LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Tate Orndorff punched his ticket to the semifinals and a total of three Utah Valley University grapplers advanced to Saturday's second day of competition at the 38th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday in Las Vegas.
 
The second-seeded and fourth-ranked Tate Orndorff (heavyweight) went an perfect 2-0 on the day to move into the semifinal round at the prestigious tournament for the second consecutive year, while his brother Tanner Orndorff (197 pounds) and Kimball Bastian (174) both won a pair of bouts in the consolation rounds to advance to Saturday's final day of competition at the renowned two-day event.
 
After receiving an opening bye, Tate Orndorff -- who earned runner up honors at the CKLV Invite a season ago -- made quick work of his first opponent by pinning Kent State's Spencer Berthold in just 25 seconds to advance to the quarterfinals. Then matched up against the No. 7 seed and 14th-ranked Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State, the Wolverine 2019 NCAA qualifier recorded a pair of third-period takedowns en route to earning a 7-3 decision over the Big 12 foe and move on to Saturday's semis. On Saturday, the sophomore Tate Orndorff will match up with the No. 3 seed and fifth-ranked Tanner Hall of Arizona State in a rematch from last month's Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Tate Orndorff upset the then second-ranked and former All-American Hall last month by a score of 3-1 to win the Journeymen Classic. 
 
The three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time CKLV Invite placewinner Tanner Orndorff too moved on to Saturday's second day of competition after going 2-1 on Friday. After suffering an opening round setback to No. 33 Greg Bulsak of Clarion, the eighth-seeded and 15th-ranked Tanner Orndorff then moved on with wins over No. 21 Lucas Davison of Northwestern (10-5) and Cole Witzig of North Dakota State (9-3) in the consolation rounds. The senior Tanner Orndorff has previously placed eighth at the CKLV Invite in both 2016 and 2018 and will match up with the fourth-seeded and sixth-ranked Eric Schultz of Nebraska on Saturday morning. 
 
The 12th-ranked and 14th-seeded Bastian too advanced to Saturday by compiling a 2-1 record on the day. After suffering a tough overtime loss to No. 7 Dylan Lydy of Purdue in his opening match, the two-time UVU NCAA qualifier and two-time CKLV Invite placewinner then bounced back nicely by recording back-to-back wins over No. 23 Jacob Oliver of Edinboro (8-4) and Tyler Morland of Northwestern (6-3) to move on. The senior Bastian, who previously placed seventh at the CKLV Invite in 2016 and eighth in 2018, will match up with the No. 9 seed and 14th-ranked Jackson Hemauer of Fresno State on Saturday morning. 
 
In Bastian's opening match, overtime was needed to settle an epic overtime battle between the 14th-seeded Wolverine and the third-seeded Lydy of Purdue. Deadlocked at 1-1 entering the first sudden victory period, the two headed for the tiebreakers after a scoreless minute of overtime action. Both 174-pound grapplers then traded an escape apiece in the first tiebreaker round to send the contest to the second sudden victory period. After another scoreless sudden victory period, the seventh-ranked Boilermaker and the 12th-ranked Wolverine then headed to the tiebreakers again. Lydy then worked a quick escape and was awarded a last-second takedown as time expired on the edge of the mat to take a 5-2 advantage. Then with Bastian on bottom, the two-time UVU NCAA qualifier picked up an escape point of his own and looked to gain the tying two with a last-second takedown shot but the takedown was not awarded by the official resulting in a 5-3 setback for Bastian. 
 
Junior 165-pounder Koy Wilkinson too had a strong showing on Friday by posting a 2-2 record. Wilkinson recorded wins over Michigan's Layne Van Anrooy and Kent State's Kade Byland, while his setbacks came against the No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Isaiah White of Nebraska as well as Ricky Padilla of Fresno State. 
 
Freshman Cameron Hunsaker was the lone other Wolverine to record a win on the day by going 1-2 at 141 pounds with an overtime victory over conference foe Clay Carlson of South Dakota State.
 
Junior Taylor LaMont (133), sophomore Ashton Seely (184), and freshmen Will Edelblute (125), Brigg Hoopes (149), and Jerry Rubio (157) also took part in the event for the Wolverines, but all had their 2019 CKLV Invite runs come to a close with 0-2 showings.
 
As a team, UVU will enter Saturday's final day of action in a tie for 19th place out of 32 teams with 15.5 points. A season ago, UVU posted its best finish at the renowned tournament in program history by placing eighth out of 43 teams with a record four podium finishers. All three of Utah Valley's competitors that advanced to Saturday's second day of competition placed at last year's CKLV Invite. 
 
Consolation action of the 2019 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational will begin at 10 a.m. MT/9 a.m. PT on Saturday while the semifinals will follow at 11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT. The championship finals will then be held on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT/3 p.m. PT. Each match will be streamed live on FloWrestling.org (for a fee). 
 
UTAH VALLEY CKLV INVITATIONAL RESULTS
125 – Will Edelblute (0-2)
#16 Jacob Schwarm (UNI) FALL Will Edelblute (UVU), 1:00
Benny Martinez (Cal Poly) DEC Will Edelblute (UVU), 7-2
 
133 – #7 Taylor LaMont (0-2)
Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) DEC #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 6-1
Jack Skudlarczyk (UNI) DEC #7 Taylor LaMont (UVU), 4-1 (TB-2)
 
141 – Cameron Hunsaker (1-2)
#22 Cole Mattin (Michigan) DEC Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 4-3
Cameron Hunsaker (UVU) DEC Clay Carlson (SDSU), 8-7 (TB-2)
Noah Baughman (Cornell) DEC Cameron Hunsaker (UVU), 7-4
 
149 – Brigg Hoopes (0-2)
#12 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) TF Brigg Hoopes (UVU), 19-4 (3:49)
Selwyn Porter (The Citadel) DEC Brigg Hoopes (UVU), 10-3
 
157 – Jerry Rubio (0-2)
#1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) FALL Jerry Rubio (UVU), 0:49
Brady Chrisman (Kent State) DEC Jerry Rubio (UVU), 9-7
 
165 – Koy Wilkinson (2-2)
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) DEC Kade Byland (Kent State), 12-6
#4 Isaiah White (Nebraska) TF Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 19-4 (4:41)
Koy Wilkinson (UVU) DEC Layne Van Anrooy (Michigan), 4-3
Ricky Padilla (Fresno State) DEC Koy Wilkinson (UVU), 4-2
 
174 – #12 Kimball Bastian (2-1)
#7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) DEC #12 Kimball Bastian (UVU), 5-3 (TB-4)
#12 Kimball Bastian (UVU) DEC #23 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro), 8-4
#12 Kimball Bastian (UVU) DEC Tyler Morland (Northwestern), 6-3
 
184 – Ashton Seely (0-2)
Alan Clothier (Northern Colo.) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 7-0 
Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma) DEC Ashton Seely (UVU), 7-2
 
197 – #15 Tanner Orndorff (2-1)
#33 Greg Bulsak (Clarion) FALL #15 Tanner Orndorff (UVU), 4:01 
#15 Tanner Orndorff (UVU) DEC #21 Lucas Davison (Northwestern), 10-5
#15 Tanner Orndorff (UVU) DEC Cole Witzig (NDSU), 9-3
 
285 – #4 Tate Orndorff (2-0)
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) FALL Spencer Berthold (Kent State), 0:25
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) DEC #14 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 7-3
 
Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat and Win Magazine polls.