WOLVERINES HEAD TO VEGAS FOR CLIFF KEEN 
After a week off from competition for Thanksgiving, the Utah Valley University wrestling team is back on the mat at the loaded Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this Friday and Saturday at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center. The invitational will air live on FloWrestling. 

Nine of the teams ranked in the NWCA Top 25 Coaches Poll are slated to compete including a trio of top 10 squads in No. 3 Iowa State, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 8 South Dakota State. The competition begins on Friday at 9 a.m. PST (10 a.m. MST). The quarterfinals will begin at 6 p.m. PST on Friday evening. On Saturday, the semifinals and consolation semis and fifth-eighth place finals will begin at 10 a.m. PST with the finals and third-place matches scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. PST. 

RANKINGS UPDATE
All four ranked Wolverines picked up wins against California Baptist in the most recent dual and there was little movement with the limited action last week. Still, Bridger Ricks (125) jumped up to No. 25 in the FloWrestling poll, while Haiden Drury (141) moved up in both the FloWrestling (24th) and Intermat (29th) polls. David Evans is 13th in the 149-pound Intermat and 11th in FloWrestling, and Caleb Uhlenhopp is 33rd by FloWrestling at 184. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Wolverines opened the Big 12 schedule on Thursday, Nov. 20 with a decisive 26-9 win at California Baptist. Utah Valley won seven of 10 bouts with Evans, Uhlenhopp and Kael Bennie (197) all earning bonus points. Evans and Uhlenhopp both won by tech fall while Bennie won by major decision. Also winning were Ricks, Drury, Mark Takara, and Jack Forbes.

Takara headlined a group of Wolverines who also competed in the Roadrunner Open at CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 23.  He was one of six UVU wrestlers to place in the top six, with Levi Kovacs leading the way with a second-place finish at 285 pounds. At 157, Takara took fourth while Alex Emmer was just behind him in fifth. Ryker Fullmer, Christian Smoot, and Smokey McClure, who wrestled unattached, all took sixth.

ABOUT THE FIELD
In addition to three of the top 10 and nine of the top 25 in the coaches poll, the field also includes a total of eight of the 14 programs from the Big 12, four of which are ranked. The remaining ranked programs outside of the top 10 competing in Las Vegas are: No. 15 Michigan, No. 17 Cornell, No. 18 West Virginia, No. 19 Oklahoma, No. 24 Stanford and No. 25 Oregon State.

UP NEXT
The Wolverines will be head to Hannibal, Missouri near St. Louis next week for the Uncivil War on Friday, Dec. 12 with duals schedule against Chattanooga and No. 4 Iowa. The match against Chattanooga begins at 2:30 p.m. CST (1:30 p.m. MST) with the Iowa dual is slated for an 8:30 p.m. CT start with both airing on FloWrestling.