Dec. 4, 2010
Day One Results 
LAS VEGAS - The No. 4 ranked Wisconsin wrestling team currently sits in fifth place after day one of the 29th Annual Cliff Keen Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center. No. 1 junior Andrew Howe (165 lbs.), No. 3 redshirt sophomore Tyler Graff (133 lbs.) and No. 11 junior Travis Rutt (184 lbs.) went undefeated in day one and will compete for the title in their respective weight classes on Saturday beginning with the tournament semifinals.
Howe looks to garner his second-straight title in the tournament after acquiring the honor last year. Graff makes his second-straight run at the title after falling in the semifinal round in 2009.
No. 1 Cornell finished on top after day one with 78.5 points and No. 8 Oklahoma finished second with 74.5. Not far behind are No. 6 Boise State (67.0) and No. 21 Michigan (59.5) at third and fourth place, respectively. The Badgers are four points behind Michigan with 55.5 to round out the top five teams in the field of 36.
As the top seed at 165 lbs., Howe began the tournament with a bye and kicked off competition by pinning Mike Fucci (Grand Canyon) at 6:19. The junior earned a trip to the quarterfinals after defeating San Francisco State's Isaiah Jimenez, 6-1 in the third round and concluded the day with a 6-1 quarterfinal win over Illinois' Conrad Poin. The defending NCAA Division I Champion looks to earn his second-straight Cliff Keen title on Saturday beginning with the semifinal round against No. 4 seed Paul Gillespie (Hofstra).
Junior Travis Rutt also earned a trip to the semifinals as the No. 3 seed after logging a 10-2 victory over Utah Valley University's Casen Eldredge and pinning Cal State Bakersfield's Troy Goodban at 3:48. The No. 11 ranked contender at 184 lbs. wrapped up the day with a 4-2 win over No. 6 seed Thomas Spellman of Virginia Tech. Rutt makes his first semifinal appearance at the Cliff Keen Invite against No. 7 North Carolina-Greensboro's Andrew Saunders. Rutt recorded victories over Spellman and Saunders in the Badgers' opening weekend Nov. 19-21.
Graff had a bye in the first round as the No. 2 seed at 133 lbs. In the second round he recorded a 19-4 technical fall over Grand Canyon's Todd Wilcox and defeated Indiana's Matt Ortega in the third round with a 17-2 technical fall in 4:57 to advance to the quarterfinals. Graff enters the semifinals for the second-straight year after defeating No. 10 seed Bernanrd Futrell with a 14-9 decision in the quarterfinals. Graff faces off against No. 6 seed Lou Ruggierello (Hofstra) in the semifinals Saturday.
Seven other Badgers' competed on Friday, but dropped to the consolation bracket after slating a loss in the top bracket including three Badgers who fell in the quarterfinals.
Redshirt sophomore Cole Schmitt, who is ranked No. 18 in the nation at 149 lbs., slated a 2-1 record on the day. As the No. 1 seed, Schmitt cemented a 12-2 major decision over Southern Illinois Edwardsville's Derrick Pousson and a 7-1 victory over No. 10 seed Justin Accordino (Hofstra) to advance to the quarterfinals. Schmitt's day ended with a hard-fought battle when No. 2 seed Corey Jantzen (Harvard) pinned him at :27.
Wrestling at 174 lbs., redshirt sophomore No. 19 Ben Jordan entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed. In the first round, Jordan capped an exciting victory over Cal State Fullerton's Bryce Whitehead at 0:44. He slated another victory with a 4-1 decision over No. 8 seed Justin Zeerip (Michigan) to advance to the tournament's quarterfinals.
Currently ranked No. 13 at heavyweight, redshirt senior Eric Bugenhagen, finished the day with a 3-1 record as the No. 4 seed. He opened competition by recording a 13-4 major decision over Cornell's Clinton Snyder. In the second round, Bugenhagen defeated Boise State's T. J. Felix, 7-3. However, in the quarterfinals he fell to Michigan's No. 12 seed Ben Apland to drop to the consolation round.
At 125 lbs., freshman Shane McQuade dropped a 17-5 major decision to North Dakota State's Trent Sprenkle in the first round. In the wrestle backs he had a bye in the first round but fell to Illinois' Logan Arlis, 7-4.
At 141 lbs., Danny Arnel was able to forgo the first round with a bye but dropped an 8-2 decision to Central Michigan's Scott Mattingly in the second round. In the consolation bracket he had back-to-back byes before defeating Joseph Allie of Harvard 5-3.
No. 12 seed Kalvin York represented the Badgers at 157 lbs. The freshman had a bye in his opening match and defeated Curtis Cook of Utah Valley University with a 4-1 decision. However, Indiana's No. 5 seed Paula Young recorded a major decision over York (14-4) in the third round. York wrapped up competition with the wrestlebacks and fell to Cal State Bakersfield's Andrew Balch, 9-7.
As the No. 10 seed at 197 lbs., Derrick Borlie dropped the first round to North Idaho College's Jamelle Jones, 7-4. However, in the consolation bracket, he is still in the running for third place after slating several wins including one victory by pin over North Carolina State's KaRonne Jones.
Consolation action begins at 11 a.m. (CT) and the semifinals set to begin at noon (CT). Check out the tournament bracket at InterMatWrestle.com to see a complete list of Saturday's matchups.
Make sure to check back to UWBadgers.com for final results from Saturday's action.
