Friday, December 5
Las Vegas, Nev.
TBA
California Baptist University
vs
Cliff Keen Open
Photo by: Lauren Garcia
On The Edge
12/5/2014 5:29:00 PM | Wrestling
LAS VEGAS — As it has set out to do early this season, California Baptist University looked to impress against NCAA Division I competition and prepare for the NCAA Division II Championship at the Cliff Keen Invitational. The Lancers earned several highlight victories at the Las Vegas Convention Center Friday, taking down many Division I foes and pushing others to the limit with most of the wrestling world watching.
Eight Lancers made the trip to the prestigious event, with six -- Christian Betancourt, Nolan Kistler, Bradley Christensen, Christian Smith, Jacob Waste and David Dill -- earning at least one victory in the process. Christian Smith, a 174-pounder, was the lone Lancer to win his first-round match, defeating Citadel's Kenneth Radford, 13-5. In the second, he battled 10th-seeded Kurtis Jolson of North Dakota State before suffering a 9-3 loss. It was in the consolation bracket that Smith ran into fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wrestler Elliot Copeland from Western State Colorado, with Smith's stay at Cliff Keen ending in an 11-1 defeat.
While Waste did not advance to the second day of the Cliff Keen Invitational, he arguably had the most impressive outing for CBU. The 184-pounder received a tough draw in Arizona State's Blake Stauffer, the No. 3 seed, and fought valiantly before dropping a 4-0 decision. He rebounded with a technical fall of Division I opponent Cory Damiana of Grand Canyon before being dealt another sizable challenge in Nebraska's ninth-seeded Timothy Dudley in the nightcap. It was another battle that, unfortunately, went the other way for Waste in a 5-2 loss.Â
Based on seedings, Kistler was given the toughest draw of any Lancer at the Invitational. He opened up against Nebraska's James Green and moved into the consolation bracket after a technical fall to the second seed in the 157-pound bracket. He bounced back with a dominant 15-1 victory over Division I Samuel Kreimer of Air Force before his Invitational came to a close in a 15-6 loss to Cornell's Taylor Simaz.
Betancourt fell into the 125 consolation bracket after drawing eighth-seeded Tim Lambert of Nebraska in the first round. Betancourt picked up a victory over Virginia's Will Mason, 8-5, before his run came to a close with a technical fall to North Carolina's Joe DeAngelo.Â
Christensen suffered a 10-0 loss to Minnesota's Nicholas Wanzek, the 165 sixth seed, before he notched a 6-1 win over Western Wyoming's Hunter Riggs. Christensen looked to keep his day going, but suffered a 10-5 defeat to American's Brad Mutchnik.
Dill fell to Iowa State's Quean Smith in his opener in the heavyweight tournament, and kept his day alive with an 11-4 decision over American's Scott Augustine. Dill continued to impress for the Lancers against Virginia's Collin Campbell but ultimately dropped a 10-6 decision to Division I foe.
Alex Anunciation (141) and Paul Head (197) also competed at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Head dropped a competitive 4-0 match to North Carolina State's Michael Boykin and then fell to Jared Bartel of Northern Iowa, 7-1, in consolations. Anunciation fell to Northern Colorado's Benjamin Polkowske in his opener, 9-5, and then just fell to Division I Bakersfield's Timmy Box in the consolation bracket.
CBU will take about a month off from competition before heading to the Menlo Open on Jan. 3rd. The Lancers will open RMAC competition less than a week later at Colorado Mesa on Jan. 9th.
Complete Brackets
Eight Lancers made the trip to the prestigious event, with six -- Christian Betancourt, Nolan Kistler, Bradley Christensen, Christian Smith, Jacob Waste and David Dill -- earning at least one victory in the process. Christian Smith, a 174-pounder, was the lone Lancer to win his first-round match, defeating Citadel's Kenneth Radford, 13-5. In the second, he battled 10th-seeded Kurtis Jolson of North Dakota State before suffering a 9-3 loss. It was in the consolation bracket that Smith ran into fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wrestler Elliot Copeland from Western State Colorado, with Smith's stay at Cliff Keen ending in an 11-1 defeat.
While Waste did not advance to the second day of the Cliff Keen Invitational, he arguably had the most impressive outing for CBU. The 184-pounder received a tough draw in Arizona State's Blake Stauffer, the No. 3 seed, and fought valiantly before dropping a 4-0 decision. He rebounded with a technical fall of Division I opponent Cory Damiana of Grand Canyon before being dealt another sizable challenge in Nebraska's ninth-seeded Timothy Dudley in the nightcap. It was another battle that, unfortunately, went the other way for Waste in a 5-2 loss.Â
Based on seedings, Kistler was given the toughest draw of any Lancer at the Invitational. He opened up against Nebraska's James Green and moved into the consolation bracket after a technical fall to the second seed in the 157-pound bracket. He bounced back with a dominant 15-1 victory over Division I Samuel Kreimer of Air Force before his Invitational came to a close in a 15-6 loss to Cornell's Taylor Simaz.
Betancourt fell into the 125 consolation bracket after drawing eighth-seeded Tim Lambert of Nebraska in the first round. Betancourt picked up a victory over Virginia's Will Mason, 8-5, before his run came to a close with a technical fall to North Carolina's Joe DeAngelo.Â
Christensen suffered a 10-0 loss to Minnesota's Nicholas Wanzek, the 165 sixth seed, before he notched a 6-1 win over Western Wyoming's Hunter Riggs. Christensen looked to keep his day going, but suffered a 10-5 defeat to American's Brad Mutchnik.
Dill fell to Iowa State's Quean Smith in his opener in the heavyweight tournament, and kept his day alive with an 11-4 decision over American's Scott Augustine. Dill continued to impress for the Lancers against Virginia's Collin Campbell but ultimately dropped a 10-6 decision to Division I foe.
Alex Anunciation (141) and Paul Head (197) also competed at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Head dropped a competitive 4-0 match to North Carolina State's Michael Boykin and then fell to Jared Bartel of Northern Iowa, 7-1, in consolations. Anunciation fell to Northern Colorado's Benjamin Polkowske in his opener, 9-5, and then just fell to Division I Bakersfield's Timmy Box in the consolation bracket.
CBU will take about a month off from competition before heading to the Menlo Open on Jan. 3rd. The Lancers will open RMAC competition less than a week later at Colorado Mesa on Jan. 9th.
Complete Brackets
Players Mentioned
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