Lehigh’s Joey Napoli is replacement for Iowa’s Derek St. John at All-Star Classic

By Jason Bryant/NWCA

An illness has caused defending NCAA champion Derek St. John of Iowa to withdraw from the 48^th annual NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps.

Set to take place on Saturday, November 2 at George Mason University’s Patriot Center, the NWCA All-Star Classic kicks off the college wrestling season with high-quality matchups.

Lehigh’s Joey Napoli has been selected to replace St. John. A 2013 EIWA champion, Napoli went 18-4 last season at 157 pounds and entered the NCAA championships as the No. 3 seed.

Half of Napoli’s 18 wins last season were by bonus points and he was also second at The Midlands championships.

Napoli, ranked 10^th, will take on Nestor Taffur of Boston University, who comes in ranked 11^th. Napoli is a two-time NCAA qualifier and is a Pennsylvania native, winning a high school state championship at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

Taffur and Napoli have never faced off against one another in college competition but with Boston University entering the EIWA this season, this could be a preview of the EIWA finals.

Confirmed Matchups
Rankings by Amateur Wrestling News
125: #3 Nahshon Garrett, So. (Cornell) vs. #6 Jarrod Patterson, Sr. (Oklahoma)
133: #3 A.J. Schopp, Jr. (Edinboro) vs. #10 Mason Beckman, So. (Lehigh)
141: #1 (at 133) Tony Ramos, Sr. (Iowa) vs. #3 Devin Carter, Jr. (Virginia Tech)
149: #1 (at 141) Logan Stieber, Jr. (Ohio State) vs. #1 Kendric Maple, Sr. (Oklahoma)
157: #10 Joey Napoli, Sr. (Lehigh) vs. #11 Nestor Taffur, Sr. (Boston U.)
165: #1 David Taylor, Sr. (Penn State) vs. #3 Michael Moreno, Jr. (Iowa State)
174: #2 Andrew Howe, Sr. (Oklahoma) vs. #3 Matt Brown, Jr. (Penn State)
184: #3 Jimmy Sheptock, Sr. (Maryland) vs. #6 Jake Swartz, Sr. (Boise State)
197: #1 Taylor Meeks, Jr. (Oregon State) vs. #2 Scott Schiller, Jr. (Minnesota)
285: #1 Tony Nelson, Sr. (Minnesota) vs. #2 Mike McMullan, Jr. (Northwestern)

Showcase Matches
Women’s Freestyle 121: Helen Maroulis (USA) vs. Marcia Andrades (Venezuela)
Men’s Freestyle 211: Kyle Snyder (USA) vs. Yiannis Narlidis (Canada)
125: #13 David Terao, So. (American) vs. #1 (Div. III) Chris Donaldson, Jr. (Ursinus)
141: Sahid Kargbo, So. (George Mason) vs. Luke Bilyeu, Sr. (West Chester)

The NWCA All-Star Classic, presented by the United States Marine Corps, will take place on November 2 at 7:15 p.m. on the campus of George Mason University. To purchase tickets to the event, visit the Ticketmaster website. For more information on the All-Star Classic, visit the NWCA website and follow the NWCA on Facebook and Twitter.

About the NWCA
Founded in 1928, the NWCA strives to promote and provide leadership for the advancement of amateur wrestling, primarily at the scholastic and collegiate levels. The association is headquartered in Manheim Pa. The three core competencies are coaching development, student-wrestler welfare, and promotion/advocacy. The NWCA has 10,000 members and educational programs that serve 230,000 students each year.

About George Mason University (GMU) 
George Mason University was established in 1957 and obtained university status in 1972. Located in Fairfax Va., GMU has 32,000 students. The GMU wrestling program has a rich tradition as evidenced by having advanced 41 different wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Championships, two wrestlers achieved All American status one time and one wrestler achieved All American status two times. The head coach is Joe Russell and he is in his second year.

 About Wrestlers in Business Network (WIBN)
The WIBN-Washington DC Chapter consists of prominent business leaders in the Washington DC metropolitan region. The organization was originally formed in September 2012 under the name of the Greater Washington Wrestlers in Business Network and more recently merged with the Wrestlers in Business Network (headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio) to form a national Wrestlers in Business Network. The purpose of this organization is to support amateur wrestling activities in major cities across America.