With the first major tournament in the books, several tests were presented to the top teams and individuals, and the biggest test was put before the top-ranked Cornell Big Red.
The question all season has been whether or not Cornell could really win the national championship this year. Saturday in Las Vegas, the Big Red aced the test and answered the question in dominating fashion. The Ivy League power ran away with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship, scoring 140 points to outdistance runner up Wisconsin, which finished with 101.5 points. Boise State rounded out the top three with 100 points. Even more impressive about Cornell's demolition of the competition was it was without top-ranked and defending NCAA champion Kyle Dake (149) and No. 4 Mike Grey (133).
Individually, the Big Red received top-notch performances from Mack Lewnes (174), Steve Bosak (184) and Cam Simaz (197), who each won titles at their respective weight classes. Second-ranked Boise State collected a trio of individual championships as well when Andrew Hochstrasser (133), Jason Chamberlain (149) and Adam Hall (157) took homes crowns. Despite the three titles, the Broncos fell just short of runner-up Wisconsin, although it's important to point out that Boise State's top-ranked Kirk Smith (184) did not wrestle. Wisconsin's defending national champion Andrew Howe delivered a convincing win over Cornell's Justin Kerber, 10-3, to claim the 165-pound title.
Final Team Standings (Top 5):
No. 1 Cornell- 140.0
No. 4 Wisconsin- 101.5
No. 2 Boise State- 100.0
No. 7 Oklahoma- 99.0
No. 16 Illinois- 91.0
Weight-By-Weight Results:
125 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 3 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) majo dec. No. 8 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 13-1
133 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) dec. No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 7-3
141 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 3 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. No. 9 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly), 3-2
149 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 3 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) dec. No. 7 Corey Jantzen (Harvard), 4-2
157 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 3 Adam Hall (Boise State) dec. No. 2 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State), 2-1 SV
165 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 1 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) dec. No. 4 Justin Kerber (Cornell), 10-3
174 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec. No. 6 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 6-2
184 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. No. 11 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin), 2-0
197 Pounds:
Championship Match: No. 2 Cam Simaz (Cornell) dec. No. 10 Logan Brown (Purdue), 6-0
HWT:
Championship Match: No. 11 Nathan Fernandez (Oklahoma) dec. Ben Apland (Michigan), 4-0