LAS VEGAS – Senior Chas Tucker advanced to the semifinals of the 2019 Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday, Dec. 6, following a perfect day on the mat that featured three wins by decision. Joining Tucker on Saturday will be Noah Baughman, Brandon Womack, Ben Darmstadt and Jonathan Loew, after all four advanced to the second consolation round of eight with wins on Friday night. Cornell's four consolation bracket wrestlers are wrestling back for a chance at third place.
 
As a team, Cornell sits in 11th place with 35 team points. Full brackets and results from day one of the Cliff Keen Invitational can be viewed here.
 
Tucker opened his day with a 7-4 victory over Harvard's Michael Jaffe. Jaffe tied the bout at 4-4 on an escape with 1:19 to wrestle in the third period, but a takedown by Tucker with just 0:26 remaining secured a first round victory for the senior. In round two, Tucker disposed of two-time NJCAA champion Todd Small of Iowa State, 5-3. Tucker scored two takedowns on Small, who only scored via escape.
 
In the quarterfinals on Friday night, Tucker bested ninth-seeded Collin Gerardi of Virginia Tech, 6-3. Tucker gave up just one takedown all day, to Jaffe in round one, preventing both Small and Gerardi from taking him down.
 
Tucker will meet Ohio State's Dylan Koontz in the semifinals, in a rematch of the bout that happened at the dual last Sunday. Koontz was no match for Tucker last weekend, who defeated the Buckeye by a 12-5 tally. The winner of Tucker/Koontz will advance to the championship match and face either Nebraska's Ridge Lovett or #7 Montorie Bridges of Wyoming.
 
Baughman majored his first round opponent, Gerard Daly of Sacred Heart, 14-4, to set up a rematch with top-ranked Luke Pletcher in round two. Pletcher defeated Baughman, 9-2, sending Baughman to wrestle-backs. In the consolation bracket, Baughman defeated Noah Blakely-Beanes of Cal State Bakersfield (10-4) and Cameron Hunsaker of Utah Valley (7-4) to set up a match with No. 13-ranked Ian Parker of Iowa State. Parker is the 6-seed in Las Vegas and was sent to the consolation bracket following an 8-0 loss to Minnesota's Mitch McKee.
 
Womack rolled to a 17-4 major decision in round one, defeating Albert Urias of Cal State Bakersfield. A round two loss sent Womack to the consolation side where he pinned Billy Higgins III of Northern Colorado in 4:20. In his second consolation match, Womack defeated Virginia Tech's Cody Hughes, 4-2. Womack will square off with #14 Anthony Mantanona of Oklahoma on Saturday, who entered Friday as the 11-seed. Mantanona was defeated by Purdue's Dylan Lydy in the quarterfinals, 5-3.
 
Darmstadt got off to a quick start on Friday, pinning his first round opponent, Kyle Davis of Sacred Heart, in 2:18. Minnesota's Owen Webster shocked Darmstadt in round two, pinning the Big Red sophomore in 1:00 to send the former All-American to the consolation bracket. Darmstadt breezed through his first two consolation matches, pinning Virginia's Michael Battista in under a minute and majoring Oklahoma's Darrien Roberts, 11-0. On Saturday, Darmstadt will open his day against #7 Sammy Colbray of Iowa State. Colbray is the 8-seed at 184 pounds and was defeated by Arizona State's Zahid Valencia by tech fall (26-8) in the quarterfinals.
 
Loew is the lone remaining Cornell wrestler to have lost his first round match, a 10-1 major decision in favor of #11 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. With a long road ahead of him, Loew started his consolation run with an 11-5 win over Iowa State's Joel Shapiro. Loew scored bonus points in his second consolation bout, majoring Hostra's Trey Rogers, 10-1. In Session II, Loew won an 8-4 decision over Edinboro's Dylan Reynolds to set up a match with #9 Jay Aiello of Virginia. Aiello is the 2-seed at 197 pounds this weekend and was defeated by Purdue's Christian Brunner, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.
 
Five members of the Cornell travel party were eliminated on Friday, with Dom LaJoie (1-2), Hunter Richard (1-2), Colton Yapoujian (1-2), Milik Dawkins (2-2) and Brendan Furman (1-2) each taking two losses.
 
Up Next: Action in Las Vegas continues tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 7 at 12 p.m. ET. for the second consolation round of eight, featuring Baughman, Womack, Darmstadt and Loew. Chas Tucker's tournament continues at 1 p.m. ET when the semifinals begin. Championship finals, and the second, third and fourth place matches will take place starting at 6 p.m. ET.  
125: Dom LaJoie, 1-2
Round One: #10 Devin Schroder (Purdue) dec. LaJoie, 10-7
Consolation of 16 #1: LaJoie fall Jeremy Trinh (Fresno State), 1:21
Consolation of 16 #2: #14 Jakob Camacho (NC State) major dec. LaJoie, 12-3
 
133: Chas Tucker, 3-0
Round One: Tucker dec. Michael Jaffe (Harvard), 7-4
Round Two: Tucker dec. Todd Small (Iowa State), 5-3
Quarterfinals: Tucker dec. #18 Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech), 6-3
Semifinals: vs. Dylan Koontz (Ohio State)
 
141: Noah Baughman, 3-1
Round One: Baughman major dec. Gerard Daly (Sacred Heart), 14-4
Round Two: #1 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. Baughman, 9-2
Consolation of 16 #2: Baughman dec. Noah Blakley-Beanes (Cal State Bakersfield), 10-4
Consolation of 8 #1: Baughman dec. Cameron Hunsaker (Utah Valley), 7-4
Consolation of 8 #2: vs. #13 Ian Parker (Iowa State)
 
149: Hunter Richard, 1-2
Round One: Jaron Jensen (Wyoming) dec. Richard, 6-4
Consolation of 16 #1: Richard dec. Jaden Van Maanen (North Dakota State), 9-7
Consolation of 16 #2: AJ Leitten (NC State) dec. Richard, 8-6
 
157: Colton Yapoujian, 1-2
Round One: Yapoujian fall TJ Calas (Sacred Heart), 2:38
Round Two: #7 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) dec. Yapoujian, 3-1
Consolation of 16 #2: Jared Franek (North Dakota State) dec. Yapoujian, 3-1
 
165: Milik Dawkins, 2-2
Round One: #14 Philip Conigliaro (Harvard) dec. Dawkins, 6-0
Consolation of 16 #1: Dawkins dec. Garrett Jordan (South Dakota State), 4-2
Consolation of 16 #2: Dawkins dec. Austin Yant (Northern Iowa), 6-3
Consolation of 8 #1: Shayne Oster (Northwestern) major dec. Dawkins, 11-3
 
174: Brandon Womack, 3-1
Round One: Womack major dec. Albert Urias (Cal State Bakersfield), 17-4
Round Two: #22 Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State) dec. Womack, 7-3
Consolation of 16 #2: Womack fall Billy Higgins III (Northern Colorado), 4:20
Consolation of 8 #1: Womack dec. Cody Hughes (Virginia Tech), 4-2
Consolation of 8 #2: #14 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma)
 
184: Ben Darmstadt, 3-1
Round One: Darmstadt fall Kyle Davis (Sacred Heart), 2:18
Round Two: Owen Webster (Minnesota) fall Darmstadt, 1:00
Consolation of 16 #2: Darmstadt fall Michael Battista (Virginia), 0:47
Consolation of 8 #1: Darmstadt major dec. Darrien Roberts (Oklahoma), 11-0
Consolation of 8 #2: #7 Sammy Colbray (Iowa State)
 
197: Jonathan Loew, 3-1
Round One: #11 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) major dec. Loew, 10-1
Consolation of 16 #1: Loew dec. Joel Shapiro (Iowa State), 11-5
Consolation of 16 #2: Loew major dec. Trey Rogers (Hofstra), 10-1
Consolation of 8 #1: Loew dec. Dylan Reynolds (Edinboro), 8-4
Consolation of 8 #2: #9 Jay Aiello (Virginia)
 
285: Brendan Furman, 1-2
Round One: #17 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa) dec. Furman, 7-5
Consolation of 16 #1: Furman major dec. Dante DelBonis (Sacred Heart), 14-0
Consolation of 16 #2: #19 John Borst (Virginia Tech) major dec. Furman, 9-1