Bryce Meredith and Kevin Jack split matches at last year's NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)MANHEIM, Pa. -- As freshmen at North Carolina State University, Kevin Jack and Bryce Meredith were teammates. A year later and a Meredith transfer to Wyoming, the two were foes at the NCAA Championships. Meredith won the first bout and ever since, it's been a fierce battle. The pair will meet once again at the 52nd annual NWCA All-Star Classic set for Princeton University's Jadwin Gym on Sunday, November 5.
The NWCA All-Star Classic is hosted by Wrestlers in Business Network and sponsored by Princeton Brain and Spine and Northwestern Mutual Life.
Joining Jack and Meredith in the event will be Campbellsville's Kayla Miracle and Menlo's Solin Piearcy as those two women will meet at 136 pounds.
Meredith and Jack reacquainted themselves with one another in 2017 in the postseason as again Meredith prevented the higher-ranked Jack from reaching the NCAA semifinals. Jack rebounded to score a fall over Meredith in the third-place bout, but Meredith still leads the all-time series 2-1, at least in matches contested outside of the wrestling room.
Jack, a two-time All-American and Danbury, Connecticut native went 35-2 last season and returned to the podium after missing out in 2016, part of that due to Meredith.
Each of the last two seasons, Meredith, a Cheyenne, Wyoming native, has been a low seed entering the championships and twice he's finished on the podium. Meredith became the first 14 seed to make the finals in 2016, while Jack finished fifth as an unseeded true freshman in 2015.
Meredith makes Wyoming's eighth appearance in the All-Star Classic with Cowboy wrestlers 2-5 overall. The last win came from Joe LeBlanc in 2012 when he defeated Central Michigan's Ben Bennett. Jack joins teammate Pete Renda (184) in the event marking the first time in school history two Wolfpack wrestlers have competed in the same year. Pack wrestlers are 5-6 all-time.
Campbellsville's Miracle, the third Tiger wrestler slated to compete in the event, is looking to join an exclusive club of wrestlers who have claimed four WCWA national championships. The Indiana native has owned the 136-pound weight class the last three seasons and will look to join Victoria Anthony (Simon Fraser), Helen Maroulis (Missouri Baptist/Simon Fraser) and Emily Webster (Oklahoma City) as four-time WCWA champions.
Miracle is also fresh off a championship at the U23 World Team Trials in Rochester, Minnesota earlier this month. She'll compete at the U23 World Championships in Poland later in November.
Piearcy's participation will mark Menlo's first appearance in the event on either the men's or women's side. The San Jose, California native comes into her sophomore year as a returning All-American, finishing fifth at 136 pounds.
The pair met during the semifinals of the WCWA championships last year, with Miracle earning a 10-0 technical superiority victory.
WHAT: 52nd NWCA All-Star Classic hosted by Wrestlers in Business Network
WHEN: Sunday, November 5, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Jadwin Gym, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
TICKETS: $20 (group discounts available)
SOCIAL MEDIA: #ComeBackToJadwin #allstarclassic2017 #wrestleback
WATCH: www.trackwrestling.com
INFO: www.goallstarclassic.com
ANNOUNCED MATCHUPS
Men
125: Darian Cruz, Sr. (Lehigh) vs. Nick Piccininni, So. (Oklahoma State)
133: Seth Gross, Jr. (South Dakota State) vs. Stevan Micic, So. (Michigan)
141: Kevin Jack, Sr. (NC State) vs. Bryce Meredith, Sr. (Wyoming)
149:
157:
165:
174: Mark Hall, So. (Penn State) vs. Zahid Valencia, So. (Arizona State)
184: Pete Renda, Sr. (NC State) vs. Drew Foster, Jr. (Northern Iowa)
197: Kollin Moore, So. (Ohio State) vs. Jared Haught, Sr. (Virginia Tech)
285:
Women
101:
109:
116: Fayth Woodward (Emmanuel) vs. Makayla Bourbon, Sr. (U. of the Cumberlands)
123: Dom Parrish, Jr. (Simon Fraser) vs. Andribeth Rivera, So. (Campbellsville)
130: Megan Black, Sr. (McKendree) vs. Shelby Hall, Sr. (Campbellsville)
136: Kayla Miracle, Sr. (Campbellsville) vs. Solin Piearcy, So. (Menlo)
143: Mallory Velte, Sr. (Simon Fraser) vs. Desiree Zavala, So. (Grays Harbor)
155:
170: Jessika Rottier, Jr. (U. of the Cumberlands) vs. Brandy Lowe, Sr. (McKendree)
191:
Note: Women's college wrestling competes under international freestyle rules.
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