Las Vegas Invitational 12/1-2/2006

By Scott Castleman
WVU Sports Information Office

December 2, 2006

Four Advance at Las Vegas Invite

PRIMM, Nev. - West Virginia University wrestler Jared Villers remains in the 197-pound championship bracket, while Zac Fryling (157), Chance Litton (184) and Dustin Rogers remain alive in their respective consolation brackets at the Las Vegas Invitational in Primm, Nev., on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Villers has wrestled as strong as he has all season so far in Las Vegas as he awaits his quarterfinal bout on Saturday. After a first round bye the Akron, Ohio, native earned a 17-0 technical fall against Mesa State’s Keenan Jennings three minutes into the bout. He then faced Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) foe Eric Cassidy of Pitt in the third round, coming away with a 15-1 major decision.

Villers is now 9-0 on the season. His quarterfinal opponent on Saturday, Missouri’s Max Askren, is the brother of 2005 174-pound NCAA champion Ben Askren.

Fryling won a pair of matches in the first and second rounds against UT-Chattanooga’s Jake Yost (11-3) and Wyoming’s Alex Rieder (15-6) before falling 11-3 to Pitt’s Matt Kocher in the third round. The Lansdale, Pa., native rebounded with a 12-5 win over Rider’s Dave Miller on Friday evening.

Litton defeated Brown’s Matt Geulinger 10-5 in his opening round bout before dropping a 13-0 major decision to Harvard’s Louis Caputo. In his lone consolation match of the day Litton defeated Western State’s Charlie Phifer 8-6.

After a first round bye Rogers knocked off Hofstra’s Matt Pollock 8-6, but lost bye way of pin (3:50) in the third round to Missouri’s Mark Ellis. The Corning, Calif., did not have to wrestle any consolation matches on Friday.

The Mountaineers, who only took only seven wrestlers to this year’s tournament, currently sit in 30th-place after the first day of wrestling. Up-to-date brackets can be found at TheWrestlingMall.com.

Wrestling begins on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with the first session that features all bouts up through the championship bracket semifinals and consolation finals. The tournament champions will be decided at 5 p.m. in the day’s second session.

Villers Takes Eighth at Vegas Invite

December 3, 2006

PRIMM, Nev. - West Virginia University wrestler Jared Villers highlighted his team’s final day at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 2, as he took eighth overall in the 197-pound weight class.

The Akron, Ohio, native began his day with a tough loss to eventual 197-pound champion Max Askren of Missouri, 6-5. Villers rebounded in his following match by earning a technical fall against Arizona State’s Jason Trulson by a score of 17-0 at the 3:57 mark.

After losing a 3-0 decision in the consolation quarterfinals to Hofstra’s Chris Weidman, 5-1, Villers injury defaulted to T.J. Morrison of Rider in the seventh-place bout.

Three other Mountaineers, Zac Fryling (157), Chance Litton (184) and Dustin Rogers (HWT), entered Saturday still alive in competition. However none advanced to consolation quarterfinals.

Fryling went 1-1 on the day as he defeated S. F. State’s Kenneth Packard, 5-3, in his first match of the day and then lost a close 4-3 decision to Columbia’s Devin Mesanko.

Litton earned a big 7-4 win over Nebraska’s Levi Wofford before dropping a 6-1 decision to Northern Illinois’ Duke Burke.

Rogers earned a pair of wins in consolation action over Penn’s Benn Reiter (9-4) and Boise State’s Andy Patrick (3-2). The Corning, Calif., native injury defaulted before his next bout against Kent State’s Jemail Porter.

West Virginia finished in 30th-place with 22 points in the tournament. Missouri claimed the team championship 157 points, 48 points better than second-place Michigan.

The Mountaineers are off until Friday, Dec. 15, when they host Duquesne at the WVU Coliseum in their first dual meet of the season. Wrestling begins at 8 p.m.




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