Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, No. 12 ranked 133-pound redshirt sophomore Zeth Romney cashed in for Cal Poly wrestling.
He captured the 133-pound title at the Cliff Keen Invitational, becoming the first Mustang in 15 years to win the weight class at the tournament.
Romney led the team to a 13th-place finish in a field that was loaded with NCAA Championship talent, as seven of the top 10 teams in the country were wrestling on the mats of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
With over 130 ranked wrestlers in the field, it’s the most fierce tournament of the regular season.
The tournament serves as a preview for the NCAA Championships in March, as many of the wrestlers that place in Las Vegas end up competing for All-American honors come postseason time.
No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 NC State, No. 7 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Michigan and No. 10 Northern Iowa were all competing in the two-day tournament, with 30 teams in total making the trip to Sin City.
Romney was the lone Mustang to make it through Friday’s action, going 3-0 with two ranked wins on the first day. On Saturday, he secured two more ranked wins for the title, continuing his fantastic career at Cal Poly and improving his record to 9-1 this season.
Although the Mustangs had 10 wrestlers competing, nobody else made it to the quarterfinals.
They had three other ranked wrestlers competing, No. 18 ranked 174-pound graduate student Adam Kemp, No. 19 165-pound redshirt junior Luka Wick and No. 28 heavyweight redshirt junior Trevor Tinker.
Romney only Mustang to advance past Day 1
Seeded No. 5 overall at 133 pounds in the tournament, Romney kicked off his day with a decisive victory by taking down Oregon State’s Chase DeBlaere with a technical fall 19-2.
He then took down his first ranked opponent of the tournament, beating No. 28 Derrick Cardinal of South Dakota State 3-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarters, he was pitted against No. 11 ranked Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State, his closest match of the day. Romney secured two huge takedowns for three points each, earning him the upset with a 6-5 decision and clinching a spot in the semifinals.
Along with the excellent day for Romney, the Mustangs had plenty of other notable moments.
In the consolation bracket, redshirt freshman Daschle Lamer scored a huge upset at 184 pounds, defeating No. 12 ranked TJ Stewart of Virginia Tech by a 10-0 major decision. Stewart was a 2024 All-American.
Coming off an individual title at the Roadrunner Open in Bakersfield, the youngest of the Lamer brothers went 2-2 overall at the tournament.
In the heavyweight class, Tinker dominated his first match by technical fall 18-1. He dropped his next match but would grab two wins in the consolation bracket before falling in a back-and-forth challenge to No. 31 ranked Harley Andrews of Nebraska 16-13.
Another Mustang who had a solid day was true freshman Jagger French at 149 pounds, who made his Cliff Keen Invitational debut and earned a victory in his first bout.
Filling in for No. 8 ranked redshirt junior Chance Lamer, French went 2-2 overall.
Kemp, last year’s 174-pound Pac-12 champion, returned to action for the Mustangs after suffering an injury in the season opener against Indiana on Nov. 3.
He would drop his opening bout and then exited his consolation match with a medical forfeit.
157-pound graduate student Legend Lamer went 1-2 on Friday, capturing a dominant 18-0 victory in the consolation bracket.
Wick, at 165 pounds, went 0-2. Other Mustangs that competed but were unable to secure a victory were 141-pound freshman Alek VanBebebber, 125-pound redshirt sophomore Koda Holeman and 197-pound redshirt junior Jarad Priest.
Romney continues to impress on Saturday
Romney punched his ticket to the championship match with a 5-2 decision over Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee, ranked No. 19 for 133 pounds.
In the first-place bout later that afternoon, he would battle Iowa State’s Evan Frost, the No. 6 ranked 133-pound wrestler in the country.
He secured two takedowns to topple his fourth-ranked opponent of the day, winning the title match 7-3. It was his third takedown of the day across his two matches.
Romney now owns 14 career victories over ranked opponents.
The Mustangs will return home from Las Vegas for a dual match on Dec. 19, where they’ll face Cal Baptist at 5:30 p.m. and Northwestern at 7 p.m.