By Jason Bryant

Manheim, Pennsylvania – A pair of All-Americans will meet at 174 pounds 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.

Nebraska’s two-time All-American Robert Kokesh will meet Pittsburgh’s All-American Tyler Wilps in the seventh match released by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

A senior from Wagner, South Dakota, Kokesh comes in with a stellar 105-14 career record to go along with a third and fourth-place finish at the past two NCAA Division I championships. Kokesh finished fourth last year, losing only to Minnesota’s Logan Storley in two matches that went to the tiebreaker.

From Oakdale, Pennsylvania, Wilps will be the second wrestler in his family to compete in the event and eighth Pittsburgh Panther wrestler overall. Panther wrestlers are 3-4 overall in the event with Wilps’ older brother Matt last appearing in 2012 where he pinned Penn State’s Quentin Wright at 197 pounds. Wilps comes in with a career record of 70-28 and he’s a two-time NCAA qualifier. He was seventh at the 2014 NCAA Division I championships.

Kokesh and Wilps have met twice during their college career, with Kokesh picking up both victories. Kokesh’s first win came back in December of 2011 where he pinned Wilps in 20 seconds. The second time they met was much closer, as Kokesh defeated Wilps 2-1 in the tiebreakers in the consolation quarterfinals at last year’s NCAA Division I Championships in Oklahoma City.

Wilps won the Atlantic Coast Conference at 174 pounds last year, the first year Pittsburgh competed in the conference.

Kokesh’s participation in the All-Star Classic will mark the 23rd time a Husker has wrestled in the event. He’ll join teammate James Green, who will wrestle Ian Miller at 157 pounds. It’ll be the first time since 2009 a Husker has wrestled in the event. Nebraska holds an overall record of 11-10 individually with the two most recent wins coming in 2009 at Fullerton, California where Jordan Burroughs and Stephen Dwyer earned individual victories. Also in 2009, Craig Brester competed at 197 pounds.

“So far, we’ve got seven matchups with a total of 14 All-Americans at the All-Star Classic,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “Pittsburgh has been a rising program in the East the past several years and has a lot of great tradition, while Nebraska, as we know, is always a team pushing for a trophy at the end of the season.”

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.


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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
125: Nahshon Garrett, Jr. (Cornell) vs. Joey Dance, So. (Virginia Tech)
133: A.J. Schopp, Sr. (Edinboro) vs. Mason Beckman, Jr. (Lehigh)
141:
149: Jason Tsirtsis, So. (Northwestern) vs. Josh Kindig, Sr. (Oklahoma State)
157: James Green, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. Ian Miller, Jr. (Kent State)
165:
174: Robert Kokesh, Sr. (Nebraska) vs. Tyler Wilps, Sr. (Pittsburgh)
184: Gabe Dean, So. (Cornell) vs. Jack Dechow, So. (Old Dominion)
197:
285: Nick Gwiazdowski, Jr. (N.C. State) vs. Mike McMullan, Sr. (Northwestern)