Just two weeks after an embarrassing loss at Lehigh, the No. 21 Michigan wrestling team headed to the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas looking to bounce back. It did just that, in a big way.

The 36-team tournament field featured eight of the nation’s top 11 teams. And the Wolverines finished sixth, thanks to another dominant performance from 3rd-ranked junior Kellen Russell and a surprise run by sophomore Ben Apland. Freshman Dan Yates and senior Anthony Biondo also placed.

“We’re definitely making some strides, no question about it,” Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. “Overall, considering the depth and the quality of the teams here, if you can be in the top 10 it’s a good performance. But we were capable of more, we didn’t have a good round Saturday morning, and that hurt us a little bit in what we were capable of. I was really proud of the four guys that placed.”

Russell set the tone for the Wolverines, winning the 141 lb. weight class. Success in Las Vegas is nothing new to the junior, who placed first and third in his previous two appearances there.

“I wasn’t really surprised by my win,” Russell said. “I’ve been wrestling pretty well and working hard. I went into the tournament expecting to win. It was a good tournament for me to make a statement.”

As the second seed, Russell had highlight wins over the third seed, Illinois’s Jimmy Kennedy, and fourth seed, Cal Poly's Boris Novachov. Russell made quick work of Kennedy, pinning him 1:16 into the match. And after a strong start against Novachov, he hung in long enough to secure the championship, 3-2.

“It’s not a surprise,” McFarland said. “He’s solid, he’s a great competitor and he wants to win in the worst way. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. That’s the best way I can put it. He knows what he needs to do to get his hand raised.”

While Russell’s play came as no surprise, Apland’s performance was arguably the top story of the weekend. Apland, the 12th seed, stormed through the heavyweight bracket. He was finally defeated in the finals, but not before knocking off three of the top five seeds.

His highlight victory came over in-state rival No. 1 Jared Trice of Central Michigan.

“It was a great (feeling) knowing that I’m one of the top heavyweights in the country,” Apland said. “Coming into this tournament, I really wanted to make a name for myself because I know I’m good. I’m trying to prove it to other people, too. But being a 12-seed, it was nice upsetting some of the higher seeds, which is surprising. But deep down, I knew I had it in me.”

In the finals, a matchup of two Cinderellas, Oklahoma’s Nathan Fernandez, the 11th-seed, came away with a convincing 4-0 victory over Apland.

“I think he turned a lot of heads this weekend, and he was right there to win the championship,” McFarland said. “It’s got to do a lot of good things for his confidence. To come in here and do what he did, it was great.”

Michigan benefited from surprisingly strong play from another youngster, Dan Yates. The redshirt freshman was forced to default out of his last match due to a knee problem he suffered in his previous match, but his three wins were enough to place him eighth. McFarland held Yates out for precautionary reasons and hopes that he’ll be able to compete this weekend.

Despite strong play from a few underclassmen, some of the team’s veterans left hoping that “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Though McFarland was pleased with what he saw out of No. 2 Biondo, losses to two Big Ten opponents limited him to a fourth-place finish. Junior Zac Stevens got off to a hot start Friday, but two Saturday-morning losses prevented him from placing.

“Anthony was pretty disappointed with his matches, but I thought he battled hard,” McFarland said. “He was right there in all of his matches. Saturday morning, I don’t think Zac had a good match. He really needed to pick his intensity up and he never got himself back in the match. There’s no reason he shouldn’t have placed this weekend, but it didn’t work out for him. You just can’t make big mistakes in a tournament like this.”

The Wolverines now turn their attention to next Sunday’s Big Ten opener with Wisconsin. The fourth-ranked Badgers finished second in Las Vegas. The meet in Madison will have two sets of rematches from the Invitational, where Apland knocked off No. 4 Eric Bugenhagen and junior Justin Zeerip was defeated by No.