The biggest and deepest regular season individual tournament is back, as the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational gets cooking this Friday and Saturday inside the fabulous Westgate Resort and Casino. 

Like all the other brackets, expect heaps of ranked wrestlers in the middleweights, as the top D1 programs in the country are heading to the desert of Southern Nevada to try and take home medals from the grandest holiday tournament of them all.

We’ll break down the 149, 157, 165, and 174lb weight classes at the CKLV, starting with a list of all the potential nationally ranked wrestlers we could see at each of the weight classes at the event.

149 lbs - 14 Ranked

#2 Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State

#3 Lachlan McNeil, Michigan

#4 Jacob Frost, Iowa State

#5 Jack Gioffre, Oklahoma

#9 Jaxon Joy, Cornell

#13 David Evans, Utah Valley

#14 Aden Valencia, Stanford

#22 Eligh Rivera, Princeton

#24 Alek Martin, SD State

#26 Noah Nininger, Virginia Tech

#28 Willie McDougald, West Virginia

#30 Gabe Willochell, Wyoming

#31 Kaden Keiser, App State

#33 Paul Kelly, California Baptist

2024 Placers

1st Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech

2nd Ridge Lovett, Nebraska

3rd Jaden Abas, Stanford

4th Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State

5th Carter Young, Oklahoma State

6th Sammy Alvarez, Rider

7th Colin Realbuto, Northern Iowa

8th Ethan Fernandez, Cornell

The podium in Vegas this weekend could very much look like the podium in Cleveland when the NCAA Championships conclude in March. Seven of the top 15 ranked wrestlers and four of the top five could be at the Westgate battling for 149lb supremacy. 

Kaleb Larkin established himself as the favorite thanks to his win over multiple-time All-American Lachlan McNeil, formerly of North Carolina, now at Michigan, at the National Duals Invitational presented by Paycom. While Larkin has a very limited folkstyle resume, with just two bouts before this season and only five matches against D1 competition this season, his extensive freestyle career and sterling pedigree (Arizona State legend and Hodge Trophy winner Eric Larkin is his dad), there's a reason the Sun Devil faithful are extremely high on this young man's potential. 

The aforementioned McNeil has finished fourth, sixth, and fifth in his collegiate career, from 2023 to 2025. A change of scenery could help push him to a career best this season in Ann Arbor, where the Wolverines have had success with transfers in recent history. Larkin would be the favorite in a head-to-head bout if they were to meet in Vegas, however, McNeil would be in the pick against the rest of the field, which includes Jacob Frost, a 2025 All-American, and Jack Giofree, another wrestler ranked in the top five who transferred over the offseason (from Virginia to Oklahoma in Jack's case). 

The next three ranked wrestlers all pose threats to the top of the division despite being ranked between nine and 14. Jaxon Joy is a freshman who saw limited action last season while grey-shirting for Cornell. His pin of All-American Ethan Stiles at the Clarion Open and wins over Casey Swiderski and Caleb Rathjen established him as a podium threat that has room to climb in the rankings as his career progresses. 

The same can be said about #14 Aden Valencia, who has already proven he can compete with the best in the world, as evidenced by his two freestyle wins over 2025 World bronze medalist Real Woods at the 2025 US Open. Though Valencia competed in just six bout last year while redshirting and has just three matches so far this season, he's capable of a deep run in March. Additionally, he will be looking to avenge a 2024 CKLV performance that saw him go 0-2 after dropping two consecutive bouts by razor-thin margins. 

David Evans is less well known amongst college wrestling fans, but mostly because he was stuck behind the likes of Shayne Van Ness, Beau Bartlett, and Tyler Kasak on the Penn State wrestling team. Transferring to Utah Valley could allow him to wrestle in his first post-season, where he will be a threat to medal at NCAAs. Evans already has a win over the aforementioned Aden Valencia this season at an early-season dual meet. An NCAA placement would take Evans on a similar path as his former teammate, Terrell Barraclough, who also transferred from Penn State to Utah Valley to utilize his final year of eligibility. Barraclough placed fifth last season, his first as a starter. 

If you're looking for a dark horse in the field, consider Paul Kelly, a standout at high school powerhouse Poway. Kelly stayed in Southern California to attend California Baptist and already has a win this season over fellow potential CKLV dark horse, Gabe Willochell. 

Watch Kalebn Larkin and Lachlan McNeil scrap at the National Duals Invitational:

157 lbs - 12 Ranked

#1 Ty Watters, West Virginia

#3 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford

#6 Vincent Zerban, Iowa State

#11 Rafael Hipolito, Oklahoma

#13 Stoney Buell, Purdue

#14 Cael Swensen, SD State

#19 Jimmy Harrington, Harvard

#21 Jared Hill, Wyoming

#22 Cam Catrabone, Michigan

#23 Chance McLane, Arizona State

#32 Jagger French, Cal Poly

#33 Drayden Morton, California Baptist

2024 Placers

1st Antrell Taylor, Nebraska

2nd Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa

3rd Caleb Fish, Oklahoma State

4th Paddy Gallagher, Ohio State

5th Jared Hill, Wyoming

6th Joey Blaze, Purdue

7th Paniro Johnson, Iowa State

8th Rafael Hipolito, Virginia Tech

Ty Watters hasn't lost since taking fourth at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury early in the 2024-25 season that kept in on the shelf for an extended period of time. Watters came out of the gates quickly this season, however, with a win at the NWCA All-Star Classic, and hasn't looked back since. He'll be the favorite, with his opponent at the All-Star Classic, Daniel Cardenas, hot on his heels. 

A Watters vs Cardenas rematch in the CKLV finals would be electric, but there will be plenty of challengers to disrupt that potential bout. Vinny Zerban and Rafael Hipolito transferred in the offseason, who could have jumped levels in their new environs. Zerban has already reached the podium before, while he was a Bear of Northern Colorado. Hipolito didn't punch through to the final eight while at Virginia Tech, however, his electric style -- influenced by his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background -- still provided plenty of material for highlight reels and social media posts. 

Stoney Buell, Cael Swensen and Jimmy Harrington should factor into the mix when it comes to placements, while Jared Hill is looking to get back on the podium after finishing fifth at the 2024 CKLV, one of the best performances of his career. 

As for a dark horse, Jagger French will try and to keep the momentum going from his title-winning performance at the Roadrunner Open from two weeks ago and find a potential poath to the CKLV podium. 

Watch Watters and Cardenas battle at the 2025 All-Star Classic: 

165 lbs - 11 Ranked

#4 Joey Blaze, Purdue

#16 Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State

#18 Dylan Gilcher, Michigan

#19 Drake Rhodes, SD State

#20 Peyten Kellar, Oklahoma

#22 Ty Whalen, Princeton

#24 Matthew Olguin, Oregon State

#26 Connor Euton, Iowa State

#31 Cesar Alvan, Columbia

2024 Placers

1st Peyton Hall, West Virginia

2nd Cameron Amine, Oklahoma State

3rd Terrell Barraclough, Utah Valley

4th Bubba Wilson, Nebraska

5th Drake Rhodes, South Dakota State

6th Hunter Garvin, Stanford

7th Brock Mantanona, Michigan

8th Kyle Mosher, Hofstra

Without Hunter Garvin in the mix, Joey Blaze goes from co-favorite to favorite. Blaze turned a lot of heads last year when he made the NCAA finals as a true sophomore for the Boilermakers. That was down at 157, and though Blaze is 5-0 on the year, he's yet to wrestle a ranked 165-pounder. Doubters would be wary, however, of once again understimating the dynamic Boilermaker from Ohio. 

Though there won't be as many top 10 wrestlers in this bracket, don't let the rankings fool you, this will be another very deep field, where placing will set you up for an excellent seed at NCAAs. 

Blaze will be challenged by Dylan Gilcher, who is off to a hot start, though he was defeated 5-4 by fellow CKLV potential entrant Cesar Alvan, who is a prime pick for dark horse in the field. 

All-American Peyten Kellar got tripped up early in November at the Bison Open and we haven't seen him on the mat since, making it possible that injuries will keep him off the mat in Vegas as well. Connor Euton similarly has been battling injuries in Ames that may keep him from participating at the CKLV. Drake Rhodes has yet to hit the mats this year and may also count amongst the scratches, though we won't know for sure until weigh-ins. 

Nicco Ruiz will be looking for revenge against Gilcher, who defeated him at the National Duals Invitational. Ty Whalen and Matthrw Olguin have both racked up over half a dozen wins already and will look to keep the ball rolling in the Westgate. 

Watch highlights of Joey Blaze making the 2025 NCAA finals:

174 lbs - 14 Ranked

#7 Danny Wask, Navy

#8 MJ Gaitan, Iowa State

#12 Beau Mantanona, Michigan

#13 Garrett Thompson, Ohio

#16 Lorenzo Norman, Stanford

#20 Brody Conley, West Virginia

#22 Brody Baumann, Purdue

#23 Moses Espinoza-Owens, SD State

#25 Carter Schubert, Oklahoma

#27 Daschle Lamer, Oregon State

#29 Riley Davis, Wyoming

#30 Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech

#32 Nick Fine, Columbia

2024 Placers

1st Dean Hamiti Jr, Oklahoma State

2nd Lorenzo Norman, Stanford

3rd Garrett Thompson, Ohio

4th Simon Ruiz, Cornell

5th Brevin Cassella, Binghamton

6th Danny Wask, Navy

7th Jared Simma, Northern Iowa

8th Cade DeVos, South Dakota State

With Simon Ruiz not in the field this year, All-American Danny Wask (the first of the Cary Kolat era at Navy) becomes one of the favorites to win the tournament. The Midshipmen junior already has multiple ranked wins on the year to suggest that it is a distinct possibility. 

MJ Gaitan will also have his say in the mats. The Cyclone junior by way of California is coming off the biggest win of his career when he defeated then #2 Patrick Kennedy to help propel Iowa State to their first win over rivals Iowa in over 20 years. 

Mantanona, Norman, and Thompson are all top 20 podium contenders who have previously qualified for the NCAAs. Norman and Thompson, however, have not yet wrestled a match this season. They will be forces if they are healthy enough to compete. BeauMan is likewise a very dangerous opponent, who's only two losses so far were to the #10 and #11 wrestlers in the nation. 

Eight more potential ranked entrants may make for a crowded field at 174. South Dakota State's Moses Espinoza-Owens (of the wrestling Espinoza-Owenses) would be a good choice for a dark horse. The Jackrabbit sophomore moved up from 157 last season and hasn't looked back, having notched several ranked wins at 174, including an early 12-8 win over #11 Cam Steed at the Tiger Style Invite. 

Watch Danny Wask win his semifinal bout in the 2025 EIWA Championships and punch his ticket to NCAAs: 

Don't forget to check out our CKLV Lightweight and Heavyweight previews and then tune into FloWrestling on your preferred connected device and watch it all go down this Friday and Saturday!