Injuries have forced two wrestlers out of the 45th annual NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the Marines.

Boise State’s Kirk Smith, the nation’s top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds, has pulled out of the event, citing an injury. Smith was set to face second-ranked Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming.

Instead, LeBlanc will now face Purdue’s A.J. Kissel. The Boilermaker junior is ranked fifth by Amateur Wrestling News, sixth by InterMat and 15th by W.I.N. Magazine. The Wisconsin native redshirted last season and finished in the Round of 12 as a sophomore in 2009.

Kissel went 27-8 as a sophomore. He has never faced Joe LeBlanc in college competition.

The Smith injury will give Boise State two wrestlers in the event – Andrew Hochstrasser at 133 and Adam Hall at 157.

Oddly enough, the other replacement will drop Oklahoma State from three wrestlers in the event to two.

Alan Gelogaev of Oklahoma State was tabbed to wrestle Central Michigan’s Jarod Trice at heavyweight, but Gelogaev pulled out due to an injury sustained wrestling Joe Bach of Oklahoma in the finals of the Oklahoma City Open.

Gelogaev will be replaced by a wrestler many California wrestling fans should know well – Clovis native Ryan Flores of American University.

Flores took last year off from competition and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He was an EIWA champion at heavyweight for Columbia and during the offseason, transferred to wrestle for Mark Cody at American. 

While at Columbia, Flores went 31-5 and was the 10th-seed at the 2009 NCAA Division I Championships.

The 45th Annual NWCA All-Star Classic Presented by The Marines will be held at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California on Sunday, November 21, 2010. The doors open at 2:00 p.m. The All-Star Classic follows a weekend of fundraising events. For more information about the tournament, purchasing tickets and the fundraising events, visit the www.nwcaonline.com's event page.  
To donate to the effort to save collegiate wrestling programs, visit http://nwca.ticketleap.net.

2010 NWCA All-Star Classic Presented by the Marines
125- #3 Zach Sanders, Jr. (Minnesota) vs. #5 Anthony Robles, Sr. (Arizona State)
133- #1 Jordan Oliver, So. (Oklahoma St.) vs. #2 Andrew Hochstrasser, Sr. (Boise St.)
141- #3 Zack Bailey, Sr. (Oklahoma) vs. #5 Germane Lindsey, Sr. (Ohio)
149- #4 Torsten Gillespie, Jr. (Edinboro) vs. #5 Kevin LeValley, Sr. (Bucknell)
157- #1 Adam Hall, Sr. (Boise State) vs. #4 Bubba Jenkins, Sr. (Arizona State)
165- #5 Josh Asper, So. (Maryland) vs. #11 Shane Onufer, Jr. (Wyoming)
174- #3 Jordan Blanton, Jr. (Illinois) vs. #6 Nick Amuchastegui, Jr. (Stanford)
184- #2 Joe LeBlanc, Jr. (Wyoming) vs. #5 A.J. Kissel, Jr. (Purdue)
197- #3 Sonny Yohn, Jr. (Minnesota) vs. #4 Clayton Foster, Sr. (Oklahoma St.)
285- #2 Jarod Trice, Jr. (Central Michigan) vs. #8 Ryan Flores, Jr. (American)

Exhibitions
125: #16 Andre Gonzalez (Fullerton) vs. #17 Frank Lomas (Cal State Bakersfield)
141: DII #8 Naveed Bagheri (San Francisco St.) vs. NAIA #4 Christian Martinez (Menlo)
157: #16 Barrett Abel (Cal Poly) vs. Andrew Balch (Cal State Bakersfield)
184: #11 Zach Giesen (Stanford) vs. Ryan Smith (Cal Poly)


About California USA Wrestling 
California USA Wrestling is a non-profit organization committed to the success and health of their athletes and dedicated to the promotion and preservation of collegiate and international styles of amateur wrestling. As the official California affiliate of USA Wrestling, the national governing board for international-style amateur wrestling in the United States, the club is responsible for the organization and execution of sanctioned USA Wrestling events in the state. California USA Wrestling educates the community about the styles of wrestling and the value of being involved in the sport. They strive to provide fun, exciting and well-planned events and improve the quality of California wrestling at the competitive level. For more information, visit www.ca-usaw.org.

About NWCA
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 http://www.nwcaonline.com.