We are at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, NV today and tomorrow, although we didn't send our full squad as planned. Gable had not planned to go as he will be used selectively this season, where his presence will really help the team. But there was one case of Covid (not sure who), so because of contact tracing Pat McKee, Brayton Lee, Andrew Sparks and Isaiah Salazar did not go to Las Vegas. Our other starters are there, and at 165#s Cael Carlson and at 285#s Keaton Kluever are filling in.
This is disappointing as those were most of the guys that I was looking forward to watching!! But it's the right thing to do, so they will be back next Saturday for the UNI Open.
The CKLV will be live streamed on Flowrestling.com and I'll be live tweeting most of the matches on @Unlimited424 !!
Here is the latest Coach's Corner with Brandon Eggum, followed by the article on the Cliff Keen Invitational from Gophersports.com:
Coach's Corner - December 1
Eric Miller
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
12/1/2021
Coach Eggum recaps the win against South Dakota State and previews this week's tournament in Las Vegas.
Minnesota Takes Flight for Sin City as They Prepare for Cliff Keen Invitational
Brad Rempel
Gophersports.com
Wrestling
12/1/2021
MINNEAPOLIS - No. 12 Minnesota hits the road this weekend for one of the biggest tournaments of the regular season, as they are set to compete in Las Vegas, Nev., for the Cliff Keen Invitational. The two-day event will be hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center, beginning on Friday morning and wrapping up on Saturday afternoon.
Among the 26 teams participating in this weekend's event, ten of them are ranked in the NWCA Coaches Poll, including some household names in collegiate wrestling such as Michigan, Ohio State, Cornell, and Nebraska.
The Gophers last competed in the Cliff Keen Invitational in 2019, where they placed seventh as a team and walked away with one champion, as Brayton Lee won the title at 149 pounds after defeating Ohio State's Sammy Sasso in the finals by a score of 6-4.
Minnesota will have a total of seven wrestlers participating in the event. All coverage of the Cliff Keen Invitational will be broadcasted live on FloWrestling.
Minnesota Lineup:
133 - Jake Gliva (5-1)
141 - No. 23 Jake Bergeland (4-2)
149 - No. 21 Michael Blockhus (5-1)
165 - Cael Carlson (7-3)
174 - No. 21 Jared Krattiger (4-2)
197 - No. 15 Michial Foy (4-2)
HWT - Keaton Kluever (6-4)
Climbing the Ladder
Michial Foy welcomed himself to the Division-I rankings last week after rolling to a 9-3 upset win over No. 12 Tanner Sloan last Sunday against South Dakota State. Now, after entering this week's FloWrestling rankings, Foy will have the opportunity to make even more noise against top competition this weekend as he enters a loaded 197-pound bracket with a tournament-high eleven ranked wrestlers.
Middleweight Mayhem
Perhaps the feature weight class of the tournament will be at 149 pounds where Michael Blockhus will represent the Maroon & Gold. The weight class will feature the top-two ranked wrestlers at 149 and eight total wrestlers ranked inside the top-20, as Blockhus looks to put on a good performance in a tournament that will surely have some seeding implications come March.
First-Timers in Vegas
Minnesota enters this weekend's action at the Cliff Keen Invitational with a unique set of circumstances as six of the seven Gopher representatives will be competing in the event for the very first time. Michael Blockhus is the lone athlete who is making a return trip to the Sin City, as he placed sixth at 141 pounds in 2019 as a member of the Northern Iowa program.
Up Next
Minnesota will see its final competition before Christmas break next weekend, where they will travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the UNI Open on Saturday, Dec. 11 for the final open tournament on the schedule before Big Ten dual competition.
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