University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Cliff Keen Invite
Four Wrestlers Still Alive At Cliff Keen Invite
December 2, 2011 | Wrestling
Dec. 2, 2011
LAS VEGAS - North Carolina opened the month of December at the Cliff Keen Invite Friday in Las Vegas, Nev. as four wrestlers advanced in the consolation rounds and will continue to compete Saturday.
125 Pounds
Sophomore Brian Bokoski opened the Cliff Keen Invite with a technical fall loss to Hofstra's Steve Bonanno before posting a major decision win over Ronald Wardeigh of Western Wyoming by an 18-4 margin. Bokoski added a 4-1 decision over Michigan's Grant Pizzo but his weekend was ended by No. 7 Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State.
133 Pounds
Senior Brock LiVorio was given a tough draw to open the tournament as he took on top-seeded Logan Strieber of Ohio State who entered ranked No. 4 in the country. Stieber claimed a fall in 1:43 forcing LiVorio to the consolation bracket where he would best Jesse Schiffbauer of West Virginia, 12-5. Stanford's Ryan Mango claimed a 9-4 decision against LiVorio to knock the senior out.
141 Pounds
Freshman Evan Henderson entered the week No. 14 in the country at 141 pounds and lived up to the ranking by opening with three straight wins. Henderson opened with a pin of Wyoming's Michael Hamel in 1:48 before a 15-2 route of Navy's Raymond Borja. An 11-6 decision over No. 20 Nathan Pennesi of West Virginia put Henderson into the quarterfinals.
Henderson would do battle with No. 2 Borislav Novachkov of Cal Poly in the quarterfinal round but Novachkov got the better of Henderson and claimed an 8-1 win. Henderson will open Saturday's action with Josh Strait of Boise State with a third place finish in his sights.
149 Pounds
Jon Burns opened with a tough draw of his own as he took on No. 15 Cam Tessari of Ohio State, who Burns battled three weeks ago at the Wrestle for a Cure Duals and fell in 5:48. Tessari got the better of Burns, 8-2, Friday but Burns answered with three straight wins to keep a top finish within his reach.
urns opened the consolation bracket with a 6-2 decision over Shane Fenningham of Drexel before advancing on a medical forfeit by Daniel Young of Army. Burns punched his ticket for Saturday with a 4-1 decision over George Scheffel of West Virginia. Burns will take on No. 7 Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State on Saturday.
157 Pounds
Sophomore Corey Mock opened against No. 17 Steven Monk of North Dakota State after a first round bye and battled Monk before falling in 3:10. The pin lit a fire under Mock who went on to pin Vincent Aboytes of San Francisco State in 2:27 and then added a pin of Donnie Tasser of Pittsburgh in 1:00. Mock would then advance to Saturday action with a 9-4 decision over No. 18 George Ivanov of Boise State. Mock will open competition Saturday against Brandon Zeerip of Michigan.
165 Pounds
Senior Kyle Kiss returned to competition after missing the Northeast Duals due to injury last week and showed no signs of rust in a 5-2 decision over Kyle DeBerry of Arizona State. Kiss then would take on No. 16 Ben Jordan of Wisconsin in the second round as Jordan claimed an 11-0 win. Kiss rebounded with a 10-2 victory over Ethan Saylor of Edinboro before dropping a narrow 8-6 decision to Pittsburgh's Tyler Wilps to end his day.
184 Pounds
Senior Thomas Ferguson also missed time due to injury a week ago and as Kiss did he opened with an impressive win as he took down Indiana's Cheney Dale with a 10-2 win. Ferguson then took on No. 13 Luke Rebertus of Navy in the second round and battled to a 5-2 loss. Ferguson then rolled to an 18-2 major decision against Cal Baptist's Kyle Matthews and earned a spot in Saturday's action with a 9-6 decision against MacKain Stoll of North Dakota State. Ferguson will open Saturday against Ohio State's Cody Magrum.
197 Pounds
Senior Nick Tenpenny opened with an 8-1 win over Stanford's Alan Yen before facing seventh-seeded Alfonso Hernandez of Wyoming in the second round. Tenpenny dropped a 12-4 result to Hernandez before besting Andrew Reggi of San Francisco State by a 13-5 margin. Tenpenny would have his weekend cut short in his next bout as James Fox of Harvard claimed a 10-2 win.
Action gets underway at 9 a.m. PT with the fourth round of the consolation bracket, followed by the semi-finals and remaining consolation bouts before the finals at 3 p.m.
Players Mentioned
