LAS VEGAS – Nick Babin,
Aaron Ayzerov,
Jack Wehmeyer and
Nolan Neves battled to the consolation round of eight in each of their weight divisions, but all four were defeated to end Columbia's run at the Cliff Keen Invitational hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Babin earned the No. 13 seed at 125 pounds as he got the day started with a 10-0 major decision win over Hofstra's Dylan Ryder. Babin dropped a narrow decision to Nebraska's No. 4 Caleb Smith, 8-6, sending him to the consolation bracket. Babin bounced back with a win via fall (4:29) over Carson Wagner (Binghamton). He was then defeated by Ohio State's No. 12 Brendan McCrone in a 5-3 decision.
Ayzerov dropped an 18-7 major decision to Oklahoma State's No. 4 Dustin Plott in his first bout of the day at 184 pounds. Ayzerov bounced back to take a 9-1 major decision upset win over Cornell's No. 3 Christopher Foca in the consolation bracket. Ayzerov was defeated via fall (2:15) in the next round against Virginia Tech's No. 11 Sam Fisher.
Wehmeyer posted an 8-2 decision win at 197 against Michigan's No. 16 Robert Striggow to get the day started before losing in a 12-0 major decision to South Dakota State's No. 1 Tanner Sloan. Wehmeyer rebounded in the consolation braket to take a 13-0 major decision win against The Citadel's Patrick Brophy. Wehmeyer fell to Wyoming's Joey Novak, 8-6, as he was eliminated.
Neves earned the most wins for the Lions Friday with three. The first-year rattled off back-to-back wins to get the day started as he defeated Long Island's Aeden Begue via tech fall (4:43) and Maryland's No. 9 Seth Nevills in a 6-3 decision. Neves fell to Virginia Tech's No. 8 Hunter Catka in a 14-1 major decision as he moved to the consolation bracket. Neves bounced back with a big win over Cal Poly's Cole Jackson via tech fall (4:47). Neves was eliminated by Northern Iowa's Jose Valdez in a tight 2-1 decision.
Kai Owen (141),
Richard Fedalen (149),
Jaden Le (157) and
Kyle Mosher (165) each registered one win Friday. Owen posted a win via fall (1:21) over Luis Ramos (Cal State Bakersfield) in the consolation bracket.
UP NEXT
The Lions return to dual action next weekend with a trip to Iowa. Columbia will meet No. 3 Iowa on Friday at 8 p.m. ET in Iowa City. The Lions will finish the road trip with a trip to Cedar Falls for a dual match against No. 20 Northern Iowa on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
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