Two NCAA champs fall at Palestra wrestling showcase

Many of the country's top collegiate wrestlers came to Philadelphia for a topflight competition, and owning a higher ranking, or even being a defending NCAA champion, didn't guarantee a win.

Two of the four defending NCAA champions at the 49th annual National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic at the Palestra Saturday were defeated.

Minnesota senior Scott Schiller, the No. 2-ranked 197-pound wrestler, according to TheOpenMat.com, beat defending NCAA champ and top-ranked J'den Cox of Missouri, 5-3, after earning a takedown with 31 seconds left in the first overtime period. Schiller, who placed third in the NCAAs, overcame a 3-0 deficit.

Cox showed signs of fatigue late in the bout, and Schiller took advantage.

"Maybe [he] didn't have the wind he will in a few months," Schiller said.

The other wrestler to beat a defending NCAA champion was Northwestern heavyweight Mike McMullan, an 8-4 winner over Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State.

The two defending NCAA champions who won were Oklahoma State junior Alex Dieringer and Northwestern sophomore Jason Tsirtsis.

Dieringer, the NCAA champ at 157, earned a 4-2 win at 165 over three-time NCAA qualifier Nick Sulzer of Virginia. Tsirtsis, last season's 149-pound champ, won the 149 bout, 4-1, against No. 2-ranked Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State. In the NCAA final, Tsirtsis earned a 3-1 overtime win over Kindig.

A fifth defending NCAA champ was supposed to compete, but Ohio State's Logan Stieber withdrew from the 141-pound bout because of a health problem, according to a tournament spokesman. Stieber is a three-time NCAA champion.

Local product James Green of Nebraska won a 6-4 decision at 157 over Kent State's Ian Miller. Green, a former state champion from Willingboro, was named the MVP for the Red team. McMullan was the Green team's MVP.

"It was good to see so many familiar faces I don't get to see all the time and great being here wrestling in front of the home crowd," said Green, who had beaten Miller, 13-1, in the third-place match in last season's NCAAs.

Notes. Besides the main events, there were five showcase bouts. Locally, Drexel junior Kevin Devoy (Burlington Township) won, 9-4, over Ithaca's Alex Gomez at 133. . . . Penn's C.J. Cobb lost, 17-11, to Virginia Tech's Devin Carter at 149. Carter was the NCAA runner-up to Stieber at 141 pounds last season. . . . Penn's Lorenzo Thomas, an all-American who placed sixth at 184 pounds, earned a 16-1 technical fall over Rider's Clint Morrison in the 184-pound showcase.