Two Big Red Wrestlers Reach Finals As Cornell Finishes Sixth Overall At Cliff Keen Invite SOURCE: cornellbigred.com December 02, 2023
LAS VEGAS -- Two Cornell wrestlers reached the finals in their weight classes on Saturday, and the Big Red finished in 6th place with 93.5 team points in the 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Junior Julian Ramirez (165 pounds) and sophomore Brett Ungar (125 pounds) placed second in their weight classes, while senior Jacob Cardenas (197 pounds) finished in fourth. Sophomore Vince Cornella (141 pounds) and senior Lewis Fernandes (285 pounds) came in eighth. Top Highlights and Notes Cornell finished in sixth place as a team with 93.5 points. The Big Red has finished in the top 10 in the Cliff Keen team standings three years in a row. The sixth-place finish marks Cornell's best at the Cliff Keen Invite since it claimed fifth place in 2016. In one of the tournament's best matches, Ramirez upset No. 1-seeded David Carr (Iowa State), the second-ranked wrestler in the nation at 165 pounds, to reach the finals. Ramirez broke a 1-1 tie with a three-point takedown in the final minute to secure the victory over Carr, a four-time NCAA All-American, 2021 national champion and 2023 runner-up. Ramirez beat three ranked opponents during the two-day event: No. 2 Carr, No. 29 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) and No. 8 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State). Ramirez, who won the 165-pound class at last year's event, has placed at the Cliff Keen Invite three years in a row. Ungar, who placed seventh at last year's Cliff Keen Invite, beat No. 2-seeded Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) 8-1 by default to reach the finals. Ungar beat three ranked opponents during the tournament: No. 8 DeAugustino, No. 21 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) and No. 21 Diego Sotelo (Harvard). Cardenas picked up ranked wins over No. 11 Silas Allred (Nebraska) and No. 19 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) en route to fourth place. Comments |