CK Las Vegas Invitational

[maligned]

Lots of guys with Indiana roots on the mats in Las Vegas today and tomorrow.

 

An interesting one upcoming will have 6-seed Silas Allred vs 11-seed Evan Bates in the round of 16. 

[MattM]

Love this event.  It's turned into one of the premier in-season tournaments.

[TrueRegionFan]

Mendez is a beast!  He has been dominating 141 so far this year.  Just majored #4 Hardy in the semis.

[MattM]

And Mendez followed up his win over #4 Hardy with a 5-3 win over NC State’s #7 Ryan Jack to take home the title. He’s for sure in the 141 NCAA Finals conversation now. 

 

Lucas Davison also had a solid weekend earning a runner-up finish. 

[maligned]

13 hours ago, MattM said:

And Mendez followed up his win over #4 Hardy with a 5-3 win over NC State’s #7 Ryan Jack to take home the title. He’s for sure in the 141 NCAA Finals conversation now. 

 

Lucas Davison also had a solid weekend earning a runner-up finish. 

141 will be nuts in the big 10. Mendez will move up to #3, so it will be #1 Woods, #2 Bartlett, and #3 Mendez.

 

Silas Allred also takes 5th here, but he'll be disappointed to lose a couple one-sided matches after appearing to be on a title-contending level late last year. Meanwhile, Big 10 rival Jaxon Smith of Maryland will move into the top 3 or 4 in the rankings after looking fantastic. Silas didn't look amazing in Las Vegas last year either, so here's hoping he'll make another push forward and rebuild confidence during the Big 10 season.

Edited December 3, 2023 by maligned

[FCFIGHTER170]

16 hours ago, MattM said:

And Mendez followed up his win over #4 Hardy with a 5-3 win over NC State’s #7 Ryan Jack to take home the title. He’s for sure in the 141 NCAA Finals conversation now. 

 

Lucas Davison also had a solid weekend earning a runner-up finish.

 What's Wild is that Ryan Jackson the only one to make it through entire match with Jesse and not give up bonus points. Unreal

[SIACfan]

Yes Jesse was very impressive over the weekend, but the new scoring rules have made bonus points easier to come by. His match against Hardy would have been an 8-3 decision under the old scoring rules.

 

Regardless, 141 seems to be a better weight for Jesse. I'm sure the experience he got last year is making a huge difference, but I can't help but think the weight cut last year might have hurt him some.

[maligned]

1 hour ago, SIACfan said:

Yes Jesse was very impressive over the weekend, but the new scoring rules have made bonus points easier to come by. His match against Hardy would have been an 8-3 decision under the old scoring rules.

 

Regardless, 141 seems to be a better weight for Jesse. I'm sure the experience he got last year is making a huge difference, but I can't help but think the weight cut last year might have hurt him some.

Yeah, it's hard to know how much of his progression is related to weight class "fit", technique growth, or physical maturity. What I do know is that he has the skills and swagger of NCAA champs. Only issue is that 141 has at least 3 guys of that type.

Edited December 4, 2023 by maligned