Wyoming Wrestling Set to Compete in Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite

LARAMIE – The University of Wyoming wrestling team is back in action this week, participating in the most competitive regular-season invitational.

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite is Friday and Saturday inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Action Friday begins at 10 a.m., while the competition gets underway Saturday at 11 a.m.

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“This tournament will be the deepest and toughest tournament we will see until NCAAs, so we need to go out and compete our best and take advantage of opportunities in front of us,” head coach Mark Branch said. “We will be in battles with top-ranked opponents and the details will matter tremendously if we want to get our hand raised.”

Wyoming and all the other competing teams are allotted one wrestler at each weight. The Pokes will trot out Jack Braman (125), No. 33 Stockton O’Brien (133), No. 28 Cole Brooks (141), No. 18 Gabe Willochell (149), No. 21 Jared Hill (157), Cooper Voorhees (165), Riley Davis (174), Eddie Neitenbach (184), No. 13 Joey Novak (197) and Kevin Zimmer (HWT).

A few of the above-mentioned Cowboys were awarded seeds within their respective brackets. Willochell is the No. 7 seed, Novak is the No. 8 seed and Brooks is the No. 11 seed.

Willochell and Novak each placed at last year’s Cliff Keen. Willochell took seventh, going 3-2, while Novak placed eighth with a 4-3 record that included three upset wins.

The competition Friday and Saturday represents Wyoming’s first invitational of the season. The Pokes are 2-2 on the year with wins over Campbell and Western Wyoming and losses at No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 22 Oklahoma.

Hill is the lone unblemished Cowboy, boasting a 4-0 record. He’s trailed in each of his four bouts this season, but has shown tremendous poise, rallying for victories, three of which were decided between one and three points.

Novak is 3-1 with a pair of pins and a ranked win. His 3-1 decision over Oklahoma’s No. 28 Bradley Hill was Novak’s 10th-career ranked victory.

O’Brien is 2-1, having missed the most recent dual in Norman, Oklahoma, with illness. He also owns a pair of pins and a ranked win in his first year as a Wyoming starter at 133.

Brooks is 2-2 with one ranked win. Willochell is the same story with a 2-2 mark and one ranked victory.

As Branch alluded to, Cliff Keen encompasses some of the very best teams in the nation. Seven of the top 10 in the NWCA Coaches’ Poll will be competing and five others that are ranked will be there, as well.

Following the Cliff Keen, Wyoming dips back into dual action. The Pokes travel to No. 1 Penn State on Dec. 15 for an 11 a.m. match inside Rec Hall.