Drury In Semis; Four More Wolverines Still Wrestling at CKLV Invitational

LAS VEGAS — Freshman Haiden Drury has advanced to Saturday's semifinal round while four other Utah Valley University grapplers remain alive in the consolation rounds at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after Friday's opening day of action at the renowned tournament.

The 29th-ranked and seventh-seeded UVU freshman Drury went a perfect 2-0 with both wins coming over fellow ranked foes en route to advancing to Saturday's semifinal round and securing a top-six podium finish at the prestigious tournament. Redshirt freshman 174-pounder and redshirt sophomores Evan Bockman (197 pounds) and heavyweight Jayden Woodruff all went 3-1 on Friday to advance in the wrestlebacks, while fellow redshirt sophomore Jacob Armstrong posted a 2-1 record on his way to also moving on in the consolation rounds.

"This is a tough tournament and it's a great experience for us, especially to see how we stack up against some of the best in the country," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "We have several guys that are really close to breaking through and we are excited about that. We feel we let a couple of matches get away from us, however, that we were tied or ahead in the third period against ranked opponents. We need to take advantage of those opportunities. Overall, we are pleased with our team's progress and effort. We will continue to get better."

After an opening round bye, the 29th-ranked freshman 133-pounder Drury got off to a strong start at his first CKLV Invite by recording an 11-3 major decision over Anthony Sobotker of Binghamton to advance to the quarterfinals. The seventh-seeded Drury racked up a trio of takedowns, two escapes, a penalty point, and a riding time point to defeat the 10th-seeded Sobotker, who is a current honorable mention ranked grappler.

Drury then received a win by medical forfeit over the No. 2 seed, 11th-ranked, and 2021 NCAA qualifier Chance Rich of CSU Bakersfield to advance to Saturday morning's semifinal round and secure a top-six finish at the prestigious tournament. Drury will face 16th-ranked and 2021 NCAA qualifier Dylan Ragusin of Michigan on Saturday with a spot to the CKLV Invite title match on the line.

"Haiden wrestled tough today as he has all season. We're hoping he puts together a couple of great matches tomorrow (Saturday)," Williams added.

Of the four other Wolverines that advanced to Saturday's second day of action in the consolation rounds, Fouret and Bockman both had strong showings on Friday by each knocking off a ranked opponent.

After dropping a tightly contested 6-4 opening bout to No. 15 Gerrit Nijenhuis of Purdue, Fouret bounced back nicely by defeating Nebraska-Kearny's Billy Higgins, 9-3, and followed that up by pinning 20th-ranked Jared Krattiger of Minnesota. In the first period against the 20th-ranked Golden Gopher, Fouret managed to muscle Minnesota's Krattiger to his back and pin him in 2:19 to advance to Friday night. Fouret then continued his strong opening CKLV Invite appearance with a 3-1 win over Kent State's Michael Ferree to move on to Saturday. Fouret will face No. 19 Troy Fisher of Northwestern on Saturday morning.

In his opening match of the 2021 CKLV Invite, Bockman too picked up a big win by knocking off two-time NCAA qualifier and 19th-ranked Jacob Koser of Navy. Bockman was the aggressor in the bout as he built a quick 4-1 lead thanks to securing a pair of first-period takedowns. Bockman went on to secure the upset with an escape point in the second and another takedown in the third. The Wolverine redshirt sophomore then dropped a hard fought 3-2 decision to No. 18 Jacob Cardenas of Cornell to fall to the consolation rounds, but Bockman responded with an 8-3 decision over Kent State's Tyler Bates and a 3-2 win over 2021 NCAA qualifier J.J. Dixon of Oregon State to move on to Saturday. Bockman will open against a familiar foe on Saturday in the two-time NCAA qualifier and 22nd-ranked Alan Clothier of Northern Colorado.

The sophomore heavyweight Woodruff too went 3-1 on Friday for UVU to advance to Saturday's second day of action. After suffering with a hard fought 4-1 setback to No. 18 Josh Heindselman of Oklahoma, Woodruff responded with back-to-back 10-0 major decision victories over Peter Ming of Stanford and Robert Winters of Northern Colorado to move on to Friday's second session of action. Woodruff then advanced to Saturday with a 9-4 decision over Lee Harrington of Nebraska-Kearney. The UVU sophomore heavyweight will face 22nd-ranked AJ Nevills of South Dakota State on Saturday morning.

After receiving an opening-round bye, the 184-pound redshirt sophomore Armstrong dropped a tightly contested 4-2 contest to 18th-ranked Darrien Roberts of Oklahoma to head to the wrestlebacks. Armstrong responded nicely, however, with back-to-back wins over reigning NCAA qualifiers in Joe Accousti of Sacred Heart and Colin McCracken of Kent State. Armstrong first defeated Accousti 2-0 before pulling out a 4-1 win over McCracken to move on to Saturday. Armstrong will now face No. 21 David Key of Navy on Saturday morning.

Freshman 125-pounder Yusief Lillie too recorded a win for UVU on Friday to reach Friday evening's second session. After falling to 2020 All-American and seventh-ranked Devin Schroder in his opening bout, the true freshman Lillie responded with a 7-4 win over Kyle Randall of Sacred Heart. He then had his run come to a close with a 3-2 setback to Jake Svihel of Wyoming to finish with a 1-2 outing.

Four other Wolverine grapplers took part in the tournament, but all had their 2021 CKLV Invite runs cut short with 0-2 outings. Ty Smith (141), Alex Emmer (149) Jaxon Garoutte (157) and Danny Snediker all dropped at least one of their two bouts to ranked foes, while the 2021 UVU NCAA qualifier Smith, who is a current honorable mention ranked grappler, fell in overtime in both of his matches to fellow ranked foes.

In the team score, UVU will enter Saturday in 15th place out of 26 teams with 23 points. Nebraska is leading the event with 79.5 points, while Ohio State is in second with 71.

The 2021 CKLV Invitational will continue on Saturday with the tournament's second and final day. Action will get underway on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT and will be streamed live on FloWrestling. For a full schedule of events, visit CKLVwrestle.com.

Day One Results
125 - Yusief Lillie (1-2)
#7 Devin Schroder (Purdue) TF Yusief Lillie (UVU), 18-0 (3:00)
Yusief Lillie (UVU) DEC Kyle Randall (Sacred Heart), 7-4
Jake Svihel (WYO) DEC Yusief Lillie (UVU), 3-2

133 - #29 Haiden Drury (2-0)
#29 Haiden Drury (UVU) MD Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton), 11-3
#29 Haiden Drury (UVU) MED FORFEIT #11 Chance Rich (CSUB)

141 - Ty Smith (0-2)
#24 Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) DEC Ty Smith (UVU), 7-5 (SV-1)
#33 Chase Zollmann (WYO) DEC Ty Smith (UVU), 6-4 (SV-1)

149 - Alex Emmer (0-2)
#4 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) TF Alex Emmer (UVU), 22-4 (7:00)
Chris Sandoval (NC) DEC Alex Emmer (UVU), 6-1

157 - Jaxon Garoutte (0-2)
#14 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) TF Jaxon Garoutte (UVU), 19-2 (6:54)
Charles Darracott (Stanford) DEC Jaxon Garoutte (UVU), 6-4

165 - Danny Snediker (0-2)
#4 Shane Griffith (Stanford) TF Danny Snediker (UVU), 17-1 (5:43)
Val Park (Navy) DEC Danny Snediker (UVU), 8-4

174 - Kekana Fouret (3-1)
#15 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) DEC Kekana Fouret (UVU), 6-4
Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Billy Higgins (UNK), 9-3
Kekana Fouret (UVU) FALL #20 Jared Krattiger (Minnesota), 2:19
Kekana Fouret (UVU) DEC Michael Ferree (Kent St), 3-1

184 - Jacob Armstrong (2-1)
#18 Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) DEC Jacob Armstrong (UVU), 4-2
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart), 2-0
Jacob Armstrong (UVU) DEC Colin McCracken (Kent St), 4-1

197 - Evan Bockman (3-1)
Evan Bockman (UVU) DEC #19 Jacob Koser (Navy), 7-3
#18 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) DEC Evan Bockman (UVU), 3-2
Evan Bockman (UVU) DEC Tyler Bates (Kent St), 8-3
Evan Bockman (UVU) DEC J.J. Dixon (Oregon St), 3-2

285 - Jayden Woodruff (3-1)
#18 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) DEC Jayden Woodruff (UVU), 4-1
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD Peter Ming (Stanford), 10-0
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) MD Robert Winters (NC), 10-0
Jayden Woodruff (UVU) DEC Lee Herrington (UNK), 9-4

*Individual rankings taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling and WIN Magazine polls.