Brett Pfarr celebrates after winning his third-place match at the NCAAs (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)MANHEIM, Pa. -- All-Americans Brett Pfarr of Minnesota and Brett Harner of Princeton have been confirmed to compete against one another at 197 pounds at 51st annual NWCA All-Star Classic on November 5 at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.
The event, presented by The Brewer-Garrett Company and hosted by the Wrestlers in Business Network, has served as the major kick-off event for the wrestling season since becoming and early-season event. In 2012, the event moved to the first weekend of the major college wrestling calendar and has been a fixture ever since.
Pfarr capped a stellar 40-4 season with a third-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Division I Championships in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Harner finished the season 36-6 and earned All-American honors, finishing eighth at 197 pounds. The placement gave Princeton its first All-American under coach Chris Ayres and the program's first All-American since Greg Parker finished eighth in 2003 at 184 pounds.
"This is a dynamic matchup that shows how great the sport of wrestling can be, no matter what type of institution," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "It's a great thing for our sport when we can pair an All-American wrestler from a powerhouse program from the Big Ten and an All-American from one of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions. They also like to score points. They combined for 45 bonus victories last year."
Pfarr's length and ability on top leads to buckets of points, as evidenced by his 18 major decisions a year ago. It was also the largest number of major decisions by a Gopher wrestler in over 20 years. Harner's 15 bonus victories included two falls at the NCAA championships.
A native of LeSueur, Minn., Pfarr won a state championship as a senior at LeSueur Henderson High School and collected 191 victories in high school. Harner is a Norristown, Pa., native where he was a four-time state placewinner, finishing second as a senior. Harner's EIWA championship last season was the first by a Princeton wrestler since Parker in 2003.
Pfarr enters with an 89-19 career record, while Harner is 92-28. Pfarr will make Minnesota's 34th individual appearance in the All-Star Classic. Gopher wrestlers are 15-17-1 lifetime in the event with Scott Schiller earning the last victory in the event, an overtime win over Missouri's J'den Cox in November of 2014.
The two have not met during their college careers.
Harner is Princeton's third-ever wrestler to appear in the event and the first Tiger since 1985. He's also looking to become the first Princeton wrestler to win a match in the main event.
Johnny Orr fell to Iowa State's Joe Gibbons 7-3 in 1985 at Utah State University. The only other Princeton appearance came in 1972 when Iowa State's Ben Peterson topped Princeton's Emil Deliere by injury default.
2016 NWCA All-Star Classic Presented by The Brewer-Garrett Company
Hosted by the Wrestlers in Business Network
November 5, 2016 - Wolstein Center, Cleveland State University
Time: Showcase Matches 6 p.m.; Main Event 7 p.m.
Tickets: $15 GA, $100 Preferred Seating/Social. Group options available.
Tickets available at www.goallstarclassic.com or Wolstein Center Box Office ( 844-407-2279) or Northeast Ohio Discount Drug Marts.
Streaming: Trackwrestling.com
Officially Announced Matchups
125:
133:
141:
149:
157:
165: Isaac Jordan, Sr. (Wisconsin) vs. Daniel Lewis, So. (Missouri)
174:
184: Gabe Dean, Sr. (Cornell) vs. Myles Martin, So. (Ohio State)
197: Brett Pfarr, Sr. (Minnesota) vs. Brett Harner, Sr. (Princeton)
285: Ty Walz, Sr. (Virginia Tech) vs. Connor Medbery, Sr. (Wisconsin)
About the National Wrestling Coaches Association
The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with a primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The membership embraces all people interested in amateur wrestling. The three core competencies of the NWCA are: coaching development, student-athlete welfare, and the promotion of wrestling.
About Wrestlers in Business Network (WIBN)
Wrestlers in Business Network is a registered 501 C-3 that strives to unite the thousands of wrestlers that have graduated from the sport and are now in their respective careers. Our mission is to build a community that serves as a platform to connect our members and facilitate business and job opportunities across the nation by leveraging a talent rich pipeline of wrestling alumni, with the ultimate byproduct of increasing reinvestment back to the sport. Wrestlersinbusinness.org
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