Oregon State
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Classic
Beavers Ninth In Las Vegas
December 01, 2001 | Wrestling
Dec. 1, 2001
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Oregon State 141-pounder Casey Horn finished fourth in his weight class, leading four OSU placers as the Beavers finished ninth in the 52-team Las Vegas Classic wrestling tournament that concluded Saturday. Also placing for OSU (4-1 overall, 1-1 Pacific-10) were Isaac Weber, fifth at 184 pounds, Andy Bowlby, fifth at heavyweight, and Jake Huffman, eighth at 174.
Third-ranked Michigan was the team champion, followed by West Virginia, eighth-ranked Lehigh, 11th-ranked Edinboro, ninth-ranked Arizona State, 20th-ranked Pittsburgh, 12th-ranked Nebraska, Air Force, OSU and Cornell.
"As a team, we made some big steps," OSU head coach Joe Wells said of the Beavers' performance at the tournament. "Overall, I was pleased with how we performed, especially on the first day. I thought today we let down a little, we had a couple of guys with injuries and that affected how we prepared to compete today and we can't let that be a factor.
"In a quality tournament, you just have to suck it up and get ready to go, and anticipate that the next day, the level of competition will be raised some. You just have to step up and be accepting of the challenge."
The Beavers now take finals week off from competition, then resume their dual meet schedule Dec. 12 when they host Oregon in the season's first Civil War, sponsored by Northwest Dodge Dealers. Oregon State will also host fourth-ranked Oklahoma State on Dec. 16.
Horn finished fourth after losing to Chad Caros of Edinboro 6-4 in the third-place final. In Saturday morning's semifinals, the unranked Horn had been beaten by sixth-ranked Cedric Haymon of Cal Poly 5-2.
"He had a real good tournament," Wells said of Horn. "He was extremely aggressive, he got some good shots and nice takedowns, and he went to work on top - he was determined to put them on their back, and he got another pin for us in the consolation semifinals."
Weber earned fifth place with a pin over 10th-ranked Rob Rohn of Lehigh, it took Weber just 43 seconds to flatten Rohn. Weber had been beaten by third-ranked Andy Hrovat of Michigan 6-1 in the semifinals.
"That was a real nice win for Isaac," Wells said of Weber's pin of Rohn. "He wrestled pretty well the whole tournament."
Bowlby captured fifth when he received an injury default over Josh Pearce of Edinboro. Bowlby had been knocked from the championship bracket when he was pinned by Bronson Lingamfelter of Brown in the semifinals in 1:51.
"Andy was dominating in both matches he lost," Wells said, referring to the semifinal and a subsequent defeat in the wrestlebacks. "Then he got a little too lackadaisical and made a couple errors, he thought he could get away with it and it came back to haunt him."
Huffman wound up in eighth place after being pinned by Todd Fuller of North Dakota State in 1:52 in the seventh-place final.
"Jake made some big steps, as well," Wells said. "He's wrestling tougher and tougher every time out."
OSU missed the chance to pick up more points Saturday when Nathan Navarro, ranked 13th nationally at 133 pounds, defaulted his first wrestleback match as a precaution against aggravating a minor injury suffered Friday.
LAS VEGAS CLASSIC
TEAM SCORES (TOP 10) - Michigan 163, West Virginia 127, Lehigh 120, Edinboro 99, Arizona State 97, Pittsburgh 96, Nebraska 89, Air Force 85, Oregon State 73.5, Cornell 70.5.
