LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A program record three Camels placed on the podium at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend, held at the Westgate Paradise Event Center. Heavyweight Taye Ghadiali finished in third place, Domenic Zaccone placed fourth at 133 pounds and Austin Murphy (174 pounds) placed sixth.

After Ghadiali dropped his first match of the season to the No. 1 seed Lucas Davidson (Michigan) in the semifinals, he bounced back in a big way with a 5:33 pin over #17 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) in the consolation semifinals.

Ghadiali earned the third-place finish by defeated #22 Boone McDermott of Oregon State with a 15-6 MD. This is the second time this season Ghadiali has earned a bonus-point victory over McDermott, as he pinned him (6:26) in the semifinals of the Southeast Open in early November.

Zaccone recorded three major decision victories of his own on the weekend. Murphy added a tech fall and fall in his first two matches on his way to the podium. Murphy upset the seed and rank directly ahead of him No. 6 (#21) MJ Gaitan of Iowa State in a 10-5 decision in the consolation bracket.

Altogether, Campbell recorded seven victories over ranked opponents over the two days at the event, including Ghadiali's upset of #13 Owen Trephan (NC State) and Zaccone's 4-2 triumph over #10 Julian Chlebove of Arizona State. In addition, the Camels combined for 13 bonus point victories.

Below are the full Campbell results. The full Cliff Keen Invitational results can be found here. Replays of the matches can be found on FloWrestling.

Team Results, Top 20

1. Iowa State, 130.5; 2. Nebraska, 125.5; 3. Ohio State, 123.5; 4. NC State, 115; 5. Oregon State, 98.5; 6. Cornell, 93.5; 7. Stanford, 85.5; 8. Michigan, 81.5; 9. Oklahoma State, 78.5; 10. South Dakota State, 74; 11. Virginia Tech, 69; 12. Northern Iowa, 67.5; 13. Campbell, 61; 14. Arizona State, 51; 15. Ohio, 50; 16. Navy, 48.5; 17. Wyoming, 43.5; 18. North Carolina, 37; 19. Binghamton, 30; 20. App State, 26.5

Campbell Results

Individual rankings according to Intermat, tournament seed in parentheses

125 Pounds

Anthony Molton (1-2)

Round 1 | L | vs. (5) #11 Jore Volk (Wyoming), Dec. 5-0

Consolation | W | vs. Malik Hardy (The Citadel), Fall (1:02)

Consolation | L | vs. Troy Hohman (NC State), MD 10-2

133 Pounds

(7) #14 Domenic Zaccone (Fourth Place, 5-2)

Round 1 | W | vs. Andrew Fallon (Sacred Heart), MD 13-4

Round 2 | W | vs. (14) #31 Ethan Oakley (App State), Dec. 9-6

Round 3 | L | vs. Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State), MD 14-3

Consolation | W | vs. (3) #10 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State), Dec. 4-2

Consolation Quarterfinals | W | vs. Julian Farber (Northern Iowa), MD 12-3

Consolation Semifinals | W | vs. Tyler Knox (Stanford), MD 16-6

Third Place Match | L | vs. (7) #15 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State), Dec. 4-2

141 Pounds

Chris Rivera (1-2)

Round 1 | L | vs. (1) #3 Lachlan McNeil (UNC), MD 14-2

Consolation | W | vs. Jacob Silka (The Citadel), MD 13-3

Consolation | L | vs. Cole Brooks (Wyoming), Dec. 12-6

149 Pounds

Justin Rivera (0-2)

Round 1 | L | vs. Ethan Fernandez (Cornell), Dec. 6-1

Consolation | L | vs. Marcos Polanco (Purdue), Dec. 4-3

157 Pounds

(15) #29 Chris Earnest (2-2)

Round 1 | W | vs. Isaiah Crosby (Oregon State), Dec. 7-5

Round 2 | L | vs. (2) #4 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State), Dec. 6-3

Consolation | W | vs. Jaden Le (Columbia), Dec. 6-3

Consolation | L | vs. (10) #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State, MD 10-1

165 Pounds

Dom Baker (1-2)

Round 1 | L | vs. (9) #20 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech), Dec. 4-2

Consolation | W | vs. James Johnston (Long Island), Fall 3:39

Consolation | L | vs. (14) #30 Stoney Buell (Purdue), MD 20-7

174 Pounds

(7) #22 Austin Murphy (Sixth Place, 4-3)

Round 1 | W | vs. Michael Wilson (Rider), TF 18-2

Round 2 | W | vs. Cael Valencia (Arizona State), Fall 3:59

Round 3 | L | vs. (2) #5 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State), Dec. 6-0

Consolation | W | vs. Benny Baker (Cornell), Dec. 5-1

Consolation Quarterfinals | W | vs. (6) #21 MJ Gaitan (Iowa State), Dec. 10-5

Consolation Semifinals | L | vs. (10) #30 Danny Wask (Navy), Dec. 7-6

Fifth Place Match | L | vs. Sal Perrine (Ohio), SV 8-5

184 Pounds

(14) #24 Caleb Hopkins (0-2)

Round 1 | BYE

Round 2 | L | vs. (4) #5 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), TF 21-5

Consolation | L | vs. James Rowley (Purdue), MD 12-3

197 Pounds

(14) #25 Levi Hopkins (2-2)

Round 1 | W | vs. Joey Novak (Wyoming), Dec. 5-2

Round 2 | L | vs. (3) #6 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), MD 13-3

Consolation | W | vs. Cael Crebs (Navy), MD 12-2

Consolation | L | vs. Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech), MD 11-3

Heavyweight

(7) #15 Taye Ghadiali (Third Place, 5-1)

Round 1 | W | vs. Jake Andrews (CSU-Bakersfield), TF 19-4

Round 2 | W | vs. (12) #23 Cory Day (Binghamton), MD 17-6

Quarterfinals | W | vs. (4) #13 Owen Trephan (NC State), Dec. 2-1

Semifinals | L | vs. (1) #3 Lucas Davidson (Michigan), Dec. 6-2

Consolation | W | vs. (7) #17 Nick Feldman (Ohio State), Fall 5:33

Third Place Match | W | vs. (11) #22 Boone McDermott (Oregon State), MD 15-6

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Scotti Sentes

On his overall impressions from what he saw at the tournament:

"Cliff Keen, you know, is THE regular season tournament. Some say it's just like a mini-NCAA tournament. We were projected to score only 24 points, and we ended up finishing 13^th with 61 points, which is pretty crazy. Prior to today, we only ever had one guy make the podium at the Las Vegas Invite in Campbell history, and that was [assistant coach] Josh Heil who took sixth. This year, we had a third, a fourth, and a sixth. So, I was happy with our showing, I think our guys fought really hard. I think we definitely outwrestled our seed and our projection, and that's what you want with a championship team, to do better than what other people think.

We had some big wins on the day. I wish I could put the whole team together; you know? There were some guys that I think are really good that just didn't put it together today, but overall, the fight was there. The improvement is there, and with the travel we had, I was impressed. We didn't get a workout in at Vegas until 11:00 or midnight after almost 20 hours of travel…To go out and compete the next day the way our guys did, it's special."

On if his expectations for his team have changed after seeing their performances:

"Yeah, absolutely. There were a couple of weight classes where I wasn't sure if they were going to be able to piece it together, and I started to see some of that this weekend. I feel like I have 10 guys every time out there who will compete. For me, it's less about how do I get these guys to have the potential, and more about how I get them all to fire at the same time and the right time of the year. For instance, Caleb Hopkins is one of our best guys, and he came a little short today. That's not on him, that's on us. My goal as a coach is to get it to where all of these guys are firing at the same time, at the right time, which is conference and NCAAs."

HWT Taye Ghadiali

On his historic weekend:

"Like Scotti said, it was a long trip, but it's just part of getting ready for Nationals and everything. It just felt like any other long day, everybody is sore. It's just good to have that mental challenge before Nationals to know, even though I lost in the semifinals, I'm going to keep working through my losses and make the most of it. It was a good tournament and I'm glad that I got to push myself on the big stage."

On if it's a relief to get the first loss of the season out of the way:

"It's not a relief necessarily. I want to win every match that I go out for. I'm upset that I lost. I'm trying to dominate and win a national title. So, even though I didn't go undefeated, the records don't matter, just whoever is performing at the national tournament. I'm glad I was able to face the top guys there and see where I rank and now work over the break and during the season to get better for nationals."

On if he changed any part of his approach facing McDermott a second time this season:

"So, he had a good tournament, too. He was seeded 11^th, and he beat a lot of good guys. There was no scouting or anything. Everything has been the same this year which is, wrestle everybody how you usually do and dominate them. I pinned him last time, it was a close match but I caught him and pinned him. I knew he was going to come out hard, and I just wanted to wrestle as hard as I could and score more points, and that's what I did."

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