NWCA
Announces Cape Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic Tentative Lineup
NCAA
Champions Jones and Rowlands headline lineup
The
National Wrestling Coaches Association is pleased to announce that an
impressive lineup of Division I wrestlers have accepted invitations to compete
at the 2003 Cape Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic. The 37th
Annual All-Star Classic, which is being hosted by the Delaware Wrestling
Alliance, will take place at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center
on February 3 at 8p.m.
The Cape
Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic pits the nation’s top collegiate
wrestlers against each other in challenge matches that is often seen as a
preview of the upcoming NCAA finals. The 2002 All-Star Classic at Hofstra
University saw three wrestlers go onto capture NCAA titles in March.
This
year’s lineup will feature two returning NCAA Champions and five current
number one ranked wrestlers.
There are currently
five matches featuring the number one and two ranked wrestlers in the nation
according to Amateur Wrestling News. The lineup is tentative and could be
subject to change in case of injuries to participating wrestlers.
Headlining the lineup is returning NCAA Champions Greg Jones of West Virginia
University at 174lbs and Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State University at 285lbs.
Jones is currently ranked one nation with a perfect 15-0 record this season.
Jones will meet second ranked Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State University,
who is also undefeated at 14-0. Rowlands, who is making his third consecutive
appearance at the NWCA All-Star Classic, is currently ranked second in the
nation with a 23-2 record. He will renew his rivalry with Steve Mocco of
Iowa. Mocco is currently ranked first with a 16-0 record and defeated
Rowlands at the Midlands Championships 4-2. Rowlands and Mocco is a repeat of
last year’s NCAA finals, which Rowlands won on the tiebreaker.
There
will be three other matches that will see the number one versus number two
wrestlers meet. At 125lbs, number one ranked Chris Fleeger of Purdue will
meet Cornell University’s second ranked Travis Lee. Fleeger is currently
undefeated at 15-0 while Lee is 18-0 on the season. At 184lbs, Jessman Smith
of Iowa will look to defend his number one ranking versus Cornell’s second
ranked Clint Wattenberg. Smith defeated Wattenberg in the finals of the
Midlands 5-4. The final number one versus two match will take place at
197lbs. Number one ranked Muhammad Lawal of Oklahoma State will battle
Lehigh’s second ranked Jon Trenge.
Cornell’s
Dustin Manotti at 149lbs and Lehigh’s Troy Letters at 165lbs were the lone
freshmen selected to compete in this year’s event. The fifth ranked Manotti
will meet fourth ranked Jake Percival of Ohio University while fourth ranked
Letters will wrestle fifth ranked Johnny Clark of Ohio State.
The
remaining lineup includes: Second ranked Witt Durden of Oklahoma meeting
fourth ranked Kevin Black of Wisconsin at 133lbs, third ranked Dylan Long of
Northern Iowa meeting fourth ranked Mike Maney of Lock Haven at 141lbs and
second ranked Keaton Anderson of Ohio State wrestling third ranked Scott Owen
of Northern Illinois at 157lbs.
In keep
with the tradition of a local feature match, the Delaware Wrestling Alliance
invited Clarion’s John Testa to meet Penn’s Matt Feast at 285lbs. Testa grew
up in Newark, DE and went to school at St. Mark’s High School.
“On
behalf of the NWCA Board of Directors, I would like to thank the athletes and
coaches for competing in this signature event, we truly could not make these
events a success without their support,” stated Mike Moyer, Executive Director
of the National Wrestling Coaches Association
This
year’s Cape Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic is unique as it marks the
first time the event is being brought to a campus that currently does not
sponsor wrestling. The Delaware Wrestling Alliance is presenting the
event to help bring wrestling back to the University of Delaware. The DWA’s
success is predicated on their ability to demonstrate a strong commitment from
the wrestling community in the Middle Atlantic Region.
“The NWCA
BOD will be forever grateful for the relentless efforts of the DWA to host our
signature event in an attempt to restore an intercollegiate wrestling program
to the campus of University of Delaware. We would like to ask that the entire
wrestling community in the mid-Atlantic region supports the DWA's efforts by
ensuring that we have a sell-out crowd,” commented Moyer.
Tickets
can be purchased for the Cape Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic by
calling by visiting the DWA’s website at
www.beastwrestling.com. For more
information, please call 717-653-8009.
February 3, 2003
University of Delaware
125
#1 Chris Fleeger (Purdue) vs. #2 Travis Lee (Cornell)
133
#4 Kevin Black (Wisc) vs. #2 Witt Durden (OU)
141
#4 Mike Maney (Lock Haven) vs. #3 Dylan Long (UNI)
149
#4 Jake Percival (Ohio) vs. #5 Dustin Manotti
(Cornell)
157
#3 Scott Owen (Northern Illinois) vs. #2 Keaton
Anderson (Ohio State)
165
#4 Troy Letters (Lehigh) vs. #5 Johnny Clark (Ohio
State)
174
#1 Greg Jones (WVU) vs. #2 Chris Pendleton (Okla
State)
184
#1 Jessman Smith (Iowa) vs. #2 Clint Wattenberg
(Cornell)
197
#2 Jon Trenge (Lehigh) vs. #1 Muhammad Lawal (Okla
State)
285
#1 Steve Mocco (Iowa) vs. #2 Tommy Rowlands (Ohio
State)
285 #8 John Testa (Clarion) vs. #11 Matt Feast (Penn)
Coaches:
Craig Turnbull (West Virginia), Russ Hellickson (Ohio State), Jeff Swenson
(Augsburg) and Ray Kowatch (Ashland)
Pat Tocci
Director of Administration
National Wrestling Coaches Association
717-653-8009
717-653-8270 (fax)
ptocci@nwca.cc