Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Cliff Keen Invitational
Black Knights Complete Day One At Cliff Keen Invitational
December 02, 2011 | Wrestling
Dec. 2, 2011
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Freshman Scott Filbert and junior Jordan Thome both wrestled their way into the quarterfinals of the consolation draw to lead Army on the first day of the 30th annual Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday inside the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Filbert, wrestling unseeded in the 125-pound bracket, dropped a 16-6 major decision to top-seeded Nicholas Bedelyon of Kent State in his initial bout. The first-year grappler gathered himself in the consolation bracket, posting a 4-1 win over Navy's Patrick Prada. Filbert then pinned Utah Valley's Colby Christensen in five minutes, 50 seconds to reach the consolation quarterfinals.
Thome, who began the tournament seeded ninth at 133 pounds, started his day by pinning Derek Malan of Utah Valley in 4:32. The Black Knights' lone returning NCAA qualifier then suffered a 9-0 major decision setback to eighth-seeded Steven Keith of Harvard to drop into the consolation draw. Once there, Thome ripped off consecutive pins over North Idaho's Mike Carreon (1:32) and Boise State's Shawn Jones (4:11) to advance to the quarterfinals.
As a team, Army has amassed 16 points to list tied for 24th with Stanford. Ohio State leads the 34-team field with 69 points. The Buckeyes still have nine wrestlers in contention going into tomorrow's action. Michigan (63.5 points), defending champion Cornell (61), Wyoming (58) and Oregon State (56.5) round out the top five.
Army will wrap up competition at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 3, with action slated to get under way beginning at 9 a.m. PST. Filbert and Thome are both just three wins away from earning third-place finishes.
