Oklahoma State Wrestling Has Strong First Day in Cliff Keen Tourney - Six to the Semis

LAS VEGAS – Oklahoma State sent six wrestlers to the semifinals as its entire lineup secured podium spots on the first day of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

The Cowboys ended Friday night in first place with 105 team points, 21.5 ahead of second-place Nebraska, and are the only team in the field with more than seven wrestlers remaining. It was a dominant day across the board for OSU, compiling a 29-4 record in 33 matches and securing bonus points 20 times, good for a 61% clip. They were also undefeated in 13 conference matches, in addition to beating 13 ranked opponents throughout the day.

“We had a good day today,” said head coach David Taylor. “This is a tough tournament, and our guys are doing a good job of going out and just looking to score points. It was nice to see guys finish periods and matches on top. It’s good for them, good for our team, and we got to look forward to some tough matches tomorrow.”

Oklahoma State’s performance on Friday marked a stark improvement from last season’s showing, which resulted in three placers, one champion and a ninth-place team finish.

Troy Spratley cruised to the 125-pound semifinals with a pin over West Virginia’s Jace Schafer, technical fall over UNI’s Kyle Gollhofer and tight 3-0 decision over 10th-ranked Brendan McCrone of Ohio State to seal his spot in the final four. The showing improved Spratley to 7-0 on the season and 2-0 against top 10 opponents. He’ll open Saturday with a highly anticipated match against third-ranked Matt Ramos of Purdue.

Moving up to 141 pounds, Tagen Jamison followed suit by clinching another spot in the semifinals. Like the rest of the team, he did so through several bonus-point victories, starting with a dominant 15-0 shutout against Wyoming’s 28th-ranked Cole Brooks. Jamison escaped his recent matchup with Brooks with a 7-4 overtime victory, but proved to be too much this time around. He then blew past Harvard’s Jameson Garcia in the quarterfinals and will face Nebraska’s No. 4 Brock Hardy tomorrow, a series that was split one apiece last year.

The third Cowboy to earn a spot in the semifinals was 165-pounder Cameron Amine, who only surrendered three points all day and picked up three decisions against Big 12 opponents.

Dean Hamiti Jr. continued his dominant season at 174 pounds, winning every match with bonus points, including a technical fall against 15th-ranked Brevin Cassella of Binghamton in the quarterfinals. He is now 7-0 on the year with a 100% bonus rate. Dustin Plott forged a similar path at 184, winning both of his matches via technical fall to cruise into the semifinal round.

Top-seeded Wyatt Hendrickson ran through the heavyweight competition, ending each of his bouts before the third period. He needed less than 90 seconds to pin both No. 28 Luke Rasmussen (SDSU) and Purdue’s Hayden Filipovich, while notching a second-period technical fall against Iowa State’s Daniel Herrera.

Carter Young had a solid day at 149 pounds, highlighted by a 14-7 win over Cornell’s No. 14 Ethan Fernandez. He also produced a tight match against defending national champion Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech, scoring the match’s first takedown before ultimately falling, 6-3. Young then bounced back against Michigan’s Cameron Catrabone by winning a back-and-forth match, 13-10, to secure a spot on the podium.

Making his first official start as a Cowboy was 157-pounder Caleb Fish, who went 4-1 and ended his day with a 13-5 major decision against 12th-ranked Chase Saldate of Michigan. At 133 pounds, Reece Witcraft took a loss in his round of 32 match but, like Fish, rattled off three straight victories in consolations to claim a spot on the podium.

Luke Surber also impressed as he won three of four matches and beat a pair of ranked wrestlers on the day. After dropping out of the 2023 CKLV Invitational due to injury, Surber has a chance to finish as high as third tomorrow.

Session III begins Saturday at noon CT as Oklahoma State looks to bring home the team championship, as well as multiple individual titles.

Team Standings

1. Oklahoma State – 105 points

2. Nebraska – 83.5 points

3. Iowa State – 71.5 points

4. Ohio State – 69 Points

5. Northern Iowa – 62.5 points

6. Stanford – 58 points

7. Virginia Tech – 57.5 points

8. Michigan – 55 points

9. South Dakota State – 45.5 points

10. Purdue – 42.5 points

No. 4 Troy Spratley, 125 Pounds

Round of 32: No. 4 Troy Spratley fall Jace Schafer (WVU), 1:21

Round of 16: No. 4 Troy Spratley TF Kyle Gollhofer (UNI), 17-2, 4:16

Quarterfinals: No. 4 Troy Spratley dec. No. 10 Brendan McCrone (OHST), 3-0

*Semifinals: No. 4 Troy Spratley vs. No. 3 Matt Ramos (PUR)

Reece Witcraft, 133 Pounds

Round of 32: Troy Hohman (NCST) fall Reece Witcraft, 3:57

Consolation Round of 16 #2: Reece Witcraft MD Kase Mauger (UVU), 14-4

Consolation Round of 8 #1: Reece Witcraft MD Chase Liardi (HOF), 10-2

Consolation Round of 8 #2: Reece Witcraft med. forfeit No. 27 Cory Land (UNI)

*Consolation Round of 4: Reece Witcraft vs. No. 28 Derrick Cardinal (SDSU)

No. 10 Tagen Jamison, 141 Pounds

Round of 16: No. 10 Tagen Jamison TF No. 28 Cole Brooks (WYO), 15-0, 7:00

Quarterfinals: No. 10 Tagen Jamison MD Jameson Garcia (HARV), 11-2

*Semifinals: No. 10 Tagen Jamison vs. No. 4 Brock Hardy (NEB)

No. 20 Carter Young, 149 Pounds

Round of 32: No. 20 Carter Young MD Ayden Garver (ORST), 13-4

Round of 16: No. 20 Carter Young dec. No. 14 Ethan Fernandez (CORN), 14-7

Quarterfinals: No. 1 Caleb Henson (VT) dec. No. 20 Carter Young, 6-3

Consolation Round of 8 #2: No. 20 Carter Young dec. Cameron Catrabone (MICH), 13-10

*Consolation Round of 4: No. 20 Carter Young vs. No. 17 Colin Realbuto (UNI)

Caleb Fish, 157 Pounds

Round of 32: Caleb Fish TF Anthony Conetta (APP) 18-1, 4:13

Round of 16: No. 11 Trevor Chumbley (NW) dec. Caleb Fish, 8-4

Consolation Round of 16 #2: Caleb Fish TF Ryker Fullmer (UVU), 18-3, 6:08

Consolation Round of 8 #1: Caleb Fish dec. Legend Lamer (POLY), 5-0

Consolation Round of 8 #2: Caleb Fish MD No. 12 Chase Saldate (MICH), 13-5

*Consolation Round of 4: Caleb Fish vs. No. 10 Paniro Johnson (ISU)

No. 9 Cameron Amine, 165 Pounds

Round of 32: No. 9 Cameron Amine dec. Drayden Morton (CBU), 3-1

Round of 16: No. 9 Cameron Amine dec. No. 25 Drake Rhodes (SDSU), 5-1

Quarterfinals: No. 9 Cameron Amine dec. No. 31 Jack Thomsen (UNI), SV-1 4-1

*Semifinals: No. 9 Cameron Amine vs. No. 20 Bubba Wilson (NEB)

No. 5 Dean Hamiti Jr., 174 Pounds

Round of 32: No. 5 Dean Hamiti Jr. TF Max Wilner (ASU), 18-1, 4:15

Round of 16: No. 5 Dean Hamiti Jr. MD No. 27 Joseph Walker (MICH), 10-2

Quarterfinals: No. 5 Dean Hamiti Jr. TF No. 15 Brevin Cassella (BING), 20-5, 6:11

*Semifinals: No. 5 Dean Hamiti Jr. vs. No. 13 Simon Ruiz (CORN)

No. 3 Dustin Plott, 184 Pounds

Round of 16: No. 3 Dustin Plott TF Dennis Robin (WVU), 19-4, 4:58

Quarterfinals: No. 3 Dustin Plott TF No. 26 James Rowley (PUR), 19-4, 4:34

*Semifinals: No. 3 Dustin Plott vs No. 31 Isaac Dean (RID)

No. 12 Luke Surber, 197 Pounds

Round of 32: No. 12 Luke Surber MD Ben Vanadia (PUR), 8-0

Round of 16: No. 12 Luke Surber dec. No. 26 Camden McDanel (NEB), 9-4

Quarterfinals: No. 11 Andy Smith (VT) dec. No. 12 Luke Surber, 4-3

Consolation Round of 8 #2: No. 12 Luke Surber MD No. 21 Nick Stemmet (STAN), 12-3

*Consolation Round of 4: No. 12 Luke Surber vs No. 20 Christian Carroll (ISU)

No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson, Heavyweight

Round of 32: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson fall Hayden Filipovich (PUR), 1:13

Round of 16: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson TF Daniel Herrera (ISU), 16-0, 4:17

Quarterfinals: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson fall No. 28 Luke Rasmussen (SDSU), 1:23

*Semifinals: No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson vs No. 8 Nick Feldman (Oh. St.)

* - indicates first match tomorrow