Dec. 5, 2009

Cliff Keen Invite Results

/2010/2009_Las_Vegas_CK.pdf">here for day one results.

Primm, Nev.--The No. 18 Wisconsin wrestling team kicked off competition at the 28th annual Cliff Keen Invite Friday. The Badgers sit in 13th place with 47 points out of 42 teams entering Saturday. Redshirt freshman Tyler Graff (133 lbs.), senior Kyle Ruschell (149 lbs.) and sophomore Andrew Howe (165 lbs.) are still in contention for the titles in their respective weight classes.

Senior Drew Hammen is done competing at 125 lbs. and went 1-2 at the invite. He opened with a 2-0 win against Kasey Bertagnolli of Western Wyoming. Hammen then met No. 5 seed, Frank Perrelli of Cornell and lost in a 3-2 decision. Hammen was then bumped to the consolation bracket and dropped a 7-2 decision to Tony Mustari of Northen Colorado.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Graff is still in the running for the title at 133 lbs. Graff won three straight matches and will face No. 5 seed Boris Novachkov in a seminal match on Saturday. Graff entered the tournament with the No. 1 seed and defeated Akif Eren of Purdue 15-8 and advanced with a 13-5 decision over Kasey Garnhart of Wyoming. Graff then defeated No. 8 seed Ben Ashmore of Arizona State 12-3 to advance to the semifinals.

At 141 lbs., redshirt freshman Cole Schmitt went 3-2 at the invite. Schmitt's first win was against Andrew Schutt of Buffalo, 6-1. He went on to lose his next match to No. 1 seed Reece Humphrey 7-3 and was knocked down to the consolation bracket. Schmitt went 2-1 in the consolation bracket, dropping his last match of the day to Chris Drouin of Arizona State 11-7. In the wrestlebacks, Schmitt registered a 16-0 major decision over Matt Pagan of Navy and a 10-3 decision over No. 9 seed Mike Mangrum of Oregon State.

Senior Kyle Ruschell went 3-0 on the first day of competition, only allowing his opponents to score two total points against him. He will face No. 5 seed Jason Chamberlain of Boise State in a semifinal bout Saturday. Ruschell came in seeded No. 1 and defeated Purdue's Nick Bertucci 7-2 and advanced with a 5-0 shutout over Walter Peppelman of Harvard. Ruschell won his last match of the day over No. 9 seed Peter Yates of Virginia Tech to advance to the semifinals Saturday.

Junior Greg Burke is done competing at 157 lbs. Burke dropped his first match of the day 10-1 to Joe Booth of Drexel to knock him down to the consolation bracket. In his first match of the consolation bracket, Burke pinned Nick Jordan of Cal State Fullerton at 6:35. He then lost the following match by pin (6:20) to UNC Greensboro's Travis Sheehy.

At 165 lbs., sophomore Andrew Howe is still in contention for the title. He entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and went 3-0 on Friday. Howe began the day with a pin over SIUE's Blake Reed at 1:30. He then claimed a victory over James Nakashima of Nebraska by major decision 14-4. Howe then won his final match of the day against No. 8 seed Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma by a 6-1 decision, advancing Howe to the semifinal round.

Wisconsin wrestlers did not compete in either the 174 lbs. or 184 lbs. weight classes.

True freshman Jackson Hein is out of competition at 197 lbs. after going 1-2 at the invite. He lost his first match of the day to No. 11 seed Jimmy Hamel of Buffalo by a 3-2 decision, bumping him to the consolation bracket. He then defeated Tony Chavarria of CSU - Pueblo 7-4 and lost his final bout of the day by an 8-2 decision to Kamron Jackson of North Idaho.

Junior Eric Bugenhagen is also is out competition at heavyweight. Bugnehagen dropped his first match on Friday to No. 5 seed Clayton Jack of Oregon State 3-1. Bugenhagen was dropped down to the consolation bracket and was victorious over Adam Walls of Purdue by major decision, 16-4. He then dropped his next match to Matthew McLaughlin of Wyoming by a 6-3 decision, knocking him out of the tournament.

Make sure to check back to UWBadgers.com for final results from Saturday's action.

--------------

Justin Mozer