LAS VEGAS — With a pair of late takedowns Columbia Wrestling sophomore
Joshua Ogunsanya locked up seventh place at 165 pounds to give Columbia its best finish of the weekend at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from Dec. 3-4, 2021.
Ogunsanya's win came in overtime, where he took down Nebraska's Clayton Wilson to collect the 7-5 sudden victory win and a spot on the podium in Vegas. Over the weekend Ogunsanya snagged three wins, while No. 16
Joe Manchio (125) and
Kyle Mosher (157) each got a pair of wins.
"I'm always proud of our team and the way we compete," said Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling
Zach Tanelli. "We came out here looking to see how we would fair against some of the best competitors in the country and we got what we were searching for.
"Over the weekend we had some good wins and some tough losses, but there are a lot of takeaways that keep me, my staff and the team motivated to get back in the lab and do work. It's December and we'll continue moving forward and make our preparations for Detroit. We have time before our next competition to really look under the hood and recalibrate our wrestling."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Ogunsnya's path to the podium began with the first technical fall victory of the sophomore's young career when he beat South Dakota State's Tanner Cook, 20-3. Ogunsanya next faced Stanford's No. 4 Shane Griffith, where he fell in a major decision, 12-4, putting him in the consolation bracket where he had a shot at the podium in the second day.
Right away, Ogunsanya came out of the gate in the second day on a mission, knocking off Kent State's Brady Chrisman via major decision, 12-4, to move into the consolation of four match. In that match he faced off with Cornell's No. 15 Julian Ramirez, where he fell via major decision 13-5 to move into the seventh-place match.
Ogunsanya faced off with Nebraska's Clayton Wilson with a spot on the podium on the line, and early on Wilson seemed to have control. But late in the match, down 5-3, Ogunsanya's fearlessness showed, and he scored a takedown to force overtime with the score knotted up at 5-5.
Almost from the opening whistle, Ogunsanya was in control, and he scored a takedown early in the first overtime period to secure a SV-1 7-5 victory and a seventh place finish.
"Overall, Joshua had a really nice performance," said Tanelli. "He had some great wins, including a dominate tech fall over a nationally ranked opponent, but there's far more to his weekend that makes myself and the staff satisfied beyond just that result.
"His improvement from week to week is palpable and he's proving to himself that he belongs among the elite wrestlers in his weight class. Come March, Josh will be ready to be an All-American with the trajectory he's on."
Not to be outdone, three other Lions moved into the second day with shots at the podium, as Mosher, No. 16
Joe Manchio (125) and
Mason Clarke (133) all got it done on day one to move into the next day.
Mosher got one of the best wins of the weekend for the Lions, pinning Ohio State's No. 23 Bryce Hepner at 1:55 to wrap up the opening day of the tournament, while Clarke got a win (dec. 9-7) over Princeton's Nick Masters and Manchio knocked off California Baptist's Devin Garcia (TF 18-2) and Harvard's Beau Bayless (dec. 3-2) during the first day to move into the second day.
While Mosher, Manchio and Clarke where all eliminated without reaching the podium, they added to a solid weekend where Columbia snagged a total of nine wins.
COLUMBIA RESULTS
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite (Dec. 3-4, 2021)
Las Vegas, Nev. (Las Vegas Convention Center)
125 | No. 16
Joe Manchio: W, TF 18-2 v. Devin Garcia (CBU); W, dec. 3-2 v. Beau Bayless (HAR); L, dec. 3-6 v. Jack Medley (MICH); L, M FOR v. Jake Svihel (WYO)
133 | Mason Clarke: W, dec. 9-7 v. Nick Masters (PRIN); L, dec. 4-10 v. No. 20 Devan Turner (Ore. State)
141 | Kenny Duschek: L, dec. 2-6 v. Lawrence Saenz (CPU); L, dec. 1-6 v. Angelo Martinoni (CSB); L, F (3:48) v. Anthony Sobotker (BING)
149 | Matt Arciuolo: L, dec. 4-6, v. Kody Komara (KENT); L, F (5:51) v. Jaron Jensen (WYO)
157 | Kyle Mosher: L, F (2:50) v. No. 2 Ryan Deakin (NW); W, F (2:05) v. Alejandro Raya (CBU); W, F (1:55) v. No. 23 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State); L, F (2:39) v. No. 16 Jacob Wright (WYO)
165 | Joshua Ogunsanya: W, TF 20-3 v. Tanner Cook (SDSU); L, MD 4-12 v. No.4 Shane Griffith (STAN); W, MD 12-4 v. Brady Chrisman (KENT); L, MD 5-13 v. No. 15 Julian Ramirez (COR); W, SV-1 7-5 v. Clayton Wilson (NEB)
174 | Aaron Ayzerov: L, dec. 5-7 v. Max Maylor (MICH); L, dec. 8-12 v. Michael Ferree (KENT)
197 | Joe Franzese: L, dec. 3-8 v. Nick Stemmet (STAN); L, dec. 5-9 v. No. 19 Andrew Davison (NW)
285 | Danny Conley: L, MD 1-10 v. No. 14 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HAR); W, dec. 7-0 v. Drew Flynn (COR); L, dec. 8-4 v. Michael Mcaleavey (CITADEL)
VENUE POLICIES: Fans must enter from the street level at the doors located at the southeast corner of 120th & Broadway. Fan capacity at Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium is limited to 70 percent of the venue's listed capacity per University Task Force protocols. All fans 12 and older must show proof of vaccination upon entry. All fans are required to wear a mask at all times. All fans must also fill out a COVID-19 protocol attestation.
Fans arriving to Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium are required to adhere to Columbia Athletics' and Columbia University's venue protocols.
NEXT UP: Columbia will next head to Chattanooga, Tennessee where they will ring in the new year at the Southern Scuffle, which is set to run from Jan. 1-2, 2022.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Wrestling by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsWR), Instagram (@culionswr) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
