In addition to the men, there will be a women's dual meet taking place simultaneously on an adjacent mat featuring former junior world team members Marina Doi, Kayla Miracle and Mallory Velte.
For many wrestling fans, the All-Star Classic marks the opening of the collegiate wrestling season. Like the Daytona 500, it's an annual event that draws out some of the top talent in a focused, one-night event and gives fans an initial place to start their discussion about the top rivalries and teams for the 2017-18 season.
The recent announcement by the Blue Ribbon Task Force that the wrestling season should be contained within one semester aligns with the idea of having a kickoff event. The wrestling season now drags into March both for the athletes and the fans. A well-defined singular semester -- with the NWCA Kickoff event -- would provide fans of all passion levels with a clear season that is easy to follow.
Wrestling needs dependable calendar events like the NWCA All-Star Classic. We need to know that every year at such-and-such a date we can look forward to a certain type of event, in the case of the All-Star Classic, a dual meet of the top wrestlers in college. But there should be more.
Wrestling can use the shift in the calendar year to create new events, marketed with the fan and the single-semester season in mind. That growth, along with a continued increase in coverage, should equate to bigger returns for college programs and conferences of all sizes.
To your questions …
Q: What are your predictions for the NWCA All-Star Classic?
-- Fred M.
Foley: To be honest, I don't know how the new rules will end up affecting the scoring. I'm being conservative and thinking that the "danger" call won't be utilized too often, which should keep scores somewhat consistent with last year. However, if we still get a lot of funk rolls and leg passes then these scores could get much bigger.
125: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 4-1
133: Seth Gross (South Dakota State) maj. dec. Stevan Micic (Michigan), 10-2
141: Kevin Jack (NC State) dec. Bryce Meredith (Wyoming), 7-6
149: Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec. Matt Kolodzik (Princeton), 5-3
157: Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) maj. dec. B.J. Clagon (Rider), 11-1
165: Chad Walsh (Rider) dec. Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton), 6-2
174: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) dec. Mark Hall (Penn State), 4-3
184: Pete Renda (NC State) dec. Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), 9-4
197: Jared Haught (Virginia Tech) dec. Frank Mattiace (Penn), 9-3
285: Nick Nevills (Penn State) dec. Tanner Hall (Arizona State), 2-1
Gable Steveson (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I saw Gable Steveson is competing at the Daktronics Open against college competition on Sunday. It looks like Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota State and others are bringing wrestlers. Any prediction on how he will do?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Gable Steveson has proven to be a growing talent. His international successes in freestyle and domination at home in folkstyle make it difficult to conceive of a less-than-stellar performance at any tournament at any level. I don't know what he's weighing in at this week, but assuming that he's headed to compete at heavyweight the biggest obstacle Steveson faces is the extra tonnage of his collegiate opponents, and lack of wrestling from the bottom position.
The latter may end up being the deciding factor. In freestyle it's moot and in folkstyle there is almost nobody at the high school level talented enough to hold Steveson down. At the NCAA level there is much more talent and experience on the mat.
Ultimately, Steveson should be able to compete with little issue, but one area he could face difficulty would be taking bottom against a much larger, stronger and experienced opponent.
Q: I watched some of the Beat the Streets women's event in LA online. What were your takeaways from that event.
-- Mike C.
Foley: I was there! The media team from United World Wrestling came out and was a sponsor of the event. We put on the livestream as a way to help them promote to more wrestling fans who otherwise might have missed the action, and even placed it live on Facebook. There was really solid viewership, too.
Overall, the event was a massive success. Unlike BTS-NY who has put on this type of annual event for several years, this was the first go-round for executive director Yero Washington and president Andy Barth. And it didn't disappoint.
Having a women's-only event was really special. The growth of the sport has been remarkable, and these women are becoming massive stars in and out of the sport. BTS-LA held the event in Little Tokyo and held all the galas and associated events nearby, which meant lots of interactions between the fans and the wrestlers.
BTS-LA was perfect and I hope to see them keep a similar format for years to come. Honestly, it was one of the most convenient and convivial matches I've ever attended. Loved it.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
The Gilman debacle (1:28 mark)
Q: Is the new media arrangement between the BTN and FloSports (including Flowrestling) a good deal for wrestling fans? A quick look at videocast schedules for BTN2Go and Flowrestling shows that meets covered by one media outlet are not covered by another. Is the wrestling fan getting worked over here by needing to buy separate subscriptions to see Big Ten wrestling events? BTN and FloSports are presenting this new deal as a positive, but I'm not so sure that's true for Big Ten wrestling fans. It seems like there are fewer scheduled wrestling events in BTN2Go this upcoming season.
-- Terry O.
Foley: I can see that you might think there is less service, but I think that wrestling fans will see a much larger ROI when buying subscriptions. In addition to the live coverage they will certainly provide a more robust look at the conference and support systems that might make it easier to follow some of the action.
Look, I get it that paying for wrestling media is sometimes a bother, but whether Trackwrestling, InterMat or Flowrestling I think that if the wrestling is among your top five watched sports, you are getting great value for the money.
Q: Any prediction on Michael Bisping vs. GSP this Saturday?
Mike C.
Foley: GSP by cuddle.
Thomas Gilman (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I'm a lifelong Hawkeye fan, but Thomas Gilman was over the top at the annual Iowa wrestling coaches "Fight Night" on Wednesday. He is making a mockery of wrestling and it gives all of our great state a bad name. I'm not sure why Tom Brands sent him there to represent him. I think Iowa could be the third best team in the state in a couple years. I just want the rivalry to be a classy one. If they add Patrick Downey in January who knows what's next. Your thoughts?
-- Michael S.
Growing wrestling in this great state! #Fightnight 2017 pic.twitter.com/MZ1i8YiMct
��" Wartburg Wrestling (@wartburgwrestle) November 2, 2017
Foley: I don't know Thomas Gilman's values, but I did hear his words. For the second time since June he's shown himself to be a hateful and immature representative of Iowa and USA Wrestling. His chest-thumping, profanity-laced rant against Doug Schwab, Kevin Dresser, and his own fans was disrespectful to those he attacked and those in attendance. For a member of the national team to act in this way is disgraceful.
But Gilman got it from somewhere. What's important to recognize is that we, as a nation, are seeing an increase in the validity of hateful rhetoric like Gilman's -- the rejection of "others" as anything other than a mortal enemy. He is surrounded by a culture that increasingly seeks to normalize these voices of rage-filled anxiety. A fear of "otherness" is growing.
And yet responsibility for Gilman's actions are his own to bear. He seems to suffer from a tribe-centric type of personality disorder, emboldening him to not see the hatefulness in calling a Japanese opponent by a racial slur. It's the same mentality witnessed on Wednesday night in which he flailed and stammered his way through a demeaning assault on honorable men based solely on the fact they to no longer wear the colors of his community. The loyalty to the black and gold being greater than his respect for fellow combatants.
Gilman won't move past this most recent public disgrace, because he's displayed no signs of humbleness, or a path to growth. He'll wear this behavior around his neck for as long as he's a member of the community; another tragic tale of self-obsession and immaturity. The boy who won some medals, but a man who lost all respect.
Thought of the Week
By Chris G.
Can we have a philosophical discussion about why the NCAA awards team trophies at the individual tournament at the end of the year? Under the current format, a team with 3-4 bonus-point scoring studs could contend for a trophy when the other 6-7 members of their team fail to qualify or make noise at the big dance. The 2014-15 Edinboro team comes to mind, as they had some absolute hammers, but a spotty lineup that yielded some questionable dual meet losses. In my opinion, a "good" team that is balanced is mutually exclusive from a "good" team with lopsided talent, but the current individual tournament struggles to differentiate the two.
Why can't the individual tournament focus solely on the athletes? I wrestled in New Jersey, and the high school state tournament had (and still does) no team scoring, but still made for some amazing storylines. I bring this up because I support the dual meet tournament idea Blue Ribbon has put forward. The best "team" should include the efforts of the starting 10, not only the efforts of the studs. This format seems to better determine which team is the best. I'm curious about your thoughts and the thoughts of others.
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