LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Matt Ramos wrestled his way to a seventh-place finish on Saturday in a stacked field at the 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He is the now the seventh Boilermaker to climb the podium in Vegas three times, doing so in as many attempts.
Ramos earned his medal by beating No. 16 Tanner Jordan in a 7-3 decision in the seventh place match. A takedown in the first and second periods paired with over two minutes of riding time saw the Lockport, Ill., native to a comfortable victory.
He adds the seventh-place finish to second (2022) and eighth (2021) place medals in his career. If the team returns to the tournament next year, he could attempt to be the first in program history to place four times.
The redshirt-junior started his Saturday with a crazy match against Nebraska's No. 9 Caleb Smith. The pair wrestled all the way to a second tiebreaker period before Smith came away with an 8-4 win. It appeared Ramos had won the bout in SV2 with a late takedown, but upon review he had run out of time.
The young Boilermaker squad continues to gain experience on the biggest stages. Purdue wrestled nine underclassmen in the tournament that featured 15 of the top-25 programs.
Redshirt-sophomores No. 30 Stoney Buell and Dustin Norris showed out alongside redshirt-freshman Dustin Norris, all three of whom wrestled their way into the second session by upsetting ranked opponents. Buell put on a dominant display in a 12-1 major decision victory over No. 10 Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, only the second ranked win of his career. He won all three of his matches on the weekend with bonus points.
Norris rattled off two come-from-behind wins in a row on Friday, beating Maryland's King Sandoval 9-3 before upsetting No. 25 Caden McCrary of North Carolina 4-3 with a late third period takedown. Rowley fought hard in his opener, dropping a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 4 Chris Foca of Cornell after he was the only one to get a takedown in the match. He would bounce back with a runaway 12-3 major of Campbell's No. 24 Caleb Hopkins, bagging three takedowns and a three swipes to take the upset.
Up Next From the west side to the east side, the Boilermakers will travel to Buies Creek, North Carolina on Dec. 19 for a quad hosted by Campbell and featuring No. 24 Stanford and North Dakota State.
Results Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Westgate Paradise Event Center
21st Place – 24.5 Points
125: #2 Matt Ramos (R-Junior) – SEVENTH Place
Round of 32: Noah Luna (App State) – W, Fall 6:36
Round of 16: Dominic Mendez (Cal Poly) – W, D 9-5
Quarterfinals: #20 Nico Provo (Stanford) – L, D 8-1
Cons. Round of 8: #25 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) – W, D 8-5
Cons. Round of 4: #9 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) – L, TB2 8-4
7th Place: #16 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) – W, D 7-3
133: Dustin Norris (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: Reece Witcraft (Ok. State) – L, TF 18-0 (6:12)
Cons. Round of 16: King Sandoval (Maryland) – W, D 9-3
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #25 Caden McCrary (North Carolina) – W, D 4-3
Cons. Round of 8: #15 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) – L, MD 18-5
141: Cole Solomey (Freshman)
Round of 32: #4 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) – L, TF 21-0 (5:33)
Cons. Round of 16: Chris Naegele (Sacred Heart) – W, MD 12-0
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Abraham Hinrichsen (Cal Poly) – L, D 4-2
149: Marcos Polanco (R-Senior)
Round of 32: #3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) – L, MD 11-0
Cons. Round of 16: Justin Rivera (Campbell) – W, D 4-2
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #32 Gabe Willochel (Wyoming) – L, MD 15-1
157: #15 Joey Blaze (Freshman)
Round of 32: AJ Tecson (Morgan State) – W, TF 20-3 (4:06)
Round of 16: #13 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) – L, SV 4-1
Cons. Round of 16: #10 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) – L, D 5-2
165: #30 Stoney Buell (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: Christian Hodges (Navy) – W, TF 16-1 (6:33)
Round of 16: #3 Izzak Olejnik (Ok. State) – L, Fall (1:52)
Cons. Round of 16: Domonic Baker (Campbell) – W, MD 20-7
Cons. Round of 8: #10 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) – W, MD 12-1
Cons. Round of 8 #2: #8 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) – L, D 11-4
174: #33 Brody Baumann (R-Freshman)
Round of 32: Cael Valencia (Arizona State) – L, D 9-4
Cons. Round of 16: Michael Wilson (Rider) – L, D 8-6
184: James Rowley (R- Freshman)
Round of 32: #4 Chris Foca (Cornell) – L, D 4-3
Cons. Round of 16: Bye
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #24 Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) – W, MD 12-3
Cons. Round of 8: #20 Dylan Fishback (N.C. State) – L, D 4-0
197: Ben Vanadia (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: #9 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) – L, D 7-1
Cons. Round of 16: Nikolas Miller (Hofstra) – W, D 5-1
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) – L, D 7-3
285: Tristan Ruhlman (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: #13 Owen Trephan (N.C. State) – L, Fall (2:30)
Cons. Round of 16: Jacob Sartorio (App State) – L, D 8-1
Ramos earned his medal by beating No. 16 Tanner Jordan in a 7-3 decision in the seventh place match. A takedown in the first and second periods paired with over two minutes of riding time saw the Lockport, Ill., native to a comfortable victory.
He adds the seventh-place finish to second (2022) and eighth (2021) place medals in his career. If the team returns to the tournament next year, he could attempt to be the first in program history to place four times.
The redshirt-junior started his Saturday with a crazy match against Nebraska's No. 9 Caleb Smith. The pair wrestled all the way to a second tiebreaker period before Smith came away with an 8-4 win. It appeared Ramos had won the bout in SV2 with a late takedown, but upon review he had run out of time.
The young Boilermaker squad continues to gain experience on the biggest stages. Purdue wrestled nine underclassmen in the tournament that featured 15 of the top-25 programs.
Redshirt-sophomores No. 30 Stoney Buell and Dustin Norris showed out alongside redshirt-freshman Dustin Norris, all three of whom wrestled their way into the second session by upsetting ranked opponents. Buell put on a dominant display in a 12-1 major decision victory over No. 10 Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, only the second ranked win of his career. He won all three of his matches on the weekend with bonus points.
Norris rattled off two come-from-behind wins in a row on Friday, beating Maryland's King Sandoval 9-3 before upsetting No. 25 Caden McCrary of North Carolina 4-3 with a late third period takedown. Rowley fought hard in his opener, dropping a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 4 Chris Foca of Cornell after he was the only one to get a takedown in the match. He would bounce back with a runaway 12-3 major of Campbell's No. 24 Caleb Hopkins, bagging three takedowns and a three swipes to take the upset.
Up Next From the west side to the east side, the Boilermakers will travel to Buies Creek, North Carolina on Dec. 19 for a quad hosted by Campbell and featuring No. 24 Stanford and North Dakota State.
Results Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Westgate Paradise Event Center
21st Place – 24.5 Points
125: #2 Matt Ramos (R-Junior) – SEVENTH Place
Round of 32: Noah Luna (App State) – W, Fall 6:36
Round of 16: Dominic Mendez (Cal Poly) – W, D 9-5
Quarterfinals: #20 Nico Provo (Stanford) – L, D 8-1
Cons. Round of 8: #25 Diego Sotelo (Harvard) – W, D 8-5
Cons. Round of 4: #9 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) – L, TB2 8-4
7th Place: #16 Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) – W, D 7-3
133: Dustin Norris (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: Reece Witcraft (Ok. State) – L, TF 18-0 (6:12)
Cons. Round of 16: King Sandoval (Maryland) – W, D 9-3
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #25 Caden McCrary (North Carolina) – W, D 4-3
Cons. Round of 8: #15 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) – L, MD 18-5
141: Cole Solomey (Freshman)
Round of 32: #4 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) – L, TF 21-0 (5:33)
Cons. Round of 16: Chris Naegele (Sacred Heart) – W, MD 12-0
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Abraham Hinrichsen (Cal Poly) – L, D 4-2
149: Marcos Polanco (R-Senior)
Round of 32: #3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State) – L, MD 11-0
Cons. Round of 16: Justin Rivera (Campbell) – W, D 4-2
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #32 Gabe Willochel (Wyoming) – L, MD 15-1
157: #15 Joey Blaze (Freshman)
Round of 32: AJ Tecson (Morgan State) – W, TF 20-3 (4:06)
Round of 16: #13 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) – L, SV 4-1
Cons. Round of 16: #10 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) – L, D 5-2
165: #30 Stoney Buell (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: Christian Hodges (Navy) – W, TF 16-1 (6:33)
Round of 16: #3 Izzak Olejnik (Ok. State) – L, Fall (1:52)
Cons. Round of 16: Domonic Baker (Campbell) – W, MD 20-7
Cons. Round of 8: #10 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) – W, MD 12-1
Cons. Round of 8 #2: #8 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) – L, D 11-4
174: #33 Brody Baumann (R-Freshman)
Round of 32: Cael Valencia (Arizona State) – L, D 9-4
Cons. Round of 16: Michael Wilson (Rider) – L, D 8-6
184: James Rowley (R- Freshman)
Round of 32: #4 Chris Foca (Cornell) – L, D 4-3
Cons. Round of 16: Bye
Cons. Round of 16 #2: #24 Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) – W, MD 12-3
Cons. Round of 8: #20 Dylan Fishback (N.C. State) – L, D 4-0
197: Ben Vanadia (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: #9 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) – L, D 7-1
Cons. Round of 16: Nikolas Miller (Hofstra) – W, D 5-1
Cons. Round of 16 #2: Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) – L, D 7-3
285: Tristan Ruhlman (R-Sophomore)
Round of 32: #13 Owen Trephan (N.C. State) – L, Fall (2:30)
Cons. Round of 16: Jacob Sartorio (App State) – L, D 8-1