The 2024 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is set to go down on December 6-7 and will be the best in-season tournament of the year. Pre-seeds are set to come out later today (December 3rd) and will give us a better idea of what brackets will look like and who will be entered. Check out the below article for a breakdown and predictions of 149-165 at this year’s CKLV.

149 Pounds

Potential Entry List

#1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech)

#3 Ty Watters (West Virginia)

#5 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)

#6 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State)

#9 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly)

#10 Jaden Abas (Stanford)

#12 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State)

#13 Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa)

#16 Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State)

#20 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming)

#21 Carter Young (Oklahoma State)

#22 Sammy Alvarez (Rider)

#26 Sam Cartella (Northwestern)

#29 Koy Buesgens (NC State)

#30 Ethan Fernandez (Cornell)

#33 Richard Fedalen (Columbia)

Dylan Gilcher (Michigan)

Paul Kelly (Cal Baptist)

Derek Raike (Ohio)

Noah Tapia (Hofstra)

Isaac Ruble (Purdue)

Kaemen Smith (Navy)

Kaden Keiser (Appalachian State)

Colin Dupill (South Dakota State)

Caleb Sweet (Binghamton )

Jaden Pepe (Harvard)

Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield)

Vincent Milazzo (Sacred Heart)

Q'veli Quintanilla (Utah Valley)

Victor Jacinto (Oregon State)

The Favorites

#1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech)

#5 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)

I might catch some flack for not including #3 Ty Watters in this contenders list, and that would be fair. Watters outplaced Lovett at NCAAs last year and therefore is rightfully ranked higher. However, when I look at Lovett’s NCAAs last year, I give him a mulligan of sorts after he lost to Henson in the semifinals.

The difference between Lovett and Watters is Lovett has proven he can beat a national champion like Henson. Watter’s best win is Kyle Parco. He’s 0-2 against Henson in matches that weren’t particularly close. Lovett, on the other hand, is 1-1 against Henson. He defeated Henson at CKLV last year in a controversial 4-3 match. This is when we knew Caleb Henson could win the national title last year. Henson would go on to defeat Lovett 1-0 in the NCAA semifinals with an escape by Henson being the only point scored. 

Watch Lovett defeat Henson in the 2023 CKLV finals below.

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Watch Henson defeat Lovett in the 2024 NCAA semifinals below.

The Contenders

#3 Ty Watters (West Virginia)

#6 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State)

As previously mentioned, Watters is a threat to the title in Vegas. However, while he’s never wrestled Lovett, he was 0-2 against Henson. 

A new name at 149 this season is Anthony Echemendia. The Iowa State junior took 5th last year at 141 lbs. He had some good wins last season such as Cael Happel, Cole Matthews, Josh Edmond, Ryan Jack, and Jordan Titus. However, similar to Watters, to this point in his career he has struggled to get his hand raised against the top tier of NCAA wrestlers. Earlier this season Echemendia lost to #4 Kyle Parco in a match where he scored the only takedown. The Cuban native gave up two penalty points and two escapes to lose 4-3. Is Echemendia’s high-flying, takedown heavy, Cuban style problems for anyone and everyone at 149? Yes. However, to this point in his career, he has been able to go on a run and defeat the tier of wrestler he will have to in order to win this bracket. 

Guys To Keep An Eye On

#13 Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa)

#29 Koy Buesgens (NC State)

Ranked #13 in the country, Colin Realbuto isn’t exactly a darkhorse, but he’s a sneaky #13. He’s shown the ability to upset highly ranked opponents such as Sammy Sasso and Jackson Arrington. He could be a dark horse to the finals pick if he could pull off another upset in the semis.

I’m also really interested in how Koy Buesgens performs. A redshirt freshman, he’s 10-3 on the year. CKLV can be a springboard in either a good direction or a bad direction for the rest of the season. I’m not predicting Buesgens to go on a deep run or anything, but if he comes out, fights hard, and picks up a couple of solid wins, he could be a guy down the road.

149 Prediction

1. Ridgle Lovett
2. Caleb Henson
3. Ty Watters
4. Anthony Echemendia

157 Pounds

Potential Entry List

#2 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell)

#5 Peyten Kellar (Ohio)

#6 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa)

#7 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)

#8 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State)

#10 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State)

#11 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern)

#13 Joey Blaze (Purdue)

#15 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State)

#18 Ed Scott (NC State)

#19 Chase Saldate (Michigan)

#20 Ethan Stiles (Oregon State)

#21 Rafael Hipolito (Virginia Tech)

#22 Cobe Siebrecht (South Dakota State)

#30 Colton Washleski (Rider)

#35 Jared Hill (Wyoming)

#33 Jimmy Harrington (Harvard)

Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford)

Caleb Dowling (West Virginia)

Legend Lamer (Cal Poly)

Anthony Conetta (Appalachian State)

Jonathan Ley (Navy)

Jaden Le (Columbia)

Ryker Fullmer (Utah Valley)

Fin Nadeau (Binghamton)

Daniel Manibog (Cal Baptist)

Felix Lettini (Sacred Heart)

Jurius Clark (Hofstra)

Michael Kilic (Arizona State)

Devyn Flores-Che (CSU Bakersfield)

The Favorite

#2 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell)

If Meyer Shapiro wrestles, and that’s a big if, he’s the favorite. However, I don’t expect to see the talented sophomore compete. And if he does, I have concerns about whether or not he’ll be able to make it through this tough bracket. Shapiro, someone who has already struggled with injuries in his short college career, was forced to injury default in his first match of the season and hasn’t wrestled since.

Contenders

#5 Peyten Kellar (Ohio)

#6 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa)

#7 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)

#8 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State)

#10 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State)

This is a really fun group of five guys. And a group that I could see any one of the five coming out on top. Peyten Kellar is the highest ranked of them, but he lost to Paddy Gallagher, the lowest ranked, at this tournament last year.

Watch Paddy Gallagher defeat Peyten Kellar at 2023 CKLV below.

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Ryder Downey defeated Gallagher at this tournament last year and looked really good afterward winning the Big 12 title and making the round of 12. Antrell Taylor is coming down in weight after taking 8th at 165 lbs last year. He’s 7-0 so far this year and is looking great. And Paniro Johnson is a bit of a wildcard at this weight. Everyone thinks Johnson is capable of beating anyone in this bracket, but can he put multiple tough matches together? We don’t have the data on him to know for sure yet as he sat out last season with a suspension.

Guys To Keep An Eye On

#18 Ed Scott (NC State)

#20 Ethan Stiles (Oregon State)

Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford)

Coming into this season, Ed Scott would have been in the contender tier above. He beat Ryder Downey at this tournament last year. However, he’s off to a rocky start to this season. He’s 6-2 with losses to Jude Swisher and Jimmy Harrington. Now, he’s looked good, and I expect him to get back on track with a solid performance this weekend.

Ethan Stiles has become a bit of a FloWrestling office fan favorite so far this season with his big personality and fun matches. He’s 6-1 the one loss was an ultra-close overtime loss to Antrell Taylor. 

Grigor Cholakyan is a wild ride and must-watch TV. He’s got a great high flyer that has already gotten him two pins so far as a true freshman. His only loss so far in his career has come to Jacori Teemer. I don’t think he’s going to be unranked after this weekend. 

157 Prediction

1. Antrell Taylor
2. Ryder Downey
3. Paniro Johnson
4. Peyten Kellar

165 Pounds

Potential Entry List

#3 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)

#4 Peyton Hall (West Virginia)

#5 Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley)

#6 Hunter Garvin (Stanford)

#7 Julian Ramirez (Cornell)

#8 Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern)

#9 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State)

#10 Will Miller (Appalachian State)

#11 Bubba Wilson (Nebraska)

#12 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State)

#16 Brock Mantanona (Michigan)

#19 Luka Wick (Cal Poly)

#20 Derek Fields (NC State)

#22 Stoney Buell (Purdue)

#26 Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State)

#28 Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa)

#31 Cesar Alvan (Columbia)

#33 Mac Church (Virginia Tech)

MJ Gaitan (Iowa State)

Enrique Munguia (Rider)

Tyler Sagi (Navy)

Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming)

Drayden Morton (Cal Baptist)

Kyle Mosher (Hofstra)

Carter Baer (Binghamton)

Kekana Fouret (Oregon State)

Guillermo Escobedo (CSU Bakersfield)

Michael Bobola (Harvard)

Mike McGhee (Sacred Heart)

Jack Lledo (Ohio)

The Favorites

None

165 will be unique in Las Vegas there isn’t 1, 2, or even 3 clear front runners. There is probably six guys who all have a legitimate and close to equal shot at winning. It’s just about who shows up and wrestles their best.

The Contenders

#3 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)

#4 Peyton Hall (West Virginia)

#5 Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley)

#6 Hunter Garvin (Stanford)

#7 Julian Ramirez (Cornell)

#9 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State)

The biggest question at 165 is how good is Sammy Sasso now? After suffering a major injury and being sidelined all of last season, he’s back and up two weights from 149 where he was previously a 2X NCAA finalist. So far this season he’s 3-0, but against three unranked opponents and hasn’t looked like the old version of himself. Is that just dusting off the cobwebs or is that the new Sasso? I tend to think that is just what Sasso is now. Which, I want to emphasize, is a huge achievement. It was being discussed if he was ever going to be able to even walk again. Sammy Sasso is as tough as they come.

I consider Peyton Hall, Terrell Barraclough, Hunter Garvin, and Cam Amine to be one-tier. Northwestern fans might be angry with me that I did not include #8 Maxx Mayfield in this tier. However, while Amine is struggling a little bit so far this season (coming off of a loss to freshman Nicco Ruiz), he’s shown he’s capable of winning big matches when he wrestles his best. Mayfield has not. He went 1-14 in quality matches last season according to WrestleStat.

As you can see in the table below, all these wrestlers are capable of beating each other. And don’t let Julian Ramirez’s 1-3 record fool you. He beat David Carr at this tournament last year and is the highest-returning placer.

2023 CKLV 165 lb Results

Izzak Olejnik (OKSU)

Julian Ramirez (CORN)

David Carr (ISU)

Cameron Amine (MICH)

Garrett Thompson (OHIO)

Hunter Garvin (STAN)

Guys To Keep An Eye On

#12 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State)

MJ Gaitan (Iowa State)

Nicco Ruiz is off to a good start to his Arizona State career. After going 8-2 last year as a redshirt freshman with a win over Matthew Olguin and only losing to David Carr and Mitchell Mesenbrink, Ruiz is 6-2 so far this season with a win over Cam Amine and losses to Max Brignola and Braeden Scoles. In the Scoles match, Ruiz was winning before getting pinned. He’s a guy that could knock off one of the contender-tier guys.

With the announcement that Connor Euton is out for the year, I expect the Cyclones to go with MJ Gaitan at 165 lbs. He was previously ranked in the top 10 before being pulled out as Euton earned the starting spot. He’s another guy who could knock off one of the contender-tier guys.

165 Predictions

1. Peyton Hall
2. Julian Ramirez
3. Terrell Barraclough
4. Hunter Garvin