Cowboys Ready for Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

The Basics
The No. 3 Oklahoma State wrestling team is headed back out west to compete at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 6-7. Widely considered the premier event of the college wrestling regular season, the CKLV Invitational poses Oklahoma State's first major test under head coach David Taylor with 14 ranked teams expected to be in attendance, including seven in the top 10. The Cowboys have rolled through their first four duals, claiming 33 of 40 bouts and surpassing 30 team points each time out.

How to Follow
This weekend's action will be available for streaming exclusively on flowrestling.org, while brackets and live results can be found on arena.flowrestling.org. In addition, updates will also be provided as they become available by @CowboyWrestling on the X app.

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
With 14 ranked teams expected to participate as part of its 30-team field, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has become the strongest regular season tournament on the college wrestling calendar. Last season, the event hosted over 150 ranked wrestlers with eight of its 10 champions going on to place at the national tournament, including two first-place finishers. This weekend also offers Oklahoma State a great opportunity to gain familiarity with several upcoming dual opponents in No. 6 NC State, No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Northern Iowa, No. 12 Iowa State and No. 18 West Virginia, as well as conference members No. 14 South Dakota State, No. 25 Arizona State, Utah Valley, Wyoming and Cal Baptist.

The Cowboys return to the CKLV Invitational as the highest-ranked team in the field after placing ninth last season. Their 2023 performance was highlighted by podium outings from Dustin Plott and Tagen Jamison, as well as Izzak Olejnik's title at 165 pounds.

Tournament Schedule
The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is divided into four sessions over two days of competition. Each day will consist of a morning and evening session. A look at the full schedule (all times CT):

Friday, December 6
Session I (11 a.m.)
- Championship Pig Tails, Round of 32, Round of 16
- Consolation Round of 32, Round of 16 #1, Round of 16 #2

Session II (8 p.m.)
- Championship Quarterfinals
- Consolation Round of 8 #1, Round of 8 #2

Saturday, December 7
Session III (12 p.m.)
- Championship Semifinals
- Consolation Semifinals, 5th and 7th Place Matches

Session IV (5 p.m.)
- Championship Finals
- Consolation Finals

About the Cowboys
The 2024 offseason sparked a new era for Oklahoma State as legendary head coach John Smith announced his retirement and wrestling icon David Taylor was hired as the eighth head coach in program history. Excitement has been buzzing for Taylor's first year ever since, especially after OSU's impressive 4-0 start to the season. Most recently, the Cowboys downed Wyoming and Arizona State in their first competition inside Gallagher-Iba Arena by scores of 32-6 and 33-6, respectively. With those performances, Oklahoma State has now surpassed 30 team points in all four of duals, its first time doing so to open a season since 2016-17. Through those four duals, OSU has claimed 33 of 40 bouts and scored bonus points 22 times. The Cowboy roster features 13 national qualifiers and a ranked wrestler at every weight class, giving it all the pieces necessary to contend for a team trophy this upcoming March.

National finalist Dustin Plott is back at 184 pounds to lead perhaps the deepest lineup throughout his time in Stillwater. The three-time All-American has opened his season in familiar fashion with three bonus-point victories in his first four matches. He also has 96 wins as a Cowboy, just four shy of becoming the 46th wrestler in program history to reach 100 total for his career.

Nicknamed "Sparky" for his prowess atop the Cowboy lineup, Troy Spratley is off to a tremendous start following a breakout freshman season in which he went 23-8 and finished one win shy of the podium at 125 pounds. He secured the biggest victory of his career two weeks ago when Wyoming visited Stillwater, defeating No. 2 Jore Volk in sudden victory to avenge his defeat in the 2024 Big 12 finals. Veteran Luke Surber has also impressed through four matches, scoring bonus points twice and beating a pair of wrestlers ranked in the top 16.

Newcomers Dean Hamiti Jr. and Wyatt Hendrickson both hold 4-0 records at 174 and 285 pounds, respectively, while combining for bonus points in seven of their eight matches thus far. Hendrickson was commanding in his 11-5 victory over Arizona State's No. 5 Cohlton Schultz two weeks ago, marking his third career win over a top five opponent. Cameron Amine and Tagen Jamison also landed in the top 10 in this week's InterMat rankings to give Oklahoma State top 10 wrestlers at six different weights.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Amine

Dean Hamiti Jr.

Wyatt Hendrickson

Tagen Jamison

Izzak Olejnik

Dustin Plott

Troy Spratley

Luke Surber

Oklahoma State University Athletics