Four wrestlers from the No. 18 West Virginia University wrestling team advanced to the semifinals at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, held at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center in Las Vegas on Friday.
The first day of competition saw seven West Virginia wrestlers reach the quarterfinals, with four moving on to the semifinals. This result positions the team for its strongest performance at this tournament in over 15 years.
Graduate student Jett Strickenberger, ranked No. 4 at 125 pounds, began his run by defeating Wyoming’s Sefton Douglass by technical fall, 16-0. He continued with a major decision win over Harvard’s Logan Brzozowski, 11-0, and then won against Oklahoma’s Conrad Hendriksen by decision, 7-3. Strickenberger is set to face Iowa State’s top-seeded Stevo Poulin in the semifinals.
At 157 pounds, redshirt sophomore Ty Watters justified his No. 1 seed with three victories: a decision over Ohio’s Derek Raike (6-0), another decision against Cornell’s Benny Rogers (9-3), and a technical fall against Chance McLane (15-0). Watters will compete against Purdue’s Stoney Buell in the next round.
Redshirt junior Brody Conley advanced in the 174-pound bracket as a No. 4 seed after securing three wins, including an 8-0 major decision over Brody Baumann of Purdue. Conley will face top-seeded Danny Wask in his semifinal match.
Rune Lawrence, a redshirt freshman seeded sixth at 184 pounds, also reached the semifinals after defeating Michigan’s Joseph Walker by decision, 2-0. Earlier matches included a major decision victory and an overtime win against Air Force’s Karson Tompkins.
In other notable performances, Jordan Titus upset third-seeded Julian Tagg at 141 pounds to make it to the quarterfinals. Freshman Gunner Andrick picked up two wins against seeded opponents Blake Boarman and Gabe Whisenhunt.
West Virginia will continue its campaign on Saturday at 1 p.m., with matches available for streaming on FloWrestling.
For more information about Mountaineer wrestling and updates from the event, visit WVUsports.com or follow WVUWrestling on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.