Four semi-finalists are stepping up UM efforts at the Cliff Keen Invitational

»Michigan ranks fourth on the team table with 51 points after the first day at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational; Nebraska leads the team competition with 79.5 points.
» Jack Medley (£ 125), Dylan Ragusin (133), Cameron Amine (165) and Patrick Brucki (197) advanced to the semifinals.
» Cole Mattin (141), Will Lewan (157) and Max Maylor (174) are also alive in wrestling.

Website: Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas Convention Center)
Event: Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Day 1/2)
Situation of the UM team: 4th place out of 26 teams (51 points) after the first day
Next UM event: Saturday, December 4 – Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational – Day 2 (Las Vegas, November), 9 a.m. PST

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of Michigan Wrestling Team advanced in four semi-finals on the first day of the competition at the 39th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday (December 3) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In the three extra Wolverines alive consolation series, UM ranks fourth on the team table with 51 points.

Wolverines went 4-5 in the quarterfinals with a fifth-year parent Jack Medley (£ 125), sophomore / freshman Dylan Ragusin (133), junior / second student Cameron Amine (165) and a graduate student Patrick Brucki (197) all advance to the semifinals.

Medley, who finished 16th in the latest InterMat poll, earned a 6-3 decision in Colombia’s 17th place finish in Joe Manchio’s quarterfinals – his second win over the lion wrestler in two weeks. Medley made two raises and struck first from the robbery midway through the opening period before adding a late double in the second. Medley went 3-0 in the day and collected bonus points 18-3 in a technical crash against Jeremiah Reno of Nebraska in the second round after four draws and eight rebounds.

Ragus, who finished 16th nationally, cruised in a 16-1 technical drop against Navy Josh Koderhandt in the £ 133 quarter-finals. He opened it early at six points, with his feet on a single leg less than a minute before the start of the match and recorded a total of 10 back points before finishing it at 4:43 with another elimination of one leg.

Amine, who finished 10th, placed one share in the fading seconds of a sudden period, defeating Harvard’s 12th place in Philip Conigliaro’s £ 3-1,165 quarter-finals. Amine accelerated the pace throughout the match and received a hangout warning, but not two. He shot the single in for 30 seconds on the clock, made a couple of adjustments to the edge of the mat and had only six seconds left to finish.

Brucki, who finished eighth with 197 pounds, made three removes and dominated from start to finish in an 8-5 decision against Ohio State Gavin Hoffman in the quarterfinals. He cut off Hoffman to reach the bonus, but gave up the fight at the end of the second round to narrow the score. Brucki earned bonus points in both of his preliminary matches, including a 13-3 major decision against Minnesota’s Michial Foy in the second round. He won the early deficit of the match by making depreciation at the end of the first and second innings before opening it with a six-point pancake in the third.

The Wolverines also have three survivors in wrestling. Junior / second student Will Lewan, finishing 15th with 157 pounds, dropped a 6-3 decision to Princeton’s fifth-place Quincy Monday in the quarter-finals of the first and second round deletions. Lewan opened the day with a 3-1 decision from Ohio State’s Bryce Hepner and finished in one leg in the final five seconds of the second period to make a difference.

Junior / second student Cole Mattin and senior / junior Max Maylor also recovered from early losses by wrestling 141 and 174 pounds. Mattin used a fur coat to make the first set pin (2:44) against Michael Zarif of Binghamton in his final match of the day.

Maylor concluded the return of the third episode for a day in a row. He made two lifts in the last 90 seconds against Michael Squires at Princeton. He fought one leg for the latter and split his legs creatively with two back points in a late 11-10 decision. He then beat Albert Urias of CSU Bakersfield 4-3 in the evening session. After giving up the green removal in the middle of the third, Maylor escaped and then ended up on the edge at the edge for six seconds at the clock.

Michigan will return to operations on Saturday (December 4) on the second and final day of competition 2021 at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. UM hits the carpet at 9 a.m. PST in the semifinals and continuous wrestleback rounds, while the championship finals begin at 3 p.m. All matches are played at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Top 10 teams (after day 1)

 1. Nebraska         79.5
 2. Ohio State       71
 3. Purdue           53
 4. Michigan         51
 5. Northwestern     44.5
 6. Oregon State     44
 7. Wyoming          43
 8. Cornell          38.5
 9. Cal Poly         35
10. Oklahoma         30.5

Michigan scores (day 1)

The numbers listed are tournament seeds

£ 125 – Jack Medley

First Round – December Joshua Portillo (Nebraska Kearney), 6-1
Second round technology. Autumn Jeremiah Reno (Nebraska), 18-3 (7:00)
Semifinals – December # 5 Joe Manchio (Colombia), 6-3
Semifinals – vs. 1. Patrick Glory (Princeton)

£ 133 – # 3 Dylan Ragusin

First round – Heippa
Second round – December Dominic LaJoie (Cornell), 10-4
Semifinals – Technical Fall Josh Koderhandt (Navy), 16-1 (4:43)
Semifinals – vs. # 7 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley)

£ 141 – Cole Mattin

First Round – December Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwest), 3-2
Second Round – December Author # 4 Grant Willits (Oregon State), 6-1
Comfort – December Zack Zeamer (Oklahoma), 6-2
Comfort – catch Michael Zarif (Binghamton), 2:44
Comfort – vs. # 7 Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly)

£ 149 – # 8 Kanen Storr

First round – Heippa
Second round – injury def. by # 9 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota), 2:31 AM
withdrew to a 0-1 record

£ 157 – 7 Will Lewan

First round – Heippa
Round Two – December # 10 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State), 3-1
Semifinals – December by # 2 Quincy Monday (Princeton), 6-3
Comfort – vs. Charles Darracott (Stanford)

£ 165 – # 4 Cameron Amine

First Round – December Clayton Wilson (Nebraska), 5-3
Second Round – Great December Scott Jarosz (Sacred Heart), 10-2
Semifinals – December # 5 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard), 3-1 SV
Semifinals – vs. 1. Evan Wick (Cal Poly)

£ 174 – Max Maylor

First round – December Aaron Ayzerov (Colombia), 7-5
Second round technology. drop # 2 Ethan Smith (Ohio State), 26-9 (6:52)
Consolation – December Michael Squires (Princeton), 11-10
Comfort – December Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield), 4-3
Comfort – vs. # 4 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming)

£ 197 – # 2 Patrick Brucki

First Round – Great December Mateo Morales (CSU Baksersfield), 13-2
Round Two – Great December # 15 Michial Foy (Minnesota), 13-3
Semifinals – December # 10 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio), 8-5
Semifinals – vs. # 3 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming)

Heavyweight – Blake Querio

First Round – December # 2 Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 6-0
Comfort – drew Lee Herrington (Nebraska Kearney), 2: 2
Dropped to a 0-2 record