FULLERTON, Calif. -- The atmosphere of the NWCA All-Star Classic is different from virtually all other wrestling competitions in that there is no team contest involved. The result is a an uncommonly non-partisan and unified tone from a crowd simply present to appreciate man's oldest sport performed at an exceptionally high level.

The standing-room-only crowd of over 4,000 at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Gym got just that in an afternoon, which saw six of the ten matches decided on third-period heroics.

The event concluded a weekend of fundraising for the Cal State Fullerton wrestling program, which was told last spring that it needed to finance itself in order to continue. The buildup for the event gained a lot of media attention for the program as it seeks to buck the trend of colleges dropping the sport.

At 125 pounds, University of Minnesota sophomore Zach Sanders found himself trailing James Nicholson of Old Dominion 5-3 late in the third period. With little time left, Sanders secured a takedown to tie the match. Sanders was not satisfied to simply send the bout into overtime so he quickly seized an opening to turn Nicholson for back points and ended the match in regulation with a 7-5 victory.

"Things didn't go my way in the first period," Sanders said. "I have confidence in my conditioning and know that I'm always in a match. Giving up points early is something that I'm working on."

While Sanders enjoyed the victory, he felt the day was really about something else.

"It's great to be here, but this match doesn't mean much," said Sanders. "It's just important to be here and promote wrestling."

The 149-pound matchup between Ohio State's Lance Palmer and American University's Kyle Borshoff was a defensive chess match, with both wrestlers employing supreme skill in neutralizing each other's attacks.

Palmer had thwarted off several Borshoff attacks early in the match and pressed the action enough to get a stall call against Borshoff near the end of the first period. But Borshoff got his rhythm in the third period to score the match's only takedown and won 3-2.

Borshoff said he adapted his strategy as the match wore on.

"In the beginning of the match, Lance started out strong," said Boschoff. "He was tying me up, pushing me out of bounds. I had to rethink my game plan right then. Stay away from the ties stay low on shots. I knew if I stayed low on him, I'd be able to finish one of my shots at least. I got that takedown and it was a good match for me."

A one-point lead and a stall warning in the third period is often reason to worry, but not so with Borshoff's match.

"I wasn't too worried about it," said Borschoff. "There was about a minute left. I realized the ref would probably be looking to see if I was stalling because I was ahead by one point. I really had to be super aggressive on my feet. That's why I also circled to the middle of the mat."

At 157 pounds, Nebraska star Jordan Burroughs was as sharp as ever, opening up a close match in the third period to finish with a 10-4 decision.

Burroughs stressed that his motivation remains the same this year despite fewer marquee names in the weight class.

"It really doesn't affect me at all," said Burroughs. "I'm not looking at it as defending a title," said Burroughs. "I'm looking at it as going out there and getting another one. I'm in the same field as all these other 157-pounders ... No matter what they placed last year. I can't doubt anyone else."

Burroughs also confirmed that after the conclusion of the collegiate season, he will compete in freestyle and attempt to make the U.S. World Team.

"Definitely. Definitely," said Burroughs. "Two world titles would be great, but my goal is winning that Olympic gold in 2012. That's what I'm really working for right now. I think my style would help me out because I'm good on my feet. We got a lot of good guys in the U.S. A lot of guys cutting down from 174, going up from 157, so it's going to be tough. I'm looking forward to the competition and hopefully making the team. I'll definitely be at U.S. Nationals in Vegas."

Despite winning a thrilling 7-6 match by scoring a takedown in the last minute of the third period, Burroughs' teammate, Stephen Dwyer, wasn't happy about his win at 174 pounds.

"If I lose but I feel I did everything that I could, that makes it a little easier on me," said Dwyer. "But if I go out and not execute on things that I've practiced on, or make mistakes and know that I didn't wrestle my best, that's disappointing. Even if I win. If I didn't give my best performance."

When asked to elaborate, Dwyer said, "I didn't wrestle my style of wrestling in the beginning of the match. I usually lead with my right leg. I tried to bring my leg back to adapt to my opponent's style. And I ended up giving up a high crotch to my left leg. I ended up circling in a direction that I don't like to go. I didn't like that I ended up doing that."

Despite his frustrations, Dwyer was thrilled to be a part of the meet, especially when Fullerton's situation is so critical.

"I'm very honored to be invited to this," said Dwyer. "I definitely think that people need to care a little more when programs start disappearing. People might think that it doesn't affect their own conference, but it all starts adding up and affecting everything. People who love wrestling need to care about it and do something."

The final two matches of the night got the crowd very excited as two California high school products came away with victories.

Standing NCAA champ Jake Varner of Iowa State used a third period reversal to take a 4-2 lead against Nebraska's Craig Brester and held on to win 4-3. Varner, originally from Bakersfield, had a huge cheering section who roared each time he scored. However the noise was easily eclipsed in the next match as the crowd as a whole was literally on its feet to see Cal State Bakersfield's Mitch Monteiro score a last second takedown to beat Iowa State's David Zabriske 4-3.

A personality who attracted much attention at the event was Randy Couture, former two-time NCAA runner-up at Oklahoma State, Olympic alternate, and UFC legend. After the matches ended, Couture demonstrated extreme patience taking his picture with an almost endless stream of fans.

When asked about how much wrestling helped his MMA career, Couture said, "I'm biased in favor of the sport I come from, but I think it helps a lot."

He felt that collegiate wrestling was especially useful because of the importance of mat wrestling (not found in the international disciplines of freestyle or Greco Roman). But mostly Couture wanted to help out the Cal State Fullerton program.

"It's very important for me to show support for the sport I've been involved with since I was ten, especially when collegiate wrestling programs are having trouble surviving," said Couture.

Results:
125: No. 4 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) dec. No. 5 James Nicholson (Old Dominion), 7-5
133: No. 4 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Steve Bell (Maryland), 9-8
141: No. 4 Alex Krom (Maryland) dec. Adin Duenas (Cal State Fullerton), 8-0
149: No. 4 Kyle Borshoff (American) dec. No. 3 Lance Palmer (Ohio State), 3-2
157: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) dec. No. 5 Matt Moley (Bloomsburg), 10-4
165: No. 5 Jonathan Reader (Iowa State) maj. dec. No. 6 Andrew Rendos (Bucknell) , 11-2
174: No. 6 Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska) dec. No. 5 Chris Henrich (Virginia), 7-6
184: No. 1 Max Askren (Missouri) dec. No. 9 Josh Patterson (Binghamton), 14-7
197: No. 1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) dec. No. 2 Craig Brister (Nebraska), 5-3
285: No. 6 Mitch Monteiro (Cal State Bakersfield) dec. No. 2 David Zabriskie (Iowa State), 4-3

Featured match:
184: No. 13 Zach Giesen (Stanford) dec. Enoch Francois (Cal Baptist), 3-1 OT