Blaze of Glory: Purdue's 6th Cliff Keen Las Vegas Champion

LAS VEGAS — Joey Blaze hit the jackpot to win the 2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship on Saturday.

The junior 165-pounder from Perrysburg, Ohio, became the seventh CKLV champion in Purdue history. Undefeated at 10-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country, Blaze ran the table as the top seed without surrendering a single takedown.

Blaze’s victory is a major statement after his runner-up finish (157 lbs) at the 2025 NCAA Championships, when he became Purdue’s youngest national finalist since at least 1950.

Purdue finished tied for 10th out of 30 as a team with 56 points. It is the fifth time in the past seven years the Boilers have finished top-10 in Vegas.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Blaze won five matches, including two against ranked wrestlers on the two-day trip. After steamrolling his first three by a total score of 39-6, Blaze faced his first tests against No. 15 Ty Whalen in the semis and No. 19 Nicco Ruiz in the finals. The Boiler upended each of them with a pair of 4-2 decisions.

Blaze’s combined CKLV score was 47-10. Through 10 matches this season, it’s 143-31.

FOUR PLACEWINNERS

Purdue put four wrestlers on the Cliff Keen podium, the team’s most since 2021.

No. 19 Stoney Buell (157) made it to the semifinals alongside Blaze but fell to No. 1 Ty Watters. Buell went on to finish in sixth place. It was a big step forward for the redshirt senior, who placed for the first time in four ventures to Vegas.

No. 21 Brody Baumann (174) fought hard on Friday, winning his first two before suffering an injury in the quarterfinals against No. 19 Brody Conley. He toughed out another match in the blood round, winning a 16-13 decision with a noticeable limp to clinch eighth place. He medically forfeited his remaining matches on Saturday.

No. 23 Ben Vanadia (197) looked impressive as the 8-seed. He won his first two to get to the quarters, where he scored the first takedown all season on No. 2-ranked Rocky Elam, but ultimately got dropped to the consolations. Vanadia pushed for one more win on Saturday, beating Spencer Mooberry 11-4 to take seventh place.

PERSPECTIVE

For the first time since 2002-03, head coach Tony Ersland’s Boilermakers have won a Cliff Keen championship in consecutive years. This was Purdue’s 19^th trip to CKLV, and only four Boilers had ever won the whole thing prior to last season.

The annual Vegas event is considered the biggest and most important tournament of the NCAA wrestling regular season. With over 120 nationally ranked wrestlers competing, the results will hold major implications for seeding in the NCAA Championships in March.

UP NEXT

The 6-0 Boilermakers return to dual action next Sunday, Dec. 14, at Morgan State in Baltimore. A victory would give Purdue its first 7-0 start since 2006.

The dual is set for noon ET in Hurt Gymnasium. Broadcast details will be announced in the coming days.

RESULTS

[ ] = seed | # = national ranking from InterMat

125 | Ashton Jackson – DNP (0-2)
Round of 32: [9] #23 Diego Sotelo (MICH) – L, 2-0 dec.
Cons. Round of 16: #33 Chris Vargo (EDIN) – L, 5-0 dec.

133 | (9) #26 Blake Boarman – DNP (0-2)
Round of 32: Gunner Andrick (WVU) – L, 4-1 dec. (SV-1)
Cons. Round of 16: [10] Jarvis Little (APP) – L, 4-2 dec.

141 | (5) #19 Greyson Clark – DNP (1-2)
Round of 32: Jacob Mann (PRIN) – W, 4-1 dec. (SV-1)
Round of 16: [12] Jack Consiglio (STAN) – L, 13-2 MD
Cons. Round of 16: Billy DeKraker (NW) – L, 5-1 dec.

149 | Gavin Brown – DNP (3-2)
Round of 32: [10] Willie McDougald (WVU) – W, 2-1 Dec.
Round of 16: [7] #23 Eligh Rivera (PRIN) – L, 9-5 Dec.
Cons. Round of 16: Hunter Hollingsworth (OKLA) – W, 5-2 Dec.
Cons. Round of 8 #1: Dylan Layton (RIDER) – W, 15-0 TF (2:46)
Cons. Round of 8 #2: [5] #11 David Evans (UTV) – L, 8-4 Dec.

157 | [4] #19 Stoney Buell – 6^th Place (3-3)
Round of 32: Garrett McChesney (EDIN) – W, 11-2 MD
Round of 16: Mark Takara (UTV) – W, 5-1 Dec.
Quarters: [5] #20 Cael Swensen (SDSU) – W, 4-3 Dec.
Semis: [1] #1 Ty Watters (WVU) – L, Pin (2:38)
Cons. Semis: [7] #25 Cam Catrabone (MICH) – L, Pin (2:30)
5^th Place Match: [8] #27 Chance McLane (ASU) – L, 5-4 Dec.

165 | [1] #4 Joey Blaze – Champion (5-0)
Round of 32: Evan Manzo (CSUB) – W, 20-2 TF (4:03)
Round of 16: Brett Smith (NIU) – W, 14-3 MD
Quarters: Shawn Taylor (WVU) – W, 5-1 Dec.
Semis: [4] #15 Ty Whalen (PRIN) – W, 4-2 Dec.
Finals: [2] #19 Nicco Ruiz (ASU) – W,  4-2 Dec.

174 | [5] #21 Brody Baumann – 8^th Place (3-2)
Round of 32: Collin Guffey (STAN) – W, 15-6 MD
Round of 16: Ben Smith (HARV) – W, 8-1 Dec.
Quarters: [4] #19 Brody Conley (WVU) – L, 8-0 MD
Cons. Round of 8: Tommy Bennett (NIU) – W, 16-13 Dec.
Cons. Round of 4: Eddie Enright (NW) – L, MFOR

184 | [12] #26 James Rowley – DNP (3-2)
Round of 32: Shay Addison (ASU) – W, 7-2 Dec.
Round of 16: [5] #13 Brian Soldano (OKLA) – L, 9-6 Dec.
Cons. Round of 16: Brian Burburija (AF) – W, 4-0 Dec.
Cons. Round of 8 #1: #30 TJ McDonnell (ORST) – W, 12-5 Dec.
Cons. Round of 8 #2: [10] #31 Sal Perrine (OHIO) – L, 8-1 Dec.

197 | [8] #23 Ben Vanadia – 7^th Place (3-2)
Round of 32: BYE
Round of 16: [9] #28 Zyan Hall (NAVY) – W, 5-0 Dec.
Quarters: [1] #2 Rocky Elam (ISU) – L, 15-4 MD
Cons. Round of 8: [11] #33 Karson Tompkins (USAF) – W, 10-7 Dec.
Cons. Round of 4: [5] #11 DJ Parker (OKLA) – L, 8-0 MD
7^th Place Match: Spencer Mooberry (NIU) – W, 11-4 Dec.

285 | [10] #32 Hayden Filipovich – DNP (0-2)
Round of 32: BYE
Round of 16: [7] #27 Christian Carroll (WYO) – L, 22-5 TF (3:26)
Cons. Round of 16: Tristan Kemp (CBU) – L, 4-2 Dec.