2014 NWCA All-Star Classic Home Page
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Kicking off the college wrestling season with matchups featuring many of the biggest names in the sport, Northwestern's tandem of 2015 NCAA championship hopefuls shined brightly at Saturday's NWCA All-Star Classic.
Northwestern joined Nebraska as the only schools to have to winners at Saturday night's event. Before tonight, the most recent victory for a Wildcat at the NWCA All-Star Classic came courtesy of Jason Welch in 2011.
Returning 149-pound NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis claimed a 4-1 victory against the man he beat to win the 2014 title, No. 2 Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State. Last March, Tsirtsis defeated the Cowboy by a 3-1 score in overtime to win the 10th individual national championship in Northwestern Wrestling history.
Earlier in the evening, three-time All-American and 2013 NCAA finalist Mike McMullan started his season in auspicious fashion, knocking off defending NCAA heavyweight champion Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State, 8-4. He did so while wrestling just a short distance from his home town of Easton, Pa.
"I got to my offense and felt crisp for it being the first time out," McMullan told reporters after the match. "I know that I can be more diligent on my attacks and that will get me to where I want to be in March."
McMullan and Gwiazdowski had split two previous meetings, but the win in the rubber match by the NU senior on Saturday is likely to propel him to the No. 1 national ranking when Northwestern's season begins next week. McMullan, who had come up short in two prior appearances at the All-Star Classic, was one of two competitors named Most Outstanding Wrestler on the evening.
"I'm just very proud of both Mike and Jason," said head coach Drew Pariano. "Mike controlled every facet of the match against a defending NCAA champion, and Jason showed he's capable of widening the gap against a national runner-up. It speaks volumes about their desire to dominate and be NCAA champions."
Tsirtsis, McMullan and their teammates officially open the 2014-15 campaign with a West Coast road swing, traveling to face Stanford next Saturday (Nov. 8) in Palo Alto. Visit NUsports.com in the coming days for a complete preview of NU's upcoming season-opener.
2014 NWCA All-Star Classic -- Match-by-Match Results
165: #1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma St.) DEC #2 Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 4-2
174: #2 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) DEC #1-NAIA Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon), 8-2
184: #1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) DEC #2 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 5-2
197: #2 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) SV #1 J'den Cox (Missouri), 5-3
285: #2 Mike McMullan (NU) DEC #1 Nick Gwiazdowski (N.C. State), 8-4
125: #3 Alan Waters (Missouri) DEC #4 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 4-3
149: #1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) DEC #2 Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State), 4-1
157: #2 James Green (Nebraska) DEC #3 Ian Miller (Kent State), 6-4
133: #1 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) DEC #2 Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 4-2
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