LAS VEGAS, Nevada (12/1/23) – The first day of the Cliff Keen Invitational for the University of Wyoming wrestling team was an eventful and firework-filled display. The Cowboys upset, rallied and held serve in a boastful first day inside the Westgate Paradise Event Center.  

"This tournament is as deep as it gets until you get to NCAAs," head coach Mark Branch said. "There's a lot of potential and a lot of enthusiasm with our team, and we see that. We still made a lot of mistakes. There's a lot of room for growth."

The end result was a trio or Cowboys advancing to compete Saturday. No. 11 Jore Volk (125) headlined that group.

Volk went a perfect 3-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinals. He defeated Campbell's Anthony Molton, 5-0, before beating Ohio State's No. 23 Brendan McCrone, 4-2. Volk capped his day by upsetting Nebraska's No. 9 Caleb Smith, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.

"He had to scrap hard in all his matches," Branch said. "He found a way to win. A lot of his highlights today were defensive grit. He wrestled with a lot of guts today."

Joey Novak (197) was on the opposite end of the spectrum. He made a habit of upsetting higher-ranked foes, racking up three such wins in one day.

Novak dropped his first match of the day to Campbell's No. 19 Levi Hopkins. That lit a fire under the Wyoming freshman.

Novak logged a technical fall of Morgan State's Nathatic Kendrick's Jr., 15-0. He proceeded to record his biggest upset of the day, pinning Ohio State's No. 12 Luke Geog during the third period. Novak placed an exclamation point on the night, downing Columbia's No. 29 Jack Wehmeyer, 8-6, prior to winning via sudden victory, 9-6, over Utah Valley's No. 16 Evan Brockman.

"It's not surprising to us," Branch said. "We think really highly of him. We've seen what he's been doing in the practice room. He's still got so much to learn. He didn't wrestle flawlessly at all today. He made a lot of mistakes. But he was able to overcome most of them with his persistence and belief in himself and just hard wrestling."

Novak will wrestle in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. No. 32 Gabe Willochell (149) will also be competing on that scale.

Willochell registered a 4-1 day. He had two decision wins, one technical fall and one via medical forfeit.

Cole Brooks (141) competed during Session 2 and finished the invite with a 3-2 record. Riley Davis (174) mirrored that performance by also going 3-2.

Day 2 of the Cliff Keen Invite begins at 11 a.m. The championship round commences at 4 p.m.

125: No. 5 Jore Volk (3-0)
Round of 32: No. 5 Volk dec. Anthony Molton (Campbell), 5-0
Round of 16: No. 5 Volk dec. No. 12 Brendan McCrone (Ohio State), 4-2  
Quarterfinals: No. 5 Volk dec. No. 4 Caleb Smith (Nebraska), 4-2

133: Cooper Birdwell (1-2)
Round of 32: Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) dec. Birdwell, 9-6
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Birdwell dec. Micah Roes (Binghamton), 13-11
Consolation Round of 16 #2: No. 12 Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) sudden victory, 4-1

141: Cole Brooks (3-2)
Round of 32: Brooks tech. fall Chris Naegele (Sacred Heart), 16-0
Round of 16: No. 2 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) fall Brooks, 2:47
Consolation Round of 16 #2: Brooks dec. Chris Rivera (Campbell), 12-6
Consolation Round of 8 #1: Brooks major decision Devin Matthews (LIU), 11-2
Consolation Round of 8 #2: No. 5 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) major dec. Brooks, 18-7

149: No. 12 Gabe Willochell (4-1)
Round of 32: No. 12 Willochell dec. Isaiah Delgado (Utah Valley), 9-6
Round of 16: No. 5 Jackson Arrington (NC State) tech. fall Willochell, 20-4
Consolation Round of 16 #2: No. 12 Willochell major dec. Marcos Polanco (Purdue), 15-1
Consolation Round of 8 #1: No. 12 Willochell dec. Jayden Scott (North Carolina), 4-1
Consolation Round of 8 #2: No. 12 Willohcell medical forfeit No. 6 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly)

157: Cooper Voorhees (0-2)
Round of 32: No. 6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) tech. fall Voorhees, 17-2
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Danny Nini (North Carolina) dec. Voorhees, 4-2

165: Brett McIntosh (0-2)
Round of 32: No. 5 Matthew Olguin major dec. McIntosh, 15-2
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Jaxon Garoutte (Utah Valley) dec. McIntosh, 7-0

174: Riley Davis (3-2)
Round of 32: Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) dec. Davis, 11-10
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Davis dec. Marcus Murabito (North Carolina), 4-1
Consolation Round of 16 #2: Davis dec. David Ferrante (Northwestern), 16-14
Consolation Round of 8 #1: Davis dec. Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State), 4-1
Consolationa Round of 8 #2: Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) dec. Davis, 5-1

184: Quayin Short (1-2)
Round of 32: No. 5 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) fall, Short, :50
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Short sudden victory Chase Mielnik (Maryland), 7-4
Consolation Round of 16 #2: No. 11 Sam Fisher (Virginia Tech) dec. Short, 4-3

197: Joey Novak (4-1)
Round of 32: No. 14 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec. Novak, 5-2
Consolation Round of 16 #1: Novak tech. fall Nathatic Kendricks Jr. (Morgan State), 15-0
Consolation Round of 16 #2: Novak fall No. 8 Luke Geog (Ohio State), 5:58
Consolation Round of 8 #1: Novak dec. Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia), 8-6
Consolation Round of 8 #2: Novak sudden victory No. 10 Evan Brockman (Utah Valley), 9-6

HWT: Kevin Zimmer (1-2)
Round of 32: No. 14 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) tech. fall Zimmer, 15-0
Consolation Round of 32 #2: Zimmer fall Ben Stemmet (Citadel), :57
Consolation Round of 16 #1: No. 9 Seth Nevills (Maryland) dec. Zimmer, 2-0