Maroulis to face Canada's Gallays in battle of World medalists at NWCA All-Star Classic

Helen Maroulis in the semifinals of the 2014 World Championships. Larry Slater Photo.

Manheim, Pennsylvania – Three Philadelphia-based athletes and a pair of world medalists highlight five showcase matches at the 2014 NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps and the Wrestlers in Business Network hosted by Penn and WIBN-Philadelphia on November 1 at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.


2014 World bronze medalists Helen Maroulis (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) and Jillian Gallays of Canada will compete in a women's freestyle match. Maroulis won her 2014 World bronze medal at 55 kg/121 lbs., while Gallays was a 2014 World bronze medalist at 53 kg/116.5 pounds. In the final UWW World rankings this season, Maroulis is ranked No. 3 in the world at 55 kg while Gallays is ranked No. 4 in the world at 53 kg.


Maroulis, 23, is a two-time World medalist, with a 2012 World silver medal on her resume. Maroulis has been on five U.S. Senior World Teams, also placing fifth in 2011, seventh in 2013 and eighth in 2008. She was a 2011 Pan American Games champion and a three-time Junior World medalist. A native of Rockville, Md., Maroulis won four WCWA women's college national titles competing for Simon Fraser University in Canada.


Gallays, 28, has been on three Canadian Senior World Teams, placing eighth at the 2010 World Championships and also competing at the 2013 World Championships. She was a 2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist. She won international titles in 2014 at the Canada Cup, the Austrian Ladies Open and the Grand Prix of Germany. Gallays was fifth at the 2006 Junior World Championships.


Their last meeting was at the 2014 Klippan Lady Open in Sweden in March, where Maroulis defeated Gallays 10-4 at 55 kg.


It is the second straight year Maroulis has competed in a match as part of the NWCA All-Star Classic. In 2013, Maroulis scored an 8-0 first-period technical fall victory over Marcia Andrades of Venezuela.


Host Penn will have All-American Lorenzo Thomas and senior C.J. Cobb competing, while Drexel’s Kevin Devoy will represent the Dragons one of the showcase matches. New Jersey schools Rider and Princeton will also have local participation as Rider’s Clint Morrison and Princeton’s Jordan Laster will also take to the mat.


Penn's Lorenzo Thomas, a senior from Pittsburgh, went 30-11 last year en route to a sixth-place finish at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships last year in Oklahoma City at 184 pounds. Thomas was the runner-up at the EIWA championships and entered last year’s national championship as the 11th seed. Thomas beat Iowa’s Ethen Lofthouse, Michigan State’s John Rizqallah and Arizona State’s Blake Stauffer in the consolation rounds to earn All-American honors and topped Brown All-American Ophir Bernstein to reach the consolation semifinals.


Rider's Clint Morrison, from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, went 1-2 at the NCAA championships at 184 pounds and went 19-6 during the 2013-14 season. Morrison’s father Tim, an All-American for Rider during his career, participated in the All-Star Classic back in 1982. Clint Morrison and Thomas have not met collegiately.


Penn's C.J. Cobb is returning to the Penn lineup after sitting out of competition last season. In 2012-13, Cobb was an NCAA qualifier, going 25-9 at 141 pounds. The Williamstown, New Jersey native enters the season ranked 20th at 149. He’ll face Virginia Tech's Devin Carter, the returning runner-up from 141 pounds, who like Cobb, is moving up to 149 pounds. Carter competed in the main event last year, falling to eventual NCAA champion Tony Ramos of Iowa in overtime.


Drexel's Kevin Devoy, a sophomore from Burlington, New Jersey, moved up to 133 pounds midway through last season and worked his way into the finals of the EIWA Championships. Devoy went 19-10 and starts the season ranked 17th in the nation. He’ll face Ithaca’s Alex Gomez, the runner-up at last year’s NCAA Division III championships at 133 pounds. Gomez went 30-4 last season. He’ll start the year ranked No. 1 in Division III.


Ryan Diehl, a West Virginia native who won four state championships in his high school career in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, won the NCWA national championship last season at 133 pounds for Liberty University. Diehl will face Illinois native Jordan Laster, who went 23-21 as a true freshman for the Tigers last season.


It’ll be the third straight year a wrestler from the NCWA has competed in the showcase portion of the event. West Chester’s Luke Bilyeu faced George Mason’s Sahid Kargbo last year, while MIT’s Sam Shames wrestled in the event in 2012. Diehl topped Shames 15-10 in the finals of the 2014 NCWA championships.


To purchase tickets to the event, click here for the Penn Athletic Ticket Office.


The event will be streamed live by the NWCA’s live streaming partner Flowrestling. Fox College Sports will air the event on television via tape-delay no less than 10 times during the season, starting two weeks after the event has completed. These broadcasts are paid for by Rothschild, a leading global financial advisory based in New York City with offices in Washington, Los Angeles and Houston.


Hibiclens and Resilite will again support the event as associate sponsors. The Rothman Institute and the United Association (UA) Group will also make 1,500 tickets available for local students (K-12) throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. These tickets will be distributed to regional schools by representatives of the United States Marine Corps.

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For more information on the All-Star Classic, visit www.theallstarclassic.com and follow the NWCA on Facebook and Twitter. Fans can join the discussion with the #NWCAClassic hashtag. Fans should keep an eye on the discussion as there will be contests and interactive discussions about the event via Twitter and Facebook!


Competing wrestlers will be eligible for the Outstanding Wrestler Award, presented by the Wrestlers in Business Network - Atlanta Chapter.

Announced Matchups (Rankings by TheOpenMat.com)

125: #2 Nahshon Garrett, Jr. (Cornell) vs. #4 Joey Dance, So. (Virginia Tech)

133: #1 A.J. Schopp, Sr. (Edinboro) vs. #2 Mason Beckman, Jr. (Lehigh)

141: #1 Logan Stieber, Sr. (Ohio State) vs. #2 Mitchell Port, Sr. (Edinboro)

149: #1 Jason Tsirtsis, So. (Northwestern) vs. #2 Josh Kindig, Sr. (Oklahoma State)

157: #2 James Green, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #3 Ian Miller, Jr. (Kent State)

165: #1 Alex Dieringer, Jr. (Oklahoma State) vs. #2 Nick Sulzer, Sr. (Virginia)

174: #2 Robert Kokesh, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. #1-NAIA Brock Gutches, Sr. (Southern Oregon)

184: #1 Gabe Dean, So. (Cornell) vs. #1 Jack Dechow, So. (Old Dominion)

197: #1 J’Den Cox, So. (Missouri) vs. #2 Scott Schiller, Sr. (Minnesota)

285: #1 Nick Gwiazdowski, Jr. (N.C. State) vs. #2 Mike McMullan, Sr. (Northwestern)

Showcase Matchups

Women’s FS 55kg: World #3 Helen Maroulis (United States) vs. World #4 Jillian Gallays (Canada)

133: #1-Division III Alex Gomez, Sr. (Ithaca) vs. #17 Kevin Devoy, So. (Drexel)

141: #1-NCWA Ryan Diehl, So. (Liberty) vs. Jordan Laster, So. (Princeton)

149: #3 Devin Carter, Sr. (Virginia Tech) vs. #20 C.J. Cobb, Sr. (Penn)

184: #3 Lorenzo Thomas, Sr. (Penn) vs. Clint Morrison, Sr. (Rider)