Daniel, Monday Lead UNC On Day One In Vegas

Friday, November 30

Las Vegas, Nev.

All Day

North Carolina

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

November 30, 2018 | Wrestling

LAS VEGAS --- Third-seeded Kennedy Monday and fourth-seeded Cory Daniel both advanced to the semifinals to lead the way for North Carolina on the first day of the 2018 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Friday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

A.C. Headlee (141 pounds) No. 9 Austin O'Connor (149), Devin Kane (174) and No. 8 Chip Ness (184) all remain alive in the consolation bracket.

Monday's tournament began with one of the best matches of the day against Air Force's Alex Mossing. Early in the first period, Mossing was able to put Monday in a tough position and collect a 4-point near fall to start with a 6-0 advantage. But the Tar Heel sophomore fought back with three takedowns in the third and finished it off with four points in overtime to advance with a 13-9 win.

He used that momentum to advance to the 157-pound quarterfinals, where he put on a strong performance against Rutgers' John Van Brill. After losing to Van Brill at the NCAA Championships last year, Monday was able to win big, an 11-4 decision to advance to Saturday's semifinals. He'll take on Northwestern's Ryan Deakin, the No. 2 seed, for a spot in the championship.

Daniel started the heavyweight competition with a swift win against North Dakota State's Brandon Metz, taking him feet-to-back and pinning him in 1:37. After the quick fall, Daniel grinded out a tight 8-6 decision against Nebraska-Kearney's Jarrod Hinrichs to move on to the quarterfinals. There, he defeated Oklahoma's Jake Boyd 3-0 to advance to the semis. That match will be against top-seeded Gable Stevenson of Minnesota, one of the nation's best pound-for-pound wrestlers.

O'Connor's day started with a tight 3-1 decision, but he put on a show heading into the quarterfinals. After a second-period pin of Western Wyoming's Jake Thompson, he was able to win via fall yet again in the round of 16 match. Against Campbell's Josh Heil, O'Connor attacked early and didn't stop, picking up another pin in 1:39. He faced Ohio State's No. 3 Micah Jordan in the quarterfinals and dropped a hard-fought 7-3 decision.

After kicking off the day with a bye, Ness picked up two comfortable wins to advance to the quarterfinals. His second victory came against a familiar face, Duke's Kaden Russell. Ness pinned Russell at last year's Brawl at the Hall and continued his strong work against the Blue Devil on Friday. The redshirt senior took control early and scored a 13-4 major decision. In the quarterfinals, fifth-seeded Max Dean of Cornell topped Ness 10-0 to send the Tar Heel senior to the consolation bracket.

Kane and Headlee both dropped matches early, but finished the day strong and earned the right to wrestle Saturday. Kane, after falling to Minnesota's Devin Skatzka in a first round bout, strung together four straight wins to finish the day.

Josh McClure picked up two wins at 165 but lost in the consolation round of eight against Oklahoma's Jeremy Thomas.

Action in Las Vegas will continue Saturday at 9 a.m. Fans can follow along all day through Flo Wrestling here.