All-Star Classic Recap

Mike McMullan (Northwestern) knocks off defending NCAA Champion

Two NCAA Champions from a year ago fell at the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday night. A pair of returning All-American big men from the Big Ten were able to knock off the top dogs to kick off the season as the conference went undefeated in the exhibition season kick-off. 

Scott Schiller (Minnesota) was able to beat J'den Cox (Missouri) 5-3 in overtime for the first returning champ to fall. Cox was able to get the first takedown and looked very quick in the process, but as the match wore on it was all Schiller. Cox clearly didn't have the gas tank that he will have come March, but give Schiller credit for showing a variety of attacks and great finishes. 

At 285, Mike McMullan (Northwestern) knocked off returning champ Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) 8-4 led by a 4-point throw in the 2nd period. McMullan comes in to this year as sort of a "always the bridesmaid" candidate. He was 3rd as a freshman, 2nd as a sophomore, and 3rd last year. His talent to win this match should be no surprise. 

Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) looked incredibly impressive as Nick Sulzer (Virginia) didn't even threaten to score all match. It looks like the bump up to 165 will not be an issue. At 157, the match on the feet was as explosive as promised, but it was James Green (Nebraska) surprisingly used his ride out of the 3rd period to defeat Ian Miller (Kent State). 

Logan Steiber (Ohio State) was not medically cleared to wrestle after the weigh-in. He was treated at the ER, and released. Ohio State says he is fine and will be ready for the Kent State dual as this was all precautionary. We did see him walking around the Michigan State Open on Sunday appearing completely normal. 

Kevin defeats Tommy to snap the losing streak as the only match he didn't get right was Cox. It's good to have wrestling back to make some bets, look at some brackets, and yell at refs!

Full Results:

Main event matches:
165: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) dec. Nick Sulzer (Virginia, 4-2
174: Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) dec. Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon), 8-2
184: Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 5-2
197: Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. J'den Cox (Missouri), 5-3 SV
285: Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. Nick Gwiazdowski (N.C. State), 8-4
125: Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 4-3
149: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State), 4-1
157: James Green (Nebraska) dec. Ian Miller (Kent State) 6-4
133: A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh) 4-2.
141: No Match

Showcase matches:
133: Kevin Devoy (Drexel) dec. Alex Gomez (Ithaca) 9-4
141: Jordan Laster (Princeton) dec. Ryan Diehl (Liberty) 10-7
149: Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) dec. C.J. Cobb (Penn) 17-11
184: Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) tech. fall Clint Morrison (Rider) 16-1
Women's freestyle 58 kilos: Helen Maroulis (USA) TF Jillian Gallays (Canada) 10-0, 2:59