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Wrestling places five individuals and earns fifth in team scoring at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Individual top-five finishes at CKLV Opens in a new window Yearly team scores at CKLV Opens in a new window Final Brackets Opens in a new window Tournament Central Opens in a new window
Wrestling places five individuals and earns fifth in team scoring at Cliff Keen Las Vegas InvitationalWrestling places five individuals and earns fifth in team scoring at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
by Danny Sullivan

LAS VEGAS — Sun Devil Wrestling capped off a solid showing at the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with five different wrestlers placing within the top five of their respective weight classes. 

The five individual placements were the most individual placements at the CKLV in program history dating back to 2010. Redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz (165-lb) and freshman Kyler Larkin (133-lb) each landed in second place, with Larkin’s championship hopes sidelined due to a medical forfeit. 

Among the wrestlers joining the duo on the podium was redshirt sophomore Kaleb Larkin (149-lb), as he took home third after accepting a medical forfeit in the third-place match. Graduate students David Szuba (HWT) and Chance McLane (157-lb) placed fourth and fifth in their brackets. Notably, Szuba and McLane fought their way back into a top-five finish after being downed in the quarterfinals on Friday night. The two nearly ran the table in the consolation bracket to earn themselves a well-deserved spot in the top five.

In team scoring, Arizona State took fifth place with 92 points. It was the highest finish for the Sun Devils since taking third in 2019 with 103 points. ASU has now placed within the top-five of team scoring at the CKLV five times under head coach Zeke Jones since 2014. 

Team Scoring
1) Iowa State, 183.5
2) Michigan, 99
3) Stanford, 97.5
4) West Virginia, 97
5) Arizona State, 92
6) Oklahoma, 80.5
7) Wyoming, 70.5
8) South Dakota State, 61.5
9) Cal Poly 56.5
10) Oregon State, 56

Ten different wrestlers contributed to the 92 points, as the individuals combined to go a collective 29-17 against some of the top competition the country has to offer. 

Full weekend results
125 | Damian Moreno (1-2)
R32: MD 12-4 over No. 3 seed Brady Roark (South Dakota State)
R16: Marcelo Milani (Cornell) Dec. 8-3 over Moreno
CR 16: Sefton Douglass (Wyoming) Dec. 3-1 over Moreno

133 | No. 7 seed Kyler Larkin (3-1) | Runner-up
R32: Bye
R16: MD 14-3 over No. 10 seed Jarvis Little (Appalachian State)
QF: Dec. 8-3 over No. 2 seed Tyler Knox (Stanford)
Semis: 9-8 Dec. over No. 3 seed Dillon Campbell (Virginia Tech)
Finals: No. 1 seed Ethan Frost accepts Medical Forfeit (Iowa State)

141 | No. 11 seed Pierson Manville (2-2)
R32: Dec. 2-1 over Billy DeKraker (Northwestern)
R16: No. 6 seed Elijah Griffin (Rider) Dec. 9-2 over Manville
CR16-2: TF (20-4 / 4:34) over Nathan Jerore (Michigan)
CR8-1: No. 3 seed Julian Tagg (SDSU) Dec. 10-7 over Manville

149 | No. 1 seed Kaleb Larkin (5-1) | Third-place
R32: MD 15-4 over Dylan Layton (Rider)
R16: TF (20-5 / ) over Noah Tolentino (Oregon State)
QF: Dec. 7-3 over No. 8 seed Alek Martin (SDSU)
Semis: No. 4 seed Jaxon Joy (Cornell) TF (15-0 / 2:53) over Larkin
CR-semi: Dec. 10-6 over No. 6 seed Aden Valencia (Stanford)
Third place: Accepts medical forfeit over No. 3 seed Jacob Frost (Iowa State)

157 | No. 8 seed Chance McLane (5-2) | Fifth-place
R32: TF (19-3 / 5:15) over Nick Alvarez (Franklin & Marshall)
R16: Dec. 8-1 over Jagger French (Cal Poly)
QF: No. 1 seed Ty Watters (West Virginia) TF (15-0 / 6:18) over McLane
CR 8-2: Dec. 4-2  over CJ Hamblin (Oregon State)
CR 4: Dec. 4-1 over Derek Raike (Ohio)
C-SF: No. 2 seed Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) TF 19-1 (4:54) over McLane
Fifth-place: Dec. 5-4 over No. 4 seed Stoney Buell (Purdue)

165 | No. 2 seed Nicco Ruiz (4-1) | Runner-up
R32: MD 17-3 over Jack Lledo (Ohio)
R16: Dec. 5-3 over Joseph Cangro (Harvard)
QF: Dec. 5-1 over No. 10 seed Cesar Alvan (Columbia)
Semis: MD 13-3 over No. 6 seed Marcus Espinoza-Owens
Finals: No. 1 seed Joey Blaze (Purdue) Dec. 4-2 over Ruiz

174 | Leo Tukhlynovych (3-2)
R32: Eddie Enright (Northwestern) MD 11-1 over Tukhlynovych
CR16-1: Dec. 7-2 over Aidan Zarella (Sacred Heart)
CR16-2: F (3-3 / 3:28) over Enrique Munguia (Rider)
CR8-1: F (5-2 / 6:24) over Dominic Wheatley (Franklin & Marshall)
CR8-2: Cash Stewart (Cal Poly) MD 14-4 over Tukhlynovych

184 | Shay Addison (2-2)
R32: No. 12 seed James Rowley (Purdue) Dec. 7-2 over Addison
CR16-2: Dec. 4-2 over No. 11 seed Christian Hansen (Cornell)
CR8-1: Dec. 8-2 over Caleb Uhlenhopp (Utah Valley)
CR8-2: No. 9 seed Ceaser Garza Dec. 11-10 over Addison

197 | Max Acciardi (0-2)
R32: No. 10 seed Zayne Lehman Dec. 6-0 over Acciardi
C16-2: No. 9 seed Zyan Hall F (6-1 / 2:33) over Acciardi

HWT | No. 8 seed David Szuba (4-2) | Fourth-place
R32: Bye
R16: Dec. 13-7 over No. 9 seed Devon Dawson (Northern Illinois)
QF: No. 1 seed Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) TF (21-5 / 6:04) over Szuba 
CR 8-2: Dec. 8-3 over No. 11 seed Ashton Davis (Cornell)
CR 4: MD 12-1 over No. 4 seed Luke Rasmussen (SDSU)
CR-semi: F (3-0 / 2:08) over No. 3 seed Spencer Lanosga (Navy)
Third-place: No. 2 seed Taye Ghadiali Dec. 8-2 over Szuba 

Up next
The Sun Devils will enjoy a near two-week hiatus before shifting gears back to a dual setting. ASU is set to dual at Wisconsin on Saturday, Dec. 20, with things to get underway at 12:00 p.m. MST/1:00 p.m. CST from Wisconsin Field House. 

Follow along
Be sure to follow Sun Devil Wrestling on X (@ASUWrestling), Instagram (SunDevilWrestling1962) and Facebook for all the latest coverage and content throughout the season.