Gophers Take Fourth In Las Vegas

In a city famous for its big winners, two Gophers hit the jackpot on Saturday night, winning individual titles at the 35th annual Cliff Keen Invitational and helping their team finish fourth in a field heavy with some of the nation’s highest-ranked teams.

Unranked 157-pounder Jake Short and the nation’s second-ranked 197-pounder Brett Pfarr won individual titles, leading a pack of five place winners for the Gophers, a quintet that also included No. 8 Michael Kroells (third at heavyweight), Mitch McKee (fourth at 133 pounds) and Nick Wanzek (eighth at 174). The Gophers finished fourth as a team with 100 points, just three behind third-place Virginia Tech and 18.5 off the lead pace set by Big Ten rival Ohio State. The fourth-place finish is Minnesota’s third straight, top-four finish in the prestigious national event.

“It was a positive weekend. I think the guys competed really well,” said head coach Brandon Eggum. “Everybody made gains, even some of the guys that weren’t satisfied with where they finished. Everybody had something positive from this weekend. As we’re continuing to try to get better, it’s nice to have a weekend like this provide some good momentum to build off.”

Short found himself in the championship bout after a brief match with No. 20 Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech) in the morning’s semifinals. Short finished a single-leg takedown early in the first period and Mastriani came up holding his lower leg, eventually defaulting the match due to injury. That victory put Short in the Las Vegas title match for the second straight season after a runner-up performance at 149 last December. Short exercised any demons from that finish, scoring the lone takedown of his finals contest with No. 10 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) in the first period and then fighting off several shots from Heffernan late to take the match, 3-2.

“Last year, I had a good tournament but I had an up-and-down year,” said Short. “This weekend, the biggest thing for me was just wrestling hard. I ended up getting my hand raised at the end of it, but I was able to give my full effort, which is a big step forward. I think my mentality has really changed. I’m excited for more competitions this year. It’s a process and we’re continuing to build.”

Short’s title was the second 157-pound title the Gophers have won in the event in the past three years. Dylan Ness also won that weight class back in 2014.

Pfarr looked dominant against top-tier competition throughout both days of the event, winning all five of his matches with bonus points, scoring three major decisions and two tech falls. After earning a major over No. 12 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) in the morning session, Pfarr looked even more impressive in his last match of the tournament, a 14-1 victory over Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) the third-ranked wrestler in his weight class. Including an early season exhibition, Pfarr has now defeated Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the country, cementing his position in the national rankings.

“It was really exciting to get that win and get first place,” said Pfarr. “But like Coach Eggum says, there’s always things to improve on. It’ll be good to take a step back later this week, watch myself wrestle and look for where I can get better. Every day, I just want to get a little bit better for the national tournament.”

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After a semifinal defeat in the morning, Kroells cruised to an 8-1 victory over No. 16 Billy Miller (Edinboro) to advance to the third-place match. In that contest, he took advantage of an opportunity to avenge a loss to No. 4 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) earlier this season. In a match that featured no takedowns, it was Kroells’ ability to ride out Hall for 30 seconds in the second set of tiebreakers that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 decision.

True freshman McKee surprised at 133 pounds wrestling above his seventh seed and taking fourth place. In his consolation semifinal, McKee picked up his first career victory over a ranked opponent when he shut out No. 16 Anthony Tutolo (Kent State), keeping his higher-ranked foe on the mat for the majority of their match to earn a 3-0 decision. McKee feel to No. 18 Mark Grey (Cornell) in the third-place match.

Nick Wanzek placed eight for the Gophers, clinching a podium finish after beating a wrestler ranked above him for the second time in as many weeks when he dispatched No. 11 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) in their Round of 12 match-up. Wanzek suffered a minor injury during that contest and was forced to medically forfeit his remaining matches, placing him eighth in the event.

The Gophers have a history of wrestling well in Vegas. Though national polls often rank teams based on their dual performances, the Gophers were the seventh-highest ranked team in the Vegas field, meaning they wrestled above their ranking in taking fourth. Minnesota’s five placewinners are the most it has had in the event since 2014 and their two champions matches the total from that year.

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Open Results

The Gophers will jump back into their dual meet schedule next weekend when the team heads to the Great Lakes State for its first two Big Ten duals of the season. Minnesota will begin the trip with a visit to East Lansing to take on Michigan State on Friday night. On Sunday, the Maroon and Gold will be in Ann Arbor to challenge No. 10 Michigan.

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