LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Clarion wrestling team headed out to one of the most prestigious midseason tournaments in the country on Friday, with two Golden Eagles advancing into Saturday's action at the Cliff Keen Invitational.  Both Greg Bulsak and Brock Zacherl will look to reach the podium on the second day of the event.
 
While four total Golden Eagles won at least one match in their respective championship brackets – Avery Shay and Ty Bagoly also picked up wins on Friday – Bulsak and Zacherl both put themselves in position to medal for the second straight year.  Bulsak went 3-1 on Friday with three wins by fall, with the final two coming in the consolation bracket, while Zacherl won his first two matches in the championship bracket before falling in the quarterfinals.
 
Bulsak recorded perhaps the most impressive single win of the day for the Golden Eagles, upsetting eighth-seeded Tanner Orndorff of Utah Valley in the first round of the 197-pound bracket.  The two traded two-point takedowns in the first period, but Bulsak truly took control with his takedown early in the second period.  Bulsak got in deep on Orndorff and pulled him into a cradle, and eventually worked his way on top and flattening his opponent 1:01 into the second period.  He lost a tight 9-8 decision to Arizona State's Kordell Norfleet, the ninth-seeded wrestler in the bracket, but bounced back with back-to-back pins of Minnesota's Garrett Joles and Wyoming's Stephan Buchanan in the consolation bracket.  Bulsak will take on South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan, who entered the tournament as the third seed.
 
Zacherl, meanwhile, started his day with a technical fall in the 149-pound bracket.  He went to work against Binghamton's Michael Zarif, recording a couple near-falls and tacking on the riding point to finish the opening round match with an 18-3 score.  He faced North Carolina State's AJ Leitten in the round of 16 and the two went back and forth in a tight bout.  Zacherl brought Leitten down with little more than a minute remaining in the third period to take a 4-3 lead, but Leitten escaped with 33 seconds left to tie the score.  Zacherl then took Leitten down with just two seconds left on the clock to claim the 6-4 decision.  His stay in the championship bracket finished with a loss by decision to Minnesota's Brayton Lee, leaving Zacherl with a meeting against Cal State-Bakersfield's Russell Rohlfing in tomorrow's consi bout.
 
Shay was victorious in his first bout of the day, beating Binghamton's Chris Barker by 4-2 decision in the opening round of the 157-pound bracket.  Ty Bagoly also advanced in the heavyweight bracket, beating Nebraska-Kearney's Lee Herrington by decision 10-5.  Seth Koleno also won in the consolation bracket, beating Harvard's Michael Jaffe by 14-12 decision.