Exhibition or not, wrestlers toe the line the same way
Photo: In a meeting between NCAA champs from 2024, Penn State’s Carter Starocci (top) defeated Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen in an “exhibition” match at the NWCA All-Star Classic in November. (Sam Janicki photo)
By Tristan Warner
No, I was never invited to compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic, or any high-level exhibition event while competing at Old Dominion from 2010-15.
My only experience wrestling in an exhibition, per se, laughably occurred because of a scheduling error with an official at one of my first-ever collegiate dual meets.
As a true freshman during the 2010-11 season, we trekked three hours north from Norfolk, Va. to Washington, D.C., to take on a highly-ranked American squad under Mark Cody’s leadership.
The Eagles boasted a lineup replete with All-Americans including Steve Fittery, Ganbayar Sanjaa, Ryan Flores, etc. The rest of their lineup was bolstered by memorable names such as Matt Mariacher, whose sister Lauren is married to Jordan Burroughs, as well as NCAA Elite 88 winner Danny Mitchell and Bubby Graham.
I am rambling, but this was a big opportunity for the Monarchs to square off with a stacked non-conference opponent and it was one of the first collegiate dual meets I ever got to wrestle in after my redshirt was pulled in late November.
After weigh-ins and shortly before the match was due to start, we found out through the grapevine there was a double booking of the official, and thus, we had no referee. We waited for two hours as the coaches and AU athletic personnel tried to find an official in the area.
Eventually, somebody wearing stripes showed up. But we were told in the locker room before finally taking the mat a few hours later that the match technically would not count because the official was not NCAA certified.
Obviously, our coaches, and I presume theirs as well, still gave us the rah-rah speech to compete with the same intensity as we would any real match.
I cannot speak for the other athletes that day, but for me personally, I know the only effect it had on me was, perhaps, a positive one.
In theory, wrestlers should feel the autonomy to compete freely and openly in any match, no matter how high the stakes, but we know that is easier said than done.
I did feel as though — as a true freshman wrestling in a dual meet against a top team that did not count — it certainly helped me to take the mat with a little more confidence and swagger in my step knowing the so-called seriousness of the final result was merely an exhibition.
In other words, there was no such thing as a lackluster or half-hearted approach to a wrestling match because it was an exhibition.
The only point of my anecdote was to compare and contrast the experience of competing in a college exhibition match with that of the NWCA All-Star Classic, which is exactly that, albeit of much higher caliber.
Annually, the NWCA All-Star Classic match provides wrestlers the opportunity to rise to the occasion and stake their claim early in the season, perhaps setting the tone for the rest of their season and challenging themselves with a high-profile matchup in the early going.
An exhibition as it stands today, the NWCA All-Star Classic provides these athletes the opportunity to duke it out without affecting their NCAA tournament seed, at least in theory.
However, while the win or loss may not count officially on their stat sheet, the various media channels like WIN certainly take note and even make the necessary changes to their rankings as a result of the outcomes.
Some may argue that the result of a seven-minute match between two collegiate wrestlers with all the same scoring guidelines in place should count just like any other wrestling match would.
However, to the athletes who would be most affected by the change, the wrestlers themselves, this already is a real match; just as the dual meet against American was a real match for those Monarchs 14 years ago.
No wrestler at this level and of this caliber is treating any wrestling match, whether it is labeled as “exhibition” or not, any differently than he or she would a formal match.
Wrestlers pour too much of their mind, body and soul into their preparation for competition than to take this event for anything less than another wrestling match against a high-level opponent. However, in theory, this match actually does provide the athletes the opportunity to “let it fly” with a little less pressure than a typical match may pose.
And, even if rankings may be affected to some degree, with an entire season of wrestling ahead, there is plenty of time to make up for a less-than-ideal performance.
(Tristan Warner, who recently joined WIN as an assistant editor, is a former PIAA finalist and three-time NCAA qualifier for Old Dominion. The two-time Elite 89 Award recipient can be reached at Tristan@WIN-magazine.com.)
