NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion wrestler and returning All-American Alexander Richardson, a senior from Jersey City, N.J., has been selected to compete in the prestigious 50th Annual NWCA All-Star Classic, which will be held Sunday, Nov. 1 at McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The undercard is slated to start at 3:15 p.m. with the main event beginning at 5 p.m.
“We are thrilled to have Lenny compete in the All-Star Classic for several reasons,” head coach Steve Martin said. “This is the most prestigious event a collegiate wrestler can compete in besides the NCAA tournament, and Lenny will have the opportunity to avenge the loss he suffered to Clagon, another returning All-American, at NCAAs last year. This event will be televised live on primetime TV on ESPNU and will reach 75 million viewers. When you are competing against the NFL during this time slot by putting an ODU wrestler on live TV, I think that is great for our program.”
The NWCA All-Star Classic is an annual preseason dual-meet style event that pits some of the nation’s highest-ranked wrestlers against one another. The matches do not count towards the participants’ season record.
Fans can tune into the action for this year’s All-Star Classic, as the event will be broadcasted live on ESPNU from 5-7 p.m.
Richardson enters the matchup as the second Monarch to compete in the event in two years, as 2014 NCAA All-American Jack Dechow wrestled against Cornell’s Gabe Dean at 184 a season ago. ODU’s two-time All-American James Nicholson competed in 2008 and 2009 at 125 lbs., while Wayne Bright, who was the first Old Dominion wrestler to appear in the classic, participated in 1970. Richardson will try to become the first ODU wrestler to win at the All-Star Classic in ODU’s fifth overall appearance.
After notching a seventh place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships, Richardson enters his senior campaign ranked No. 6 by FloWrestling. His opponent, Rider sophomore BJ Clagon, checks in at No. 4 after finishing fifth at the NCAAs last season. The pair of New Jersey natives split matches last season, as Richardson earned a 2-1 tiebreaker victory at the Midlands tournament before falling to Clagon in the consolations at NCAAs by a 4-3 tiebreaker decision.
In his junior outing, Richardson recorded a 29-9 season record and posted a 12-4 mark in dual meets. He placed second at the MAC Championships, falling only to eventual NCAA Champion Drake Houdashelt of Missouri. He earned MAC Wrestler of the Week honors on Nov. 16, 2014 after capturing the title at the Wolfpack Open and also claimed seventh at the prestigious Midlands tournament.
At the NCAA Championships, Richardson, who entered as the No. 8 seed, earned consecutive victories over Chris Perez of Princeton and Colin Heffernan of Central Michigan before dropping his quarterfinal bout to Missouri’s Houdashelt. Richardson claimed All-American status the next round by defeating Hofstra’s Cody Ruggirello and then dropped the tiebreaker decision to Rider’s Clagon, his All-Star Classic opponent. Finally, Richardson concluded the season with a bang by pinning Lock Haven’s Dan Neff to earn seventh place.
Rider’s first ever freshman NCAA All-American in any sport, Clagon entered the national tournament as the No. 15 seed and defeated the fifth, eighth, 13th, and 16th seeds en route to a fifth place finish. He claimed first place at the EWL Championships and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler at the event after knocking off eventual NCAA finalist Dave Habat of Edinboro. Clagon garnered a slew of postseason awards including EWL Rookie of the Year and Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie team honors.
The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a professional organization dedicated to supporting and elevating the sport of amateur wrestling. NWCA provides leadership and guidance primarily to scholastic and collegiate wrestling programs, but is an advocate to all levels of wrestling. The NWCA promotes communication, recognizes achievement, recommends rules and regulations, sponsors events and serves as a resource for education and information pertaining to the sport of wrestling. Additionally, The NWCA strives to foster the sportsmanship and integrity that are the cornerstones of any competitive sport. For more information, visit www.nwcaonline.com.
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