Las Vegas, Nev. - Senior Josh Ihnen (184) as well
as sophomores Jake Sueflohn (149) and Robert Kokesh (174) advanced to the
semifinals at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday to lead the Nebraska
wrestling team.
Following a
first-round bye, Ihnen won a 13-0 major decision over West Virginia's Lance
Bryson. Ihnen, who is the No. 1 seed at 184 pounds, added a 5-4 decision over
No. 8 seed Kevin Radford of Arizona State. With the victories, Ihnen advances
to Saturday's semifinals to face Boise State's Jacob Swartz.
Sueflohn, a
No. 8 seed at 149 pounds, opened with a 9-2 decision over Coulhurst Schmitt of
Wisconsin. He followed that with a 9-1 major decision over South Dakota State's
Dustin Walraven before adding a 9-7 sudden victory over No. 1 seed Scott
Sakaguchi of Oregon State. Sueflohn will wrestle against Air Force's Cole
VonOhlen in Saturday's semifinals.
No. 1 seed
Kokesh, wrestling at 174, started his day with a pin in 1:27 over
Nebraska-Kearney's Drew Comito. Kokesh used a pair of major decisions en route
to a semifinal berth, defeating Harvard's Cameron Croy 17-2 before winning over
Wisconsin's Scott Liegel, 17-6. Kokesh will face No. 4 seed Mathew Miller of
Navy in Saturday's semifinals.
Three
Huskers fell in the first rounds of the tournament, but are still alive in the
wrestleback brackets. Ridge Kiley, wrestling at 141 pounds, advanced to the
quarterfinals before dropping a 4-1 decision to Oregon State's Michael Mangrum.
Kiley will face San Francisco State's Naveed Bagheri on Saturday.
James Green
(157) and Caleb Kolb (197) are also still alive in the wrestleback brackets. Green
lost a 7-6 decision to Virginia's Jedd Moore in the quarterfinals and will face
Cal Poly's Kyle Chene on Saturday. Kolb won his opening match, but fell to Ohio
State's Andrew Campolattano. He responded by winning two matches in the
wrestlebacks and will face Arizona State's Jake Meredith on Saturday.
At 125
pounds, Skylar Wood won a 5-2 decision over Cal Poly's Evan McIrdy, but lost
his next two matches. Shawn Nagel (133) and Austin Wilson (165) went 2-2 on
Friday. Donny Longendyke (HWT) went 1-2.
Saturday's
matches at the Cliff Keen Invitational start at 11 a.m. (CST).
