2015 Cliff Keen Invitational

[Gladiator Dad]

NDSU will be traveling out to Vegas this week for the Cliff Keen Invitational. Below is the expected lineup for the tournament

125 Joshua Rodriguez
133 I am not sure who might be going to Vegas
141 Mitch Bengston
149 Clay Ream
157 Grant Nehring
165 Tyler McNutt
174 Blake Thompson
184 Hayden Zillmer
197 Logan Paxton
285 Ben Tynan

http://cklvwrestle.com/

[Takedown]

The lineup is starting to come together. With Bengston at 141 the lower weights are very competitive. As the season progresses the young guys will get better. Looking forward to seeing this team improve and the results that they have in the second half of the season! Go Bison!

[Big Bird]

The lineup is starting to come together. With Bengston at 141 the lower weights are very competitive. As the season progresses the young guys will get better. Looking forward to seeing this team improve and the results that they have in the second half of the season! Go Bison!

Agreed! With Bengston at 141, this lineup is much improved. This tournament is stacked again and placing individually is an impressive accomplishment. I'm probably most interested to see how Ben Tynan does at HWT here. He's been a very solid starter thus far and this field will be a big time test. I'm not expecting him to knock off the top guys like Dhesi, Walz, Coon, or even Ross Larson, but I am interested to see how he fares vs the middle tier guys like Horwath, Tanner Hall, Hughes, Lytle, Tavanello, etc. If he can knock off one or two of them and place, I think that'll be big for him making the NCAA tourney later in the year.

[Abe1727]

Good luck Guys. Go Bison!

[larson311]

Here are the "projected" individuals by weight based on each teams starters. http://www.wrestlestats.com/schedule...s?eventId=4260 It really puts into perspective how tough this tournament is.

[Abe1727]

Wow. Thanks for posting. That tournament is extremely competitive. Good luck Bison wrestlers. Horns up!

[Big Bird]

It should be pretty interesting to see where Rodriguez, Bengston, Ream, and Zillmer get put in the brackets. 125 is absolutely loaded and 141 appears quite a bit less stacked. I'm hoping to see Zillmer and Dean again

[Takedown]

This is a mini-National Tournament. There are tough guys across the board. This is a great tournament to gauge where the team is at a few weeks in to the season. I like the way that the coaches have set up the tournament schedule. A couple of early season Open tournaments with the tough Cliff Keen and Midlands in the middle of the season. The dual portion of the schedule will have tougher BIG XII opponents in the coming years. It will be fun to see this young team grow and develop!

My view from the stands:

I like Zillmer to win the tournament this weekend. He will most likely be the 4th seed and face Dean in the Semis. He is a fun wrestler to watch.

Rodriguez will make it tough on some guys this weekend and will win 1 or 2 matches that he is the underdog in. He can place in the top 6.

Bengston will battle hard and beat up some guys at 141. The question will be how does he settle in at this weight. As the season goes along he will be a tough out.

Ream is like the professor. He is always calculating and looking for advantages in his matches. I think he has an outside shot at top 6 this weekend.

Big Ben is a tough situation with a lot of good 285's this weekend. His constant motor and positive attitude will win him a match or two this weekend over a higher ranked guy. Don't be surprised to see him in the top 4.

The rest of the lineup is young and will get some valuable experience this weekend. The best part about wrestling is that regardless of rank...any man can lose a match or two at this level to lower seeded or ranked guys. That is why you toe the line. I look forward to seeing some of our young guys battling higher ranked guys. That is where they will see what it takes to get to that next level!

Have a great tournament Bison!

[Big Bird]

Zillmer the only guy seeded and he's 4th...geeze. You could argue for Ream, Rodriguez, and Bengston to all be seeded pretty easily. Some guys are going to have crazy tough 1st matches when they get drawn against one of those 3

[Big Bird]

It won't be easy, but I like the spot ream is in. If he is on his game, I can see a semifinal bid and even more. He'd need to pick up multiple "upsets" but I like his odds