Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Griffin Caps Impressive Weekend with Second-Place Finish at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
LAS VEGAS, NV – Elijah Griffin capped off a historic 4-1 run at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational, becoming Rider's first-ever finalist and highest overall placer in program history at the event.

141-pound Semifinals
No. 20/26 Elijah Griffin vs No. 28 Nash Singleton (Oregon State)
Griffin came out firing, pushing the pace early with a series of fakes that forced Singleton into reaction mode. That pressure opened the door for the first score, and Griffin capitalized to take a 3-0 lead. A Singleton escape trimmed it to 3-1 heading into the second.

Starting the period on bottom, Griffin quickly earned his escape to extend the advantage to 4-1. Moments later, he struck again—driving in on a straight-on double, transitioning to a single, and finishing cleanly for a 7-1 lead. He then went to work on top, putting together a tough ride that secured over a minute of riding time and kept Singleton down for the rest of the period.

Singleton managed an escape in the third, but with riding time locked in, Griffin closed out an 8-2 decision. The victory sends him to the finals, making him the first Cliff Keen Invitational finalist in program history.

Griffin entered the finals, outscoring his opponents 41-9. 

141-pound Final
No. 20/26 Elijah Griffin vs No. 6 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State)
After a strong defensive start by both wrestlers, the match went into the second period scoreless. Griffin chose bottom to begin the period and quickly escaped in the first five seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Echemendia responded with a duck to a bear hug for the bout's first takedown, moving ahead 3-1. Griffin added another escape to cut it to 3-2, but Echemendia secured a second takedown in the closing seconds of the period to extend his lead to 6-2.

Echemendia opted to start neutral in the final period, and the score would hold the rest of the way, as Griffin fell by a 6-2 decision and finished as the tournament's runner-up after entering as the six seed.

Quotes and Notes
"Congrats to Eli for becoming our program's ever finalist at the CKLV. He scored points and wrestled with confidence this weekend. The rest of the guys gained valuable experience and will be better down the road as a result. It's tournaments like the CKLV that get our guys ready for the rest of the season, especially the MAC and NCAA Championships." – Rider Head Coach John Hangey

Up Next
The Broncs return to action on Dec. 14 when they host No. 20 Oklahoma inside Alumni Gym. Match is set for 1 p.m.


Ohio Wraps Up Weekend at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Ohio wrestling traveled west to Las Vegas, Nev. to compete with some of the nation's best collegiate wrestlers in the Cliff Keen Collegiate Invitational Dec. 5-6. The Bobcats finished the two-day tournament with 28 points to place 19^th out of 30 teams.

Redshirt Senior Sal Perrine (Northfield, Ohio) was an outstanding performer for the Bobcats over the weekend, placing sixth in the 184 lb. bracket. Perrine, pre-seeded 11^th in the 184 lb. bracket, started off his tournament with a 2-1 decision win over 18^th ranked Ian Bush of West Virginia. Following a decision loss to 10^th ranked Issac Dean of Iowa State, Perrine rattled off consecutive ranked wins, defeating 26^th ranked James Rowley of Purdue and 15^th ranked Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia by fall at 4:23. After a defeat to 12^th ranked Brian Soldano of Oklahoma, Perrine moved to the 5^th place match where he would again face Iowa State's Dean. After a hard fought battle that lasted into the third overtime period, Perrine narrowly dropped the match to finish the weekend in sixth place.

Redshirt Junior Derek Raike (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) was another standout for the Bobcats, continuing a strong recent run of form with a seventh place finish in the 157 lb. bracket. Raike rebounded from a round of 32 defeat to top ranked Ty Watters of West Virginia with a dominant 13-3 major decision victory over Wyoming's Antonio Avila in the consolation round of 16. Raike  continued his momentum from there, rattling off decision victories over 33^rd ranked Drayden Morton of Cal Baptist and 14^th ranked Cael Swensen of San Diego State to reach the consolation round of four. After a defeat to 23^rd ranked Chance McLane of Arizona State, Raike rebounded to defeat 19^th ranked Jimmy Harrington of Harvard by medical forfeit to claim seventh place.  
 
The Bobcats return to the mat on December 20, when they travel to North Carolina to face Davidson. The meet will start at 1 p.m.


Edinboro vs. Cliff Keen Las Vegas invitational
Recap coming soon...


Barr, Thomas, and Simmerman Take Home The Bolt as Flashes Shine at Kent State Open
KENT, Ohio– The Kent State Wrestling team turned in an impressive outing in their first Home Open of the season. Ethan Barr(174), Trent Thomas(184) and Brentan Simmerman(285) all came away victorious as champions in their respective weight classes while the team produced 17 place-finishers on the day.

The Golden Flashes tied Minnesota and Ohio State with three winners each in the ten weight classes. Winning the first top finish for the Blue and Gold was Trent Thomas who took down his teammate Ronnie Dimmerling in a 4-2 Decision. Dimmerling finished second after an impressive win in the semifinals over Central Michigan's Cody Brenner 5-2.

Ethan Barr won shortly after taking the lead in the final seconds and beating Clayton Whiting(Minnesota) in a close 7-6 match. Brentan Simmerman won the final match of the day by scoring a takedown in the final round to secure a 4-1 Decision over Bennett Tabor(Minnesota) to take home The Bolt.

Other Second-Place finishers included Mason Tieffel(141) and freshman Silas Stits(149) with losses to Indiana's Lucas Peters and Minnesota's Jager Eisch respectively. Adan Benavidez(133), Landen Duncan(141), Keegan Knapp(157), Chris Earnest(165), Holden Martin(184) and Blake Schaffer(197) all finished in third-place. Martin completed the top-three sweep for the Golden Flashes at the 184-pound class.

Freshman Mason Higley(197) and redshirt freshman Ty Deericks(165) took home fourth-place. Nico Callelo(125) and Nate Roth(149) recorded fifth-place finishes while Abel Ngoh(285) earned a top-six finish as well.

Up Next
The Golden Flashes will be back in action at home in the Kent State Fieldhouse on Thursday when they host a tri-meet with Bellarmine and Edinboro. The contest with the Fighting Scots will be the first MAC Dual of the season for the Blue and Gold. Kent State is set to hit the mat at 6 P.M. while Bellarmine and Edinboro will go head-to-head beforehand. 


Huskies Conclude Action at Cliff Keen | Results
LAS VEGAS, Nev.—The Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling team concluded action at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this afternoon (December 6) with three Huskies landing on the podium.
 
Brett Smith took eighth place at 165 pounds. Spencer Mooberry earned an eighth-place finish at 197 pounds while Devon Dawson took eighth at 285 pounds.
 
"We were happy to see some guys rebound from a tough start out here," said head coach Ryan Ludwig. "We nabbed a few great wins along the way that should serve guys well down the road heading into postseason. There's a lot to learn from competing in a tournament of this caliber and we are motivated to push forward from here."
 
Smith opened his day taking on Cesar Alvan of Columbia as he dropped a 1-0 decision. In the seventh-place match, Smith faced off against Shawn Taylor of West Virginia, falling in a 5-3 decision.
 
Mooberry took on Angelo Posada of Stanford in his first match, losing via fall. In the seventh-place match, Mooberry battled No. 28 Ben Vanadia of Purdue. Mooberry fell in the match via an 11-4 decision.
 
At 285 pounds, Dawson was the only Huskie to face back-to-back ranked wrestlers today. Dawson, who is ranked No. 25 via College Wrestling Report, fell to No. 5 Tay Ghadiali of Michigan in a technical fall in the first match of the day. Dawson faced off against No. 19 Luke Rasmussen of South Dakota State in the seventh-place match, losing in sudden victory.
 
 
NIU's Carroll Takes First at Jim Koch Wisconsin Open
Kenosha, Wis.—Sean Carroll took first at the Jim Koch Wisconsin Open this afternoon as he was one of three Huskies to compete at the tournament.

Carroll claimed the top spot at 285 pounds while Tee Ward (Freemont, Mich./Freemont) took fourth place at 141 pounds. Ali Adel (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) grabbed a fifth-place finish at 184 pounds for the Huskies.
 
Carroll extended his winning streak to seven and opened up action with a 5-2 decision win over Marko Ivanisevic. Carroll posted a 14-3 major decision in the semifinals over Tanner Gormanson of UW-Parkside before defeating Torin Forsyth from Central Missouri for a second time this season with a 7-3 decision.
 
Ward opened his day with his first win via fall of the season, taking down Central Missouri's Cody Culp in 1:06. Ward added a win over Simon Kruse of Wisconsin with a 12-8 decision before falling in the semifinal match to Kale Petersen of Iowa via technical fall. Ward posted an 8-3 decision in the consolation semifinals over Jordan Craft of UW-Parkside. In the third-place match, Ward fell via major decision to Brock Bobzien of Wisconsin for a fourth-place finish.
 
At 184 pounds, Adel opened his day with a technical fall victory over Adler Osborn of UW-Parkside. Adel defeated a second UW-Parkside grappler in Lowell Arnold with a 7-3 decision before falling to Gabe Arnold of Iowa in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Adel lost to Bradley Mayse of Grand Valley State in a 10-4 decision before winning the fifth-place match over Caden Gousetis of Maryville in a 4-2 decision.
 
The Huskies enter a 13-day break before they open the dual season at home on December 19. NIU Wrestling will host Oregon State for a 7 p.m. dual inside the Convocation Center.