[PREVIEW] NWCA All-Star Classic

The All Star Classic features the top Division I wrestlers in the nation (photo courtesy of nwcaonline.com).

The Greater Washington Business Network and George Mason University will host the NWCA All-Star Classic on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7:15 p.m. at the Patriot Center.

The All Star Classic features the top Division I wrestlers in the nation competing in a dual-meet format. Nine top-ranked wrestlers, including seven defending NCAA champions, are committed to compete at the event.

Mason sophomore Sahid Kargbo will wrestle in an exhibition. Kargbo was a member of the USA Junior World team this past summer and competed in the Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In a feat rarely seen in the sport, two-time NCAA champion Logan Steiber from Ohio State University will wrestle up one weight class against defending NCAA champion Kendrick Maple from Oklahoma.

Nestor Taffur from Boston University will wrestle in the 157-pound match against defending NCAA champion Derek St. John from Iowa. BU head coach Carl Adams will serve as an honorary coach for the event, after the school decided to discontinue the wrestling program after this season. 

The event will also highlight the inclusion of wrestling in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games with two international matches. Junior World Champion Kyle Snyder from Maryland will wrestle against Canadian Yiannis Narlidis, and World Silver Medalist Helen Maroulis from Maryland will wrestle against Pan-Am Champion Marcia Andrades from Venezuela.

Eleven of the top 25 wrestling programs in the nation will be competing, including reigning national champion Penn State, Virginia Tech, Cornell, Iowa, Iowa State, Oregon State, Edinboro, Ohio State, and Minnesota.

The full list of scheduled matches and competitors is available here.