Provo finishes third at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Stratford’s Nico Provo, shown at the 2024 NCAA championships, finished third at Saturday’s CKLV Invitational.

A year ago, Stratford’s Nico Provo watched on the sideline as he redshirted his third season at Stanford University.

On Saturday, Provo was back on the mat for the Cardinal. Provo made his 2025-26 debut and won five of six matches to finish third at 125 pounds at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Provo was one of three Cardinal wrestlers to finish third as No. 24 Stanford finished third as a team behind No. 3 Iowa State and No. 15 Michigan. Jack Consiglio (141) and Daniel Cardenas (157) also finished third for Stanford, who finished a half point ahead of No. 18 West Virginia.

Sacred Heart was also at the tournament and had three wrestlers win matches.

Provo, who is ranked No. 11 in the country at 125, beat top seed and No. 10 Stevo Poulin of Iowa State, 7-0 to finish third. Provo had a takedown and a three-point near fall in the final 30 seconds of the first period to take a commanding lead.

Provo, who won this tournament at 125 in 2023, had to rally in his opening bout, getting a takedown with 11 seconds left in regulation to beat Columbia’s Sulayman Bah, 4-1.

Provo followed up that win with a 19-4 technical fall victory over Ohio’s Brayden Teunissen thanks to six takedowns. Provo advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 win in double OT over No. 16 Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton.

No. 15 Maximo Renteria of Oregon State got a pair of takedowns and held off a late rally from Provo in the semifinals for a 7-6 victory.

Four takedowns from Provo in the consolation semifinals gave him a 15-3 win over No. 26 Koda Holemar of Cal Poly and a spot in the consolation final.

Provo wrestled at Greens Farms Academy in Westport during his scholastic career in Connecticut winning three New England Prep School championships and Prep School national championship in 2021.

One of the tournament’s big surprises was the run of Franklin & Marshall’s James Conway at 184 pounds. The EIWA wrestler was seeded No. 3 and is ranked No. 11 in the country but beat a pair of top 10 opponents to win the tournament. Conway beat No. 10 Issac Dean of Iowa State, 9-5 in the semifinal and topped No. 7 Brock Mantanona of Michigan in the final, 5-0.

125 – #11 Nico Provo, 5-1 (3rd)
dec. Sulayman Bah (Columbia), 4-1
tech. fall Brayden Teunissen (Ohio), 19-4 (6:54)
dec. #16 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 2-1 TB-1
lost to #15 Maximo Renteria (Oregon State), 7-6
maj. dec. #26 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 15-3
dec. #10 Stevo Poulin (Iowa State), 7-0

2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
At Las Vegas
Team results (top 10): Iowa State 183½, 2. Michigan 99, 3. Stanford 97½, 4. West Virginia 97, 5. Arizona State 92, 6. Oklahoma State 80½, 7. Wyoming 70½, 8. South Dakota state 61½, 9. Cal-Poly 56½, 10. Oregon State and Purdue 56
Other teams: 24. Harvard 14, 30. Sacred Heart 3
Championship matches
125 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) dec. Maximo Renteria (Oregon State), 8-6
133 Evan Frost (Iowa State) MFFL Kyler Larkin (Arizona State)
141 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) dec. Elijah Griffin Lawrence J (Rider), 6-2
149 Jaxon Joy I (Cornell) F Eligh Rivera (Princeton), 2:18
157 Ty Watters (West Virginia) MFFL Vinny Zerban (Iowa State)
165 Joey Blaze (Purdue) dec. Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State), 4-2
174 Carter Schubert (Oklahoma) dec. Danny Wask (Navy), 5-4
184 James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) dec. Brock Mantanona Bermuda (Michigan), 5-0
197 Rocky Elam (Iowa State) dec. Joey Novak (Wyoming), 7-3
285 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) dec. Christian Carroll (Wyoming), 5-3
3rd Place
125 Nico Provo (Stanford) dec. Stevo Poulin (Iowa State), 7-0
133 Tyler Ferrara (Cornell) dec. Dillon Campbell (Virginia Tech), 8-1
141 Jack Consiglio (Stanford) dec. Lorenzo Frezza (Columbia), 8-4
149 Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State) MFFL Jacob Frost (Iowa State)
157 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) tech fall Cameron Catrabone (Michigan), 21-5 5:43
165 Ty Whalen (Princeton) dec. Aiden Riggins (Iowa State), 11-2
174 Beau Mantanona A (Michigan) dec. Moses Espinoza-owens (South Dakota State), 6-3
184 Brian Soldano (Oklahoma) MFFL Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming)
197 Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) dec. Deanthony Parker jr. (Oklahoma), 9-6 SV
285 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) dec. David Szuba Lawrence (Arizona State), 8-2
5th Place
125 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) dec. Dedrick Navarro (Northwestern), 4-2
133 Gunner Andrick (West Virginia) dec. Luke Willochell (Wyoming), 6-4
141 Tyler Wells (Oklahoma) dec. Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 4-1 OT
149 Aden Valencia (Stanford) win by medical forfeit David Evans (Utah Valley)
157 Chance McLane (Arizona State) dec. Stoney Buell (Purdue), 5-4
165 Cesar Alvan (Columbia) dec. Marcus Espinoza-Owens Woods (South Dakota State), 11-3
174 Eddie Enright (Northwestern) win by medical forfeit over Brody Conley (West Virginia)
184 Isaac Dean (Iowa State) dec. Sal Perrine (Ohio), 2-2 TB1
197 Angelo Posada (Stanford) dec. Rune Lawrence (West Virginia), 7-2
285 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) MFFL Spencer Lanosga (Navy)
7th Place
125 Diego Sotelo (Michigan) tech fall Sulayman Bah (Columbia), 15-0 3:00
133 Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) dec. Sean Spidle (Northwestern), 14-2
141 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) win by medical forfeit over Zeth Romney (Cal Poly)
149 Collin Gaj (Virginia Tech) F Alek Martin (South Dakota State), 0:56
157 Derek Raike (Ohio) win by medical forfeit over Jimmy Harrington (Harvard)
165 Shawn Taylor (West Virginia) dec. Brett Smith Dekalb, IL (Northern Illin ois), 5-3
174 Cash Stewart (Cal Poly) win by medical forfeit over Brody Baumann (Purdue)
184 Ceasar Garza (Cal Poly) MFFL Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia)
197 Ben Vanadia (Purdue) dec. Spencer Mooberry (Northern Illinois), 11-4
285 Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State) dec. Devon Dawson (Northern Illinois), 7-2 OT
Outstanding wrestler:
2025 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational brackets and results (FloArena)
Of note: Three Sacred Heart wresters Chris Delena (197), Felix Lettini (157) and John Hildebrandt (141) each went 1-2 in the tournament.