The wrestling team had a tough and disappointing tournament at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend. None of Brown's 10 wrestlers advanced to the second day of the tournament. The team finished with 16 points, putting it 35th out of 50 schools.
The Bears compete in the Cliff Keen Invitational annually in what is usually their most competitive tournament of the season. The University of Michigan, ranked 10th nationally, took the tournament title with 127.5 points. Other Big Ten and Big 12 schools, such as the Ohio State University and the University of Missouri, followed close behind. Three other Ivy League schools also competed in the tournament. The University of Pennsylvania finished with the most points of the three with 52, tied for 14th place. Harvard finished 20th with 39 points and Columbia finished 27th with 22.5 points.
Despite the Bears' unlucky draw - eight of the 10 Bears faced a seeded opponent in their first match - Head Coach Dave Amato was still displeased with the team's overall performance.
"I was very disappointed with the team. We lost six matches in a row on Saturday. Had we won, we would have remained in the tournament on Sunday," Amato said.
In the 133-pound weight class, tri-captain Jeff Schell '08 advanced into the round of 16 before being eliminated. Schell defeated his first round opponent, Blayze Bahe of University of North Colorado, with a major decision of 12-0. He then won a close match against the No. 12 seed Todd Schavrien of Arizona State University, 5-3. But in the third round, Schell was stopped by the No. 5 seed Reece Humphrey from Ohio State and lost 15-2. In his wrestleback match, Schell could not pull out a win against Nick Murray of Virginia Tech and lost 3-2, ending his tournament.
Schell said he expected to be matched against "the toughest kids in the country," but he was determined to win "no matter who the opponent is."
Levon Mock '08, Matt Gevelinger '09 and Mark Bloom '09 were the only other Bears to win two matches in the tournament.
The Cliff Keen Invitational is the last tournament of the season before the dual meets begin. Schell said the team needs to "take it up a notch" from here on.
"This is when the real competition begins," he said. "We all need to step up our game and win for the team."
The team will travel to Texas to compete in the Lone Star Duals in January. The Bears will wrestle four duals back-to-back against University of North Carolina, Utah Valley State University, University of Wisconsin and the United States Air Force Academy.
"The team needs to make a big jump between now and January," Amato said.
