LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Tate Orndorff led the way for the Utah Valley University wrestling team by placing third at the 38th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational while Kimball Bastian followed by posting a sixth-place finish at 174 to give the Wolverines multiple placewinners at the prestigious tournament for the fourth time in program history. 
 
The outing marked the second straight CKLV podium finish for both the sophomore Tate Orndorff and the senior Bastian, as well as Bastian's third podium finish of his career at the renowned tournament. Tate Orndorff previously reached the finals a season ago en route to earning runner-up honors at the 2018 CKLV Invite, while Bastian now holds sixth (2019), seventh (2016), and eighth place (2018) finishes during his career at the esteemed event.

"I'm proud of both Tate and Kimball for how they wrestled," head UVU coach Greg Williams said. "Kimball's two losses both came in overtime and one was to the No. 2 seed while the other was to the tournament champion. He gave himself a chance to win all of his matches and he truly controlled the matches that he won.
 
"We made a mental error in the semis with Tate, but he's doing some good things and this was a good result for him. It may not be the one that he wanted, but it was a good result and we're really happy for both of them."  

After going a perfect 2-0 on Friday to advance to Saturday morning's semifinal contest, the second-seeded and fourth-ranked Tate Orndorff matched up against a familiar foe in the No. 3 seed and fifth-ranked Tanner Hall of Arizona State. Tate Orndorff, who previously upset the then second-ranked Hall just last month by a score of 3-1 to win the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, and Hall again found themselves in a tightly contested battle on Saturday. With the bout tied at 1-1 with each grappler holding an escape apiece and late in the third period, the 2017 ASU All-American managed to get ahold of Tate Orndorff's legs and earn the decisive takedown to win by a score of 3-1 and send the 2019 UVU NCAA qualifier to the consolations semis. 
 
Then in the consolation semifinals, Tate Orndorff matched up with the No. 9 seed and 17th-ranked Carter Isley of Northern Iowa. With the bout scoreless entering the final stanza, the Wolverine heavyweight made his move with an escape followed by a quick takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Tate Orndorff then controlled the rest of the match en route to racking up a total of 3:30 of riding time on his way to winning by a score of 4-0 and advancing to the third-place bout.
 
In the third-place contest against the No. 7 seed and 14th-ranked Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State, Tate Orndorff managed to defeat the Big 12 foe for the second time in the tournament by pulling out a hard fought 3-2 decision. With Gremmel holding to a 1-0 advantage, Tate Orndorff recorded the lone takedown of the bout to take a 2-1 lead in the second period. Gremmel briefly tied the bout at 2-2, but Tate Orndorff responded with a go-ahead escape in the third to take a 3-2 advantage. The two both looked for a takedown in the third, but Tate Orndorff did what he needed to do to hold on and earn the bronze medal at this year's CKLV Invite. 
 
Overall, Tate Orndorff finished with a 4-1 record at the tournament with previous wins over Gremmel (7-3) and Kent State's Spencer Berthold (0:25 fall) on Friday.
 
After falling in overtime in his opening match of the tournament on Friday to the No. 3 seed and seventh-ranked Dylan Lydy of Purdue, the 12th-ranked and 14th-seeded Bastian then reeled off four straight wins in the consolations rounds to reach the consolation semifinals. 
 
After defeating No. 23 Jacob Oliver of Edinboro (8-4) and Tyler Morland of Northwestern (6-3) on Friday evening, Bastian then first matched up with the No. 9 seed and 14th-ranked Jackson Hemauer of Fresno State on Saturday morning. The two-time UVU NCAA qualifier looked strong in the bout by racking up a pair of takedowns, a reversal, an escape, and an additional riding time point to record an 8-2 victory and move on. Then matched up against 10th-seeded and 10th-ranked Hayden Hastings of Wyoming, Bastian advanced to the consolation semis by pulling out a 7-4 victory. Scoreless in the second period and Hastings up 1-0, Bastian made his move by compiling a pair of takedowns to take a 4-2 lead. The Wolverine senior then followed that up with reversal and a penalty point in the third on his way to winning by a score of 7-4. 
 
In the consolation semis, Bastian then found himself in a battle against the No. 2 seed and fifth-ranked Mikey Labriola of Nebraska. With the 2019 Cornhusker All-American holding to a late slim 4-3 advantage, Bastian fought off a Labriola shot and turned it into a takedown of his own to send the contest to overtime with Labriola holding riding time. Then in sudden victory, Labriola got in on a single-leg shot and eventually managed to convert it into the winning takedown to send Bastian to the fifth-place bout.
 
After looking to have sustained an injury late in the contest against Labriola, Bastian then took a medical forfeit in the fifth-place match against the No. 4 seed and eighth-ranked Anthony Valencia of Arizona State to finish his 2019 CKLV Invite run with a 4-2 record and a sixth-place finish. Of his four wins, three were over fellow ranked foes in No. 10 Hastings of Wyoming, No. 14 Hemauer of Fresno State, and No. 23 Oliver of Edinboro. 
 
Senior Tanner Orndorff (197) too advanced to Saturday's second day of competition for the Wolverines at the renowned tournament, but the eighth-seeded and 15th-ranked UVU grappler had his outing come to a close just one match shy of earning a podium finish by suffering an 8-4 setback to the No. 4 seed and sixth-ranked Eric Schultz of Nebraska in the Round of 12. The three-time UVU NCAA qualifier and two-time CKLV Invite placewinner finished his 2019 CKLV outing with a 2-2 showing with wins over the No. 10 seed and 21st-ranked Lucas Davison of Northwestern (10-5) and Cole Witzig of North Dakota State (9-3).  
 
Seven other Wolverines took part in the 2019 CKLV Invitational but all seven had their runs come to a close on Friday. Junior 165-pounder Koy Wilkinson led the group by going 2-2, while freshman Cameron Hunsaker (141) went 1-2, and junior Taylor LaMont (133), sophomore Ashton Seely (184), and freshmen Will Edelblute (125), Brigg Hoopes (149), and Jerry Rubio (157) all finished with 0-2 showings.
 
As a team, UVU finished in 18th place out of 32 teams with 27 total points. 

"Obviously we are disappointed with how we finished as a team. Some of our guys just don't look as good as we thought they would," Williams added. "But I was pleased with a couple of our younger guys and for the effort that they put out on the mat. I thought that Cameron especially did a nice job in his first time here as well as for the fight that Jerry showed." 
 
The Wolverines will continue tournament action next weekend, as they'll take part at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday, Dec. 15 in Reno, Nevada. UVU will then be off for the Christmas holiday before returning to dual action at Fresno State on Jan. 2.   
 
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 (4-2) - 6th Place
#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
#12 Kimball Bastian (UVU) DEC #14 Jackson Hemauer (Fresno St.), 8-2
#12 Kimball Bastian (UVU) DEC #10 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming), 7-4
#5 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) DEC Kimball Bastian (UVU), 7-5 (SV-1)
#8 Anthony Valencia (ASU) M FOR Kimball Bastian (UVU), Medical Forfeit
 
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 (2-2)
#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
#6 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) DEC #15 Tanner Orndorff (UVU), 8-4
 
285 – #4 Tate Orndorff (4-1) - 3rd Place
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) FALL Spencer Berthold (Kent State), 0:25
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) DEC #14 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 7-3
#5 Tanner Hall (ASU) DEC #4 Tate Orndorff (UVU), 3-1
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) DEC #17 Carter Isley (UNI), 4-0
#4 Tate Orndorff (UVU) DEC #14 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State), 3-2
 
Individual rankings listed are the highest ranking taken from the latest InterMat, FloWrestling, TrackWrestling, The Open Mat and Win Magazine polls.