NWCA All-Star Classic Recap

The All-Star classic brought us many interesting matches and a wonderful show in the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University on Saturday night. The Cleveland Cavs spirit squad, lights, fog machines, and more put on an event to help highlight the impressive night of wrestling. 

The matches really stole the show though. There were no 1-1 overtime snoozers, and several come from behind wins got the mostly non-partisan crowd into each match. I was at the event in person, taking advantage of the non-NCAA sanctioning meaning I even got to sip a couple beers during the evening. 

Gabe Dean and Myles Martin were to be the main event of the evening with the match consisting of the 184 & 174 NCAA Champs. While many expect the true sophomore Buckeye to keep improving, even though he is already a NCAA champ, Gabe Dean showed there was still a long road to go if he plans on stopping the Cornell wrestler from getting his 3rd title in March. The match was such a blowout that many Cleveland fans opted to make a run for the gate to beat the crown than watch the last 90 seconds of the match. 

photo: Mark Lundy

Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) took an Olympic redshirt last season, but never really threatened the Olympic team much. He also (probably unfairly) gets less credit than deserved with the loaded 285 brackets of 2014 & 2015 causing him to be lost in the shuffle a bit. He took 4th in 2015 and was set to face the ever improving Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), who was 4th in 2016. The match was essentially all Medbery though which I thought was a hugh eye-opener. 

Wrestling is the best sport in the world and sometimes the show might be stolen by an unlikely matchup. Perhaps the best match of the night was a middle school match between Patrick Reinecke and Wyatt Richter. Richter hit a slick misdirection shot to get the first takedown and spent a good 90 seconds hammering away on top with some nasty wings and throwing legs, but Reinecke held tough. Reinecke was then able to hit an awesome slide-by in the 3rd to force overtime. A great scramble ended up with Reinecke taking the win and a great ovation from an appreciative crowd. 

Great job by everyone for putting on an awesome event. I hope Grand Rapids can get in the rotation for a future one!

Results (Main Event):
125: No. 14 Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) dec. No. 6 Barlow McGhee (Missouri), 3-2
133: No. 2 Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. No. 4 Eric Montoya (Nebraska), 9-7
141: No. 4 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 2 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 8-6 SV1
149: No. 4 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 3 Lavion Mayes (Missouri), 7-5
157: No. 5 Max Rohskopf (North Carolina State) pinned No. 4 Brian Murphy (Michigan), 5:43
165: No. 2 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. No. 3 Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 5-3
174: No. 9 Zac Brunson (Illinois) dec. No. 5 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina), 5-4
197: No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. No. 3 Brett Harner (Princeton) 7-4
285: No. 3 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) dec. No. 2 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), 5-2
184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) maj. dec. No. 2 Myles Martin (Ohio State), 13-4

Outstanding Wrestler: Gabe Dean (Cornell), 184 pounds

Results (Showcase Bouts): 
133: Mitch Pawlak (Indiana Tech) maj. dec. Mitch Tikkanen (John Carroll), 8-0
149: Cobey Fehr (Notre Dame) dec. Isaac Collier (CWRU), 12-5
197: Evan Rosborogh (Lake Erie) dec. Tyler McClellan (Baldwin-Wallace), 11-4
197: Garrett Lineberger (Notre Dame) tech. fall Mason Litz (John Carroll), 17-0
141: No. 18 Ronnie Perry (Lock Haven) dec. Evan Cheek (Cleveland State), 8-2
Women: Haley Aguello (King College) dec. Becka Leathers (Oklahoma City), 7-4
HS 131: Matt Kazimir (St. Edward, Ohio) dec. Matt Fields (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), 2-0
JH 70: Patrick Reinecke (Wickliffe M.S., Ohio) dec. Wyatt Richter (Brecksville M.S., Ohio), 6-4 OT
141: No. 10 George DiCamillo (Virginia) dec. No. 15 Brock Zacherl (Clarion), 4-3
157: No. 6 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) dec. No. 11 Joey Lavallee (Missouri), 2-0