Jordan Oliver
Former Easton standout wrestler Jordan Oliver will compete in the "Who's No. 1" wrestling match at Lehigh University's Grace Hall.
(Courtesy of Alexander Downs Wagner)
Reunited one last time. Oklahoma State University two-time NCAA Division I champion Jordan Oliver of Easton Area High School and Red Rovers wrestling coach Steve Powell will join forces for the first time since 2008 when Oliver capped a perfect 40-0 senior season, and 175-5 career record with his third straight PIAA Class AAA state title.
The Lehigh Valley's most dynamic coach-wrestler duo will come together for the first installment of the "Who's No. 1" dual meet created by the wrestling community's top-rated website, Flowrestling.org, on Nov. 2 at Lehigh University's Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
Oliver will meet 2011 NCAA champion turned professional mixed martial arts fighter Bubba Jenkins of Arizona State in a match that will highlight the all-star affair that will pit some of the country's top high school wrestlers against each other in nine other bouts.
"I feel honored to be able to be able to be there," Powell said. "Realistically, it's his match, I'm just there as a consultant. When I was asked to be the honorary coach for this there was no hesitation. I am ecstatic to be around that group of talent."
"There's not too many opportunities that you get to see two of the best guys to come through the sport go at it," Oliver said.
Oliver and Jenkins never met in college.
"With Jordan wrestling Bubba and the Lehigh Valley's wrestling traditions on top of that it's going to make for a great day," Powell said. "The Lehigh Valley is definitely the place to do something like this. The true wrestling fans will come out and watch."
Former Easton state place-winning wrestler Willie Saylor, who is the site editor of Flowrestling.org, partnered with his team of knowledgeable mat enthusiasts to create the event.
"When I started contacting guys (high school wrestlers) for this I got a great response. It was just one 'yes' after another and then they started to recruit each other," Saylor said. "Currently, we are happy with the turnout from both the wrestlers and the fans."
The top-ranked high school wrestlers will serve as the undercard to the Oliver-Jenkins bout, which has created a tremendous buzz since it was announced.
"I never thought that I'd be wrestling Bubba," Oliver said. "But I can't let this guy come into where I'm from and beat me in front of my hometown crowd. I'll do anything to protect my town and the pride of Easton."
In 2011, Oliver, then a redshirt sophomore, won his first NCAA title at 133 pounds while Jenkins, a senior, was capturing the 157-pound crown.
Each wrestler will represent either "Team JO," coached by Powell, or "Team Bubba," which will be coached by two-time Division II national champion Jody Strittmatter of Pitt-Johnstown, who's the current coach of the No. 1 wrestling club in the country, Young Guns.
"We are planning on having different honorary coaches every year, but being able to have Powell and Oliver back together again for this amazing and it's sensational to provide that opportunity," Saylor said. "And having Strittmatter is incredible. He is vital to the development of wrestlers, and it's an honor to have them both be a part of this."
The "Who's No. 1" event came about on a day when the power was out in the Flowrestling office in Texas, spawning an impromptu brainstorming session among Saylor, Flocast CEO and founder of Flowrestling Martin Floreani and others when they started discussing the event.
Lo and behold, Saylor had already been pining over the possibility of such an event and pulled out notes that he had written.
"It was really a spinoff of our show 'Who's No.1,'" Floreani said. "Willie pulled out about 10 pages of notes and we just picked up from there and it gained a lot of pop right away. We have a lot of experience doing our FloNational Tournament so we knew that we could do this once we saw the response we had gotten early on."
Blair Academy senior Joey McKenna is scheduled to meet Jason Nolf of Kittanning, Pa. at 138 pounds. McKenna is ranked third and Nolf, a two-time state champion and Penn State recruit, second by Flowrestling at 138.
The initial "pop" has the wrestling community buzzing over the chance to not only see Oliver vs. Jenkins in a 155-pound tussle, but also to see the nation's best high school wrestlers go head-to-head for the top spot in their respective weight classes. The outcome of these bouts undoubtedly will be a factor when it comes to Flo's national rankings.
"It's absolutely going to matter," said Floreani and Saylor in tandem.
"The rankings were part of our ideal vision," Floreani said. "We want to see who can perform under the lights and prove that they deserve that top spot. There's always a lot of controversy with who is better than whom so this will give them a chance to settle the debate."
With wrestlers recently returning to the mats for their first official practices, kicking off a season like this is sure to ignite a firestorm across the nation along with putting some of the old questions to bed.
Upon being recruited for the showdown at Grace Hall, the high school all-stars were asked which team they wanted to represent.
"It was a complete split between the wrestlers," Saylor said. "I let them pick which team they wanted to represent and they showed exactly which guy they wanted. And the boys on Team Bubba (which includes wrestlers from Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon and Chicago) wanted to prove that they can hang with the guys primarily from the east coast."
According to Saylor, the event is nearly sold out. Venerable Grace Hall was named one of the "Top Ten Wrestling Hot Spots" in the country by WIN Magazine's Rob Sherrill.
"We didn't choose the Snake Pit by accident," Saylor said. "Having the nation's top wrestlers, in the best area for wrestling and in a venue where you can feel the tension is exactly what we wanted. We want to see people taking sides and getting behind these two teams. We aren't going to change the site from year-to-year, either. This is the perfect place for something like this and we are excited to see it happen."
"I was really inspired by my wrestling background when it came to thinking about this," Saylor said. "I can remember wrestling Nazareth my sophomore year of high school and walking into that gym and not being able to hear anything because it was so loud in that gym. We haven't had top five teams like that in a while, and I really want to bring that passion of the wrestling fans back."
"We are looking to provide a high intensity experience for the fans with the arena and the sponsors that have done a great job supporting this," Floreani said. "We've had some great sponsors on board from the start, and we are looking to make this first class duel and a staple in the wrestling season."
132A: 1 Seth Gross, MN (Oliver) vs. 3 Fredy Stroker, IA (Bubba).
132B: 2 Zac Hall, MI (Oliver) vs. 4 Michael Kemerer, PA (Bubba).
160: 1 Mark Hall, MI (Bubba) vs. 2 Garrett Peppelman, PA (Oliver).
120: 1 Sean Russell, GA (Oliver) vs. 3 Nathan Boston, KY (Bubba).
145: 2 Joey Galasso, PA (Oliver) vs. 4 Tyler Berger, OR (Bubba).
152: 2 Ryan Blees, ND (Oliver) vs. 3 Fox Baldwin, FL (Bubba).
126: 1 Jered Cortez, IL (Bubba) vs. 4 Ryan Millhof, GA (Oliver).
138: 2 Jason Nolf, PA (Bubba) vs. 3 Joey McKenna, NJ (Oliver).
132: Winner of 132 A vs. Winner of 132 B.
182: 1 Johnny Sebastian, NJ (Oliver) vs. 2 Michael Pixley (Bubba).
155: Jordan Oliver, PA/OK State vs. Bubba Jenkins, VA/PSU/ASU
Tickets can be purchased through the Lehigh ticket office at 610-7LU-GAME or online at lehightickets.com.