming the crown in 2002 and then again in 2014. Last year, the team finished third in the team standings behind only Missouri and Cornell.
Parting Shot
In addition to a strong run of bonus-point wins up and down the lineup (16 such wins out of 32 total match victories by Gophers), Short helped fuel Minnesota's third-place finish in last year's Cliff Keen Invitational by finishing second at 149 pounds despite entering the event unranked. Seven Gopher wrestlers will try to replicate that feat this weekend, including Short, who enters the event unranked at 157.
Stay Connected
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