Minnesota Gopher wrestlers Jayson Ness, Dustin Schlatter and Roger Kish
will compete in the 2007 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)
All-Star Classic, the premier one-day collegiate wrestling event in the
country. The 43-year old competition will take place on Monday, Nov. 19
at the University of Oregon’s McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore.
Including the defending national champion Gophers’ three participants,
the field will welcome six top-ranked wrestlers, eight second-ranked
seeds and four third-ranked selections from the recent Intermat / USA
Today preseason national rankings. It will also include 18
All-Americans from the 2006 NCAA Championships, which includes all
three of Minnesota’s representatives.
The University of Oregon announced this July that the wrestling program
would be eliminated after the 2007-08 season to revive the baseball
team and to satisfy Title IX compliance issues.
Ness, an All-American sophomore out of Bloomington, Minn., will take on
defending national champion Paul Donahue of Nebraska in the opening
match of the event at 125 pounds. Ness sports a 2-0 career record
against the junior, earning an 11-5 decision at the Kaufman-Brand Open
11/11/06 and an 8-6 dual meet win Feb. 11 of last season. Donahue upset
Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma to win the 2007 national championship at 125
pounds. Ness is No. 4 in the Intermat preseason poll, while Donahue
claims the No. 1 spot.
Dustin Schlatter is a two-time All-American and ranked No. 1 at 149
pounds in the current Intermat / USA Today preseason poll. After
winning the national championship as a freshman in 2006, Schlatter had
a 65-match winning streak snapped in the quarterfinals of last season’s
NCAA Championships and finished in third place for the eventual
national champion Gophers. His opponent, Josh Churella of Michigan, is
a two-time All-American and was the runner-up at last year’s national
championships. Schlatter owns a 2-0 career record against Churella,
with both of those victories coming last season. Schlatter defeated
Churella 3-2 for the 2007 Big Ten Championship.
The match-up at 184 pounds will be a fierce one between the Gophers’
Kish and Jake Varner of Iowa State. Kish and Varner have met three
times in their careers, with all three matches coming last season. Kish
earned a 7-2 dual meet win over Varner Dec. 8 of last season and
followed that with a 5-2 decision at the 2007 National Duals, before
falling 4-2 in the 2007 NCAA national semifinals. Varner fell to
Northwestern’s Jake Herbert in the national title match, while Kish
earned his second All-American certificate with a third-place finish.
Varner and Kish are No. 1 and 2 in the recent Intermat preseason
rankings.
In the 2006 NWCA All-Star Classic, held in Dallas, Texas, Schlatter
defeated Matt Storniolo (Oklahoma) and Kish was topped by
Northwestern’s Hebert. Previous Gopher participants 43rd annual event
in the include Cole Konrad (2005), Brock Lesnar (2000), Leroy Vega
(2000) and current Gopher assistant coaches Brandon Eggum (2000) and
Marty Morgan (1990).
Below is a list of the entire 2007 NWCA All-Star Classic field:
125: Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) vs. Jayson Ness (Minnesota)
133: Tyler McCormick (Missouri) vs. Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State)
141: Charles Griffin (Hofstra) vs. Nathan Morgan (Oklahoma State) 149: Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) vs. Josh Churella (Michigan)
157: Craig Henning (Wisconsin) vs. Mike Poeta (Illinois)
165: Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) vs. TBA
174: Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh) vs. Matt Stolpinski (Navy) 184: Jake Varner (Iowa State) vs. Roger Kish (Minnesota)
197: Phil Davis (Penn State) vs. Mike Tamillow (Northwestern)
285: Tervel Dlagnev (Nebraska-Kearney) vs. Dustin Fox (Northwestern)
The Golden Gophers will begin their national title defense on Nov. 10
when they travel to Fargo, N.D. for the Bison Open. Minnesota’s dual
meet season starts on Dec. 2 against 2006-07 national runner-ups Iowa
State.