Only two -- Rider's Bryant "B.J." Clagon and Old Dominion's Alexander "Lenny" Richardson -- found spots on the podium. Clagon and Richardson will kick off the season with a matchup at 149 pounds at the 50th annual Hire Heroes NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network on November 1 in Atlanta, Ga. The All-Star Classic is also sponsored by Raymond James and will be held at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion at 5 p.m.
Clagon and Richardson will join Lehigh's Mason Beckman, Nathaniel Brown and Edinboro's Vic Avery as wrestlers in the event from non-Power 5 conferences.
As a freshman, Clagon entered the 2015 NCAA championships as the No. 15 seed and wrestled his way to a fifth-place finish as a redshirt freshman. Clagon fell to No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis 2-1 in the second round and then won four straight bouts before falling again to Tsirtsis by the same 2-1 score in the consolation semifinals. Clagon upended No. 5 Chris Villalonga of Cornell 6-3 in the fifth-place match and finished the season with a 30-11 record.
Richardson went 29-9 and entered the NCAA championships as the No. 8 seed and reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual NCAA champion Drake Houdashelt of Missouri. Richardson defeated No. 14 Cody Ruggirello of Hofstra 2-0 to earn All-American honors.
Clagon and Richardson would meet in the consolation quarterfinals with Clagon gutting out a 4-3 victory in the tiebreakers. Richardson won the a previous meeting earlier in the season in the same manner, a 2-1 tiebreaker victory at the Midlands.
"Many across the country know how good the wrestling is in New Jersey," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "That's apparent by how many wrestlers from the Garden State excel on the next level whether they choose to stay in state or to go out of state for their college careers. B.J. Clagon and Alexander Richardson have had two very close bouts already in their careers and there's no reason this matchup should be any different."
Clagon will give Rider its fifth all-time appearance at the event and the first since Shawn Scannell wrestled Iowa State's Cael Sanderson at 184 pounds in 2001 when the event was hosted at Franklin & Marshall. Rider wrestlers are 1-3 in the event with the only win coming in Philadelphia in 1991 when Adam Derengowski defeated Oregon's Dan Vidlak 7-3 at 118 pounds.
Richardson will also be the fifth appearance in the All-Star Classic from his school. Wayne Bright made the program's first appearance back in 1970, falling to Iowa State's Dan Gable. James Nicholson made back-to-back appearances in 2008 and 2009, while Jack Dechow competed for the Monarchs last season. The school is looking for its first individual win in the event.
So far, the first seven announced matches feature three NCAA champions and 14 All-Americans with 17 medals between them.
Announced #NWCAClassic50 Matchups
125: Nathan Tomasello, So. (Ohio State) vs. Zeke Moisey, So. (West Virginia)
133:
141: Cody Brewer, Sr. (Oklahoma) vs. Dean Heil, So. (Oklahoma State)
149: B.J. Clagon, So. (Rider) vs. Alexander Richardson, Sr. (Old Dominion)
157: Isaiah Martinez, So. (Illinois) vs. Nick Brascetta, Sr. (Virginia Tech)
165:
174: Kyle Crutchmer, Jr. (Oklahoma State) vs. Zach Epperly, So. (Virginia Tech)
184: Nathaniel Brown, Sr. (Lehigh) vs. Vic Avery, Sr. (Edinboro)
197:
285: Adam Coon, Jr. (Michigan) vs. Ty Walz, Jr. (Virginia Tech)
WHAT: 50th Annual Hire Heroes NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network Atlanta Chapter
WHEN: Sunday, November 1, 2015, 5 p.m. Eastern
WHERE: Hank McCamish Pavilion, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Ga.
TICKETS: VIP/Social $125, Premium Floor $100, Premium $50, Reserved $25-$35; General Admission $10-$20; Student Rate $15
PURCHASE ONLINE: Click here
TV/LIVE STREAMING: ESPNU (Find ESPNU on your cable or satellite provider)
EVENT WEBSITE: http://www.theallstarclassic.com
About the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)
The NWCA brings the wrestling coaching community together to advance the sport and ensure that current and future generations have the opportunity to engage in a safe and educationally based wrestling experience. This is primarily done by strengthening existing programs, creating new programs, and providing coaches with progressive educational opportunities.
About Wrestlers in Business Network (WIBN)
The Group Wrestlers in Business is a non-profit organization that strives to unite the thousands of wrestlers that have retired from the sport and are now in their respective careers. It started as a networking group on LinkedIn. Since then, the group has evolved into a more prominent, member-focused organization that cares about supporting current & former wrestlers and the sport. Their mission is to establish a community of wrestlers who commonly share in the interest of helping each other in business and in life, while supporting and strengthening the sport that made us who we are today. www.wrestlersinbusiness.org
About ESPNU
The 24-hour college sports television network airs more than 650 live events annually. ESPNU is available nationwide in approximately 73 million households.
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