Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - A pair of Virginia Tech wrestlers will get the season started a week before their teammates when they compete Saturday in the NWCA All-Star Classic, which features many of the nation’s top Division I wrestlers. Joey Dance will be part of the main event while Devin Carter will participate in one of the five showcase matchups.
Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, the All-Star Classic will begin at 7 p.m. inside The Palestra. Tickets are on sale at the Penn Athletic Ticket office or online at www.nwcaonline.com. Tickets start at $10 with premium seating plans going up to $150. Doors will open at 5:45 with the first whistle blowing at 6:45.
Dance, a true sophomore from Christiansburg, Virginia, is coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Championships. Dance, who is ranked fourth in the preseason poll, will square off against third-ranked Alan Waters of Missouri in the 125-pound match. Dance was originally scheduled to face off against second-ranked Nashon Garrett of Cornell, but Garrett had to withdraw due to injury.
“I was really excited to wrestle Garrett, so I’m a little disappointed not to wrestle him, but that’s the way it goes,” Dance said. “But Waters is a great challenge and he’s ranked third, so hopefully I can shake up the rankings a little bit early on. Just to be invited to the event is a really big deal because Virginia Tech has only had two other guys compete in the event, so it’s really good exposure for Virginia Tech wrestling.”
Carter, who made it to the NCAA finals at 141 pounds last year, will wrestle his first match at his new weight of 149 pounds. Carter, ranked third in the country, will take on Penn’s C.J. Cobb, who is ranked 20th in the preseason. Carter beat Cobb 8-6 at The Midlands two seasons ago.
“It’s a little bittersweet because I get to wrestle a week early and there are still eyes on you, but I would like to be in that main event. But it’s awesome to start off with an NCAA-type of environment,” Carter said. “We’re different wrestlers from when we met two years ago. I was taking him down and letting him up and taking him down and letting him up, and then he took me down, which changed the complexion of the match. It goes from a dominant match to not-so-dominant, but I have look past it and wrestle my match.”
The event will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org and requires a FloPro subscription ($20/month). Television coverage will be provided by FOX College Sports on a tape-delayed basic.
Dance’s appearance will mark the fourth time a Virginia Tech athlete has appeared in the event. Sean Gray appeared in 2001 and 2002, while Carter participated at 141 pounds last year at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Dance will try to become the first Hokie to win a match at the event.
For this event, there will be an experimental rule in place where if a wrestler gets a takedown and the clock is stopped for going out of bounds, or any other reason, the man on top can choose to let his opponent up and into the neutral position without giving up a point. That benefits wrestlers like Dance and Carter who rack up a lot of takedowns.
“I’m definitely going to take advantage of it,” Carter said. “Guys who can push the action and get a lot of takedowns have to give up one point for neutral, but now instead of a two-for-one situation, it can be two-for-none, so you’ll see a lot of takedowns on the edge of the mat. It’s nice for a dominant, neutral wrestler like me who isn’t a huge rider or turn the guy a lot, but are good on our feet.”
All matches Saturday are exhibition matches and do not count toward their season or career records.
Below are the announced matchups, with rankings from TheOpenMat.com:
125: #3 Alan Waters, Sr. (Missouri) vs. #4 Joey Dance, So. (Virginia Tech)
133: #1 A.J. Schopp, Sr. (Edinboro) vs. #2 Mason Beckman, Jr. (Lehigh)
141: #1 Logan Stieber, Sr. (Ohio State) vs. #2 Mitchell Port, Sr. (Edinboro)
149: #1 Jason Tsirtsis, So. (Northwestern) vs. #2 Josh Kindig, Sr. (Oklahoma State)
157: #2 James Green, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #3 Ian Miller, Jr. (Kent State)
165: #1 Alex Dieringer, Jr. (Oklahoma State) vs. #2 Nick Sulzer, Sr. (Virginia)
174: #2 Robert Kokesh, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #1-NAIA Brock Gutches, Sr. (Southern Oregon)
184: #1 Gabe Dean, So. (Cornell) vs. #2 Jack Dechow, So. (Old Dominion)
197: #1 J’Den Cox, So. (Missouri) vs. #2 Scott Schiller, Sr. (Minnesota)
285: #1 Nick Gwiazdowski, Jr. (N.C. State) vs. #2 Mike McMullan, Sr. (Northwestern)
Showcase Matchups:
Women’s FS 55kg: World #3 Helen Maroulis (United States) vs. World #4 Jillian Gallays (Canada)
133: #1-Division III Alex Gomez, Sr. (Ithaca) vs. #17 Kevin Devoy, So. (Drexel)
141: #1-NCWA Ryan Diehl, So. (Liberty) vs. Jordan Laster, So. (Princeton)
149: #3 Devin Carter, Sr. (Virginia Tech) vs. #20 C.J. Cobb, Sr. (Penn)
184: #3 Lorenzo Thomas, Sr. (Penn) vs. Clint Morrison, Sr. (Rider)
Additionally, the team will hold the Orange-Maroon Intrasquad Scrimmage Thursday night on the main floor of Cassell Coliseum. The event is free and fans are encouraged to come and get their first look at the 2014-15 team. The main event will start at 6 p.m. with three exhibition bouts going at 5:30 p.m. Below are the matchups:
Main Event:
125: Brandon Olsen vs. Alex Onufriyenko
141: Nick Anderson vs. Jerry Ronnau
141: Solomon Chishko vs. Dennis Gustafson
149: Taylor Misuna vs. Sal Mastriani
157: Nick Brascetta vs. Jake Spengler
165: Chris Moon vs. Chad Strube
174: Brooks Morrison vs. Zach Epperly
184: Austin Gabel vs. Jake Harris
197: David Reck vs. Jared Haught
285: Ty Walz vs. Dan Garwood
133: Kevin Norstrem vs. Jackson Myers
Exhibition:
141: Jacob Guthridge vs. Colin Hopkins
157: Justus Weaver vs. Chase McDaniel
165: Mike Ciavarro vs. David Wesley
The 11th-ranked Hokies will open the season on Saturday, Nov. 8 with a home match against Newberry at 3 p.m. Before the match, the program will honor Darren Hankins, who tragically passed away this past summer. The following day, Tech will host the Hokie Open inside Rector Field House.