Wolverines Head to Vegas for CKLV Invitational

OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University wrestling team will continue tournament action this weekend by heading to Las Vegas, Nevada to take part at the renowned Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

After not having the CKLV Invite last season due to COVID-19, the premier collegiate tournament is back this year and will run from Friday to Saturday, Dec. 3-4, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The entire two-day tournament will be streamed live on FloWrestling and live results will be available by visiting Arena.FloWrestling.org. The event will get underway on Friday at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT. For a full schedule of events for the tournament, see below or visit CKLVwrestle.com.

A total of 27 teams are scheduled to take part in the 2021 CKLV Invitational. Ten of those 27 are currently ranked in the latest NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll in No. 4 Michigan, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 11 Cornell, No. 12 Minnesota, No. 15 Purdue, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 20 Princeton, No. 24 Northwestern, and No. 25 Stanford. UVU, as well as grapplers from Binghamton, Cal Poly, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield, Columbia, Harvard, Kent State, Navy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Oregon State, Sacred Heart, South Dakota State, The Citadel, Wyoming, and Nebraska-Kearney will all take part at the premier tournament.

UVU
The Wolverines will enter the CKLV Invite with a 5-1 dual record and an 0-1 clip in Big 12 Conference action. UVU last took part in a pair of open tournaments and crowned six weight class champions at the Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield, California on Nov. 21 and one at the Cowboy Open in Laramie, Wyoming last Saturday. Unattached junior 141-pounder Isaiah Delgado led the way by winning a title at each tournament, while Haiden Drury (133 pounds), Danny Snediker (165) and Jayden Woodruff (heavyweight), as well as unattached Wolverines Kase Mauger (125) and Jack Forbes (197) all won titles at the Roadrunner Open.

In all, 13 Wolverines earned podium finishes at the Roadrunner Open by placing the top six, while nine total UVU grapplers finished in the top six at the Cowboy Open even with the majority of Utah Valley's starters sitting out both tournaments.

The sophomore heavyweight Woodruff leads UVU with a perfect 9-0 record on the season while 29th-ranked freshman 133-pounder Drury is right behind him at 9-1. Redshirt freshman 174-pouder Kekana Fouret is off to a 7-2 start to 2021-22 and is followed by sophomore 184-pounder Jacob Armstrong at 6-0 and freshman Jaxon Garoutte at 5-1.

Both of UVU's returning All-Americans in fourth-ranked junior 125-pounder Taylor LaMont and seventh-ranked senior 165-pounder Demetrius Romero are scheduled to miss this weekend's CKLV Invitational due to injury.

Ranked Wolverines
As a team, the Wolverines are currently ranked 23rd in the latest InterMat Team Tournament poll, 25th in the WIN Magazine Tournament Power Index, and 27th in the FloWrestling Team Tournament poll. UVU also currently has four wrestlers ranked in No. 4 LaMont at 125 (2-0), No. 7 Romero at 165 (2-0), No. 29 Drury at 133 (9-1), and 2021 NCAA qualifier Ty Smith (1-2) is an honorable mention ranked grappler by FloWrestling at 141.

Former CKLV Champ
Taylor LaMont won Utah Valley's first-and-only CKLV Invitational title during his freshman season in 2017-18 by going an impressive 6-0 with four wins coming over nationally ranked foes and three of those against returning All-Americans. That year, LaMont defeated No. 3 Ethan Lizak of Minnesota, No. 8 Sean Russell of Edinboro, No. 11 Connor Schram of Stanford, and No. 18 Drew Mattin of Michigan on his way to winning the 125-pound CKLV Invite crown.

Preseeds
A pair of Wolverines have been pre-seeded for this weekend's CKLV Invitational in Drury and Smith. The 29th-ranked freshman Drury is pre-seeded seventh at 133 pounds, while the honorable mention ranked Smith is pre-seeded 10th at 141.

Lineup

• 125: Yusief Lillie, Fr. (5-7)
• 133: #29 Haiden Drury, Fr. (9-1)
• 141: Ty Smith, RFr. (1-2)
• 149: Alex Emmer, Fr. (4-3)
• 157: Jaxon Garoutte, Fr. (5-1)
• 165: Danny Snediker, Fr. (4-0)
• 174: Kekana Fouret, RFr. (7-2)
• 184: Jacob Armstrong, RSo. (6-0)
• 197: Evan Bockman, RSo. (4-2)
• 285: Jayden Woodruff, RSo. (9-0)

Schedule
Friday, Dec. 3
9:00 am PST: Round 1 Pig Tail Championship, Round 2 of (32) Championship, Round 3 Consolation of (32), Round 4 Championship of (16), Consolation 1st of (16) Round 5 Consolation 2nd of (16)
6:00 pm PST: Round 6 Championship Quarter Finals & Consolation Round 1st of (8)

Saturday, Dec. 4
9:00 am PST: Round 7 Consolation 2nd of (8)
10:00 am PST: Round 8 Championship Semi-Finals, Round 9 Consolation Semi Finals, Consolation Finals 5th & 6th, 7th & 8th Places
3:00 pm PST: CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS 1st & 2nd, 3rd & 4th Places