CINCINNATI, Ohio — The Cliff Keen Wrestling Club captured the inaugural RTC Cup team title, defeating the combined squad of Southeast RTC and New Jersey RTC, four matches to two, in the championship final on Saturday night (Dec. 5) at the Duke Energy Convention Center.

Mason Parris clinched the dual win in the final bout, rolling to a 12-1 technical superiority over Jordan Wood at 125kg. Parris, a 2018 junior freestyle world champion, scored the bulk of his points over a 12-second sequence in the first period, using a single leg for a takedown then coming back up to take Wood feet-to-back with it for four points and adding two more off a subsequent fireman’s dump. Parris tacked on two more scores in the second period, off a crotch lift and a match-ending reattack single at the 4:42 mark.

The CKWC reeled off three straight wins after dropping the first bout to all but assure the dual victory — Parris needed only to avoid a pin or shutout tech — with wins from Alec Pantaleo, Logan Massa and Myles Amine.

Pantaleo went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend at 65kg and defeated Matt Kolodzik, 8-6, in the championship final. He finished on a pair of double legs in the first period, and after Kolodzik twice scored off his double-leg attacks to narrow the lead to just one point in the second, Pantaleo iced it with a late stepout and did not come close to giving up points over the final minute.

Massa used three first-period stepouts to edge Mekhi Lewis, 3-2, at 74kg — in a rematch of the 2019 U.S. Senior Nationals final that the Wolverine also won. Massa scored first but trailed after giving up a takedown midway through the first; he responded with two stepouts to close the frame, including one off a single-leg shot at the buzzer. The pace slowed in a scoreless second period, while Massa did let Lewis reach his legs for the final three minutes.

After two close wins, Amine needed just 58 seconds to roll to an 11-0 technical superiority over Nate Jackson at 86kg — bouncing back from a close loss earlier in the day. Amine transitioned a single leg into three laces to score eight points in the opening 19 seconds before ending the bout with a go-behind takedown.

The CKWC defeated the Gopher Wrestling Club (5-1) in the first round of pool competition before earning two 3-3 criteria wins over the Wolfpack Wrestling Club, including a dramatic semifinal decision that Parris clinched with a takedown and lace in the final 20 seconds of the final bout.

The Wolverine heavyweight avenged his loss to two-time NCAA champion and two-time world medalist Nick Gwiziadowski from the previous night — one that he was winning 8-0 before allowing 18 unanswered points — with a 10-7 semifinal win. Parris led by three points late after scoring three takedowns, including two early in the second period, but Gwiazdowski used a single leg and gut to go up one point with 35 seconds left. Parris shot in on a single of his own after the restart, finished quickly to retake the lead and iced the bout with a second-attempt lace in the waning seconds.

Unlike the day-one pool meeting against the Wolfpack WC, of which CKWC was determined the winner — several minutes after the final match — on the fifth criteria with a 46-45 edge in technical points, CKWC held a clear advantage on classification points due to technical superiority wins from Seth Gross and Pantaleo in the first two bouts.

Gross, a Wisconsin RTC athlete and former NCAA champion, went 3-1 at 57kg with two techs, including a 14-4 win against Jakob Camacho in the semifinal. He rallied from an initial deficit with a takedown and three turns in the first period and ended it with another counter takedown and turn at the 3:40 mark. Pantaleo needed less time to secure a 10-0 tech against Tariq Wilson at 65kg, scoring on three takedowns, including a four-point single leg, and a gut in just 2:22.

Massa, who also went 3-1 on the weekend, earned the most notable day-one wins in pool action, defeating Wisconsin All-American Evan Wick, 5-2, before using a pair of four-point takedowns to overcome an eight-point deficit — and win, 8-8, on criteria — against NC State All-American Hayden Hidlay. Down on criteria in the former bout, Massa used a double leg on the edge to retake the lead and iced it with a late stepout.

Against Hidlay, Massa gave up two takedowns and a four-point arm throw in the first period and was just two points away from a tech, but halved the deficit with a four-point single on the edge a minute into the second period and took the lead with another four-pointer out of an extended flurry with 45 seconds remaining.

Parris knocked off a second two-time NCAA champion in his first bout of the competition, cruising to an 8-2 decision against former Golden Gopher Tony Nelson, with three takedowns, including a dump with a subsequent gut in the opening 15 seconds of the match.

The RTC Cup title was the latest in a line of Cliff Keen Wrestling Club successes this fall. The CKWC also produced five USA Wrestling national champions over the last three months, as Massa and Parris claimed senior titles in October, while Dylan Ragusin won in the junior division and Will Lewan and Youssif Hemida claimed U23 titles in November.