Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational
Las Vegas Convention Center / Las Vegas, Nevada
Friday, Nov. 30 / Session I: Noon ET / Session II: 6 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 1 / Session III: Noon ET / Session IV: 6 p.m. ET
Purdue Notes / Brackets, Results / Live Video / Tournament Information
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Nearly 40 teams from across the country will descend upon Las Vegas for the 37th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational. The nation's first marquee tournament of the season will play out on 10 mats at the Las Vegas Convention Center on Friday and Saturday.
Six Boilermakers have been tabbed in the tournament pre-seeds that were released Wednesday: Devin Schroder is No. 7 at 125; Ben Thornton 11th at 133; Nate Limmex No. 9 at 141; Griffin Parriott No. 8 at 157; Dylan Lydy sixth at 174; and Christian Brunner is No. 5 at 197.
Among the participating teams, eight hail from the Big Ten Conference and 16 appear in this week's NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Participating teams include: Air Force, American, Binghamton, Brown, Cal Poly, California Baptist, Campbell, Clarion, CSU Bakersfield, Central Michigan, Citadel, No. 9 Cornell, Drexel, Duke, Fresno State, Harvard, Hofstra, No. 17 Illinois, No. 5 Michigan, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 6 Missouri, Navy, No. 12 Nebraska, No. 23 Northwestern, North Carolina, No. 19 North Dakota State, No. 18 Northern Iowa, Northern Colorado, No. 2 Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, No. 24 Pittsburgh, No. 15 Purdue, No. 25 Rutgers, Stanford, No. 22 Utah Valley, No. 13 Virginia Tech, Virginia and No. 21 Wyoming.
Not only does the field include numerous ranked teams, but an impressive number of ranked individuals. Each of the 10 weight classes could have at least 10 nationally ranked wrestlers in action. Two weight classes, 133 and 184, could see 13 of the nation's top 20 competing.
With so many ranked wrestlers, the tournament presents the opportunity for high competition and high drama. Unseeded at last year's event, Dylan Lydy broke onto the national stage, placing eighth, while being unseeded at 174. He knocked off a pair of seeded foes and won five matches over the course of two days. The previous year it was Ben Thornton at 125 pounds. Unseeded at the 2016 edition of the tournament, he went 5-2 on his way to placing seventh. Last year Thornton was one win shy of placing at 133.
| PURDUE LINEUP | ||||
| WEIGHT | NAME | YEAR | RECORD | HOMETOWN |
| 125 | No. 15 Devin Schroder | RS So. | 8-1 | Northview, Mich. |
| 133 | No. 18 Ben Thornton | RS Sr. | 10-1 | Stoddard, Wis. |
| 141 | No. 19 Nate Limmex | RS Jr.. | 8-3 | Ada, Mich. |
| 149 | Parker Filius | RS Fr. | 8-3 | Havre, Mont. |
| 157 | Griffin Parriott | RS So. | 0-1 | New Prauge, Minn. |
| 165 | Cole Wysocki | RS Jr. | 6-5 | Edwardsville, Ill. |
| 174 | No. 13 Dylan Lydy | RS Jr. | 9-2 | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| 184 | Max Lyon | So. | 9-3 | Dyersville, Iowa |
| 97 | No. 13 Christian Brunner | Jr. | 4-2 | East Dundee, Ill. |
| 285 | Jacob Aven | RS Sr. | 5-6 | Zionsville, Ind. |
InterMat rankings as of Nov. 27