2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational

2017 CKLV Upperweight Preview: 184-285

Previews and predictions for the 2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 184, 197 and 285 pounds.

Nov 29, 2017 by Wrestling Nomad

The upperweights of this weekend's 2017 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational are just as stacked as the light and middleweights.

Over 50 percent of the country's ranked wrestlers will be in attendance, with 33 of them representing 184, 197, or 285 pounds.

Yet again, this year's CKLV is streaming LIVE on Flo, starting at 9 AM Pacific time on Friday, Dec. 1. Brackets will be on FloArena and they will be posted as soon as they become available.

Lightweight Preview + Predictions | Middleweight Preview + Predictions | Projected Team Scores

184 Pounds

Ranked Wrestlers

No. 2 Myles Martin (Ohio State), JR: 8-0

No. 5 Dom Abounader (Michigan), SR: 5-1

No. 6 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), JR: 9-2

No. 7 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), JR: 4-1

No. 8 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan), SR: 4-2

No. 9 Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin), SR: 11-1

No. 13 Max Dean (Cornell), FR: 10-0

No. 14 Steven Schneider (Binghamton), SR: 3-2

No. 16 Chip Ness (North Carolina), JR: 1-0

No. 18 Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), JR: 6-0

No. 20 Michael Coleman (Navy), JR: 8-1

Commentary: Myles Martin has more NCAA titles than CKLV titles. He didn’t wrestle as a freshman and was upset by Zack Zavatsky last year. Now a junior, Martin has really filled out and grown into this weight and has developed into a dominant force on his feet. He’s the big favorite, and after that there are a series of guys jockeying for that other finals spot.

Zavatsky has, of course, already beaten Martin. Dom Abounader has never wrestled Martin but is 2-0 against Zavatsky, and Drew Foster is the only other All-American besides Martin in the bracket. Jordan Ellingwood is another guy ranked to AA, but he took a loss to Steven Schneider of Binghamton here last year on the back side.

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Ricky Robertson dropped down from 197, where he placed sixth here last year, and is 11-1 so far — with his only loss to Ellingwood. Max Dean has been peerless in his first varsity season, going 10-0 with seven bonus-point victories.

Nomad’s Picks

1. Myles Martin 2. Dom Abounader 3. Max Dean 4. Zack Zavatsky

Pre-Seeds Released

197 Pounds

Ranked Wrestlers

No. 1 Kollin Moore (Ohio State), SO: 2-0

No. 3 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech), SR: 6-1

No. 5 Kevin Beazley (Michigan), SR: 5-0

No. 9 Matt Williams (CSUB), SR: 10-0

No. 13 Corey Griego (Oregon State), JR: 7-0

No. 14 Jeric Kasunic (American), SR: 8-2

No. 15 Christian Brunner (Purdue), SO: 7-1

No. 17 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), FR: 8-4

No. 18 Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin), SO: 8-3

No. 19 Daniel Chaid (North Carolina), SR: 4-2

Commentary: Well, we thought we were going to get a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup, but then Willie Miklus had to go and pin Jared Haught. A rematch of last year’s NCAA third-place bout between Haught and Kollin Moore would be an excellent way to cap off CKLV.

There was some doubt as to whether Kevin Beazley would be Michigan’s starter this year after losing his wrestle-off, but aside from that he has not lost this year and will be the three seed in Vegas.

With Jake Smith out this weekend, the all Pac-12 quarterfinal between Matt Williams and Corey Griego should be fun. Griego won both their regular-season matchups last year, including at CKLV, but Williams won at NCAAs.

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It’s really hard for me to see this going any way but chalk at the top four, though I do like Christian Brunner of Purdue to outperform his eight seed.

Nomad's Picks

1. Kollin Moore 2. Jared Haught 3. Kevin Beazley 4. Corey Griego

Sleepers And Dark Horses

285 Pounds

Ranked Wrestlers

No. 2 Adam Coon (Michigan), SR: 5-0

No. 4 Tanner Hall (Arizona State), JR: 2-1

No. 5 Jacob Kasper (Duke), SR: 7-1

No. 8 Ryan Solomon (Pittsburgh), SR: 6-1

No. 14 Nathan Butler (Stanford), SR: 6-2

No. 15 Brett Dempsey (Ameriacn), SR: 2-2

No. 16 Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan), SR: 7-2

No. 18 Garrett Ryan (Columbia), SR: 8-1

Commentary: Since Kyle Snyder will be at the World Clubs Cup, Adam Coon takes over the top seed. He already has a 5-2 win over Tanner Hall this year from their dual a few weeks ago. There's nothing quite like watching Coon ragdoll guys around the mat with his vicious underhooks.

Hall has an 8-5 win over three seed Jacob Kasper from last year's NCAA consolation semis and a 3-2 win over Nathan Butler at 2016 CKLV. If all that goes chalk, we'll get a rubber match between Kasper and Ryan Solomon of Pittsburgh in the third-place match. Kasper lost in the dual but then a few weeks later beat Solomon at the ACC championships.

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Butler was fifth here last year and is seeded to finish the same once again. I'd like to see more of Gage Hutchison, who pinned Conan Jennings in the first minute of their third-place bout at the Keystone Classic.