The No. 9 Wisconsin wrestling team (4-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) competed against some of the top teams in the country Saturday at the 26th annual Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas, Nev. The Badgers placed fifth out of 50 teams, scoring 107.5 points. Michigan captured the team title by scoring 127.5 points and Missouri was just 2.5 points behind at 125.0 points for second place. Ohio State finished third with 121.0 points and Nebraska placed fourth with 112.5 points.

Nine Badger grapplers competed at the Cliff Keen Invite and the team was led by a first place finish from junior Dallas Herbst at the 197 lbs. division. Herbst went undefeated at the invite, winning all five matches. Four of his wins were by pins with the fifth coming as a major decision victory. In the finals, Herbst, who was seeded second, faced the No. 1 seed, Max Askren from Missouri and in the final seconds, pinned him at 6:47. Herbst improves to 13-0 on the season and now has 40 career falls, which is seven away from Lee Kemp’s record of 47.

Five other Wisconsin wrestlers placed in their respective weight classes. Senior Craig Henning finished third overall at 157 lbs. In the third place match, he faced Pittsburgh’s Matt Kocher and captured a 4-2 decision. Before the third place bout though, Henning had a rematch against Big Ten Conference foe Mike Poeta from Illinois in the semi finals. Poeta defeated Henning at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic back on Nov. 19 and the Illini grappler won again, 6-1 on Saturday. Henning then bounced back with a pin of Missouri’s Mike Chandler (3:03) in the wrestlebacks to advance to the third place match. Henning finished the invite 5-1.

Junior Kyle Massey also captured a third place finish at heavyweight. Massey won three straight to make it to the quarterfinal match against Tervel Dlagnev from Nebraska-Kearney. Massey lost a close 3-1 decision but came back to win three straight and advance to the third place match where he defeated John Wise from Illinois, 9-2.

Sophomore Kyle Ruschell also placed for the Badgers, finishing fifth at 141 lbs. He won three straight before facing Ohio State’s Jeff Jaggers in the semi finals. Jaggers, who was seeded second, defeated Ruschell with a pin in 3:20 but Ruschell came back for a win in the wrestleback round and a 5-3 decision in the fifth place match against Ryan Williams from Old Dominion.

Junior Zach Tanelli went 5-2 at the invite and finished seventh overall at 133 lbs. He also opened the invite winning three straight but then dropped his next match by a close 6-5 decision to North Carolina-Greensboro’s Jeff Hedges in the quarter finals. Tanelli then went 1-1 in the wrestlebacks and met Navy’s Joe Baker in the seventh place match and won by a 5-2 score.

Sophomore Trevor Brandvold also finished seventh at 184 lbs. Brandvold finished the invite 5-2 which included a tight 4-3 decision over Penn’s Lior Zamir in the seventh place bout.

At 125 lbs., senior Collin Cudd dropped his first match of the year against Nikko Triggas from Ohio State by an 8-3 score in the round of 32. Cudd then went on to win three wrestlebacks but dropped the fourth and finished the invite 3-2.

At 165 lbs., senior Jake Donar lost his pigtail match against Hayden Harrison from Embry-Riddle but came back with a 5-1 win over Jason Coyne from Navy. Donar lost his third match of the invite against Hofstra’s Ryan Patrovich and finished the invite 1-2.

Junior Justin Peterson lost his first match of the invite by a close 8-5 score against Eric Decker from Virginia Tech during the round of 32. He then went on to win three straight in the wrestlebacks, which included a 7-0 win over Andy Gebing from Columbia, a 6-2 decision over Randy Goodman from NC State and another 7-0 win over Brown’s Bran Crudden. Peterson then lost his fourth wrestleback against Scott Giffin from Penn by another tight 6-4 score and finished 3-2.

The Badgers travel to Northern Iowa on Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. and then open the Big Ten season in Columbus, Ohio at 6:30 Monday, Dec. 10 against No. 16 Ohio State. Select Badgers were to compete at Sunday’s Northern Iowa Open but the event has been cancelled due to the weather.

Final results from the Cliff Keen Invite can be found at www.thewrestlingmall.com