Cornell’s Dean, ODU’s Dechow meet in all-star dual

The National Wrestling Coaches Association announced Tuesday the wrestlers for the 184-pound matchup of the NWCA All-Star Classic.

Cornell's Gabe Dean and Jack Dechow, of Old Dominion, will competed in the annual exhibition event Nov. 1 at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Both are sophomores, who earned All-America status last season at 184. Dean and Dechow placed third and fourth, respectively, at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships in Oklahoma City. Dean beat Dechow, 5-4, in the final round.

'In a weight typically dominated by seniors, to have two highest returning placewinners coming back as just sophomores is amazing,” WCA Executive Director Mike Moyer said in a news release. 'Not only are we starting the year off with a potential preview of the NCAA finals, we could see this for the next three years. I can't wait.”

Dean went 40-3 last season with 21 bonus-point wins, including 12 falls and five technical falls. Dechow was 21-6, overcoming an

early-season injury, to win the Mid-American Conference title.

Dechow becomes the fourth Monarch wrestler to compete in the event, and the first since former Des Moines Roosevelt state champion James Nicholson in 2009.

Dean joins teammate Nahshon Garrett in the dual. Garrett will wrestle Virginia Tech's Joey Dance in the 125-pound match.

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