Montoya Falls to Illinois' Richards at NWCA All-Star Classic

Senior All-American Eric Montoya (133) fell to Zane Richards (Illinois), 9-7 in the NWCA All-Star Classic at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday night. Montoya held a 7-6 lead early in the third period, but a late take down by Richards resulted in a comeback win for the Illini grappler.

Montoya, who finished fifth at 133 pounds at the 2016 NCAA Championships, is the No. 4-ranked wrestler in that weight class by InterMat, while Richards is ranked second. Richards took fourth place at last year’s NCAA Championships after a 27-3 record.

Montoya, an Albuquerque, N.M., native, is the 32nd Husker to wrestle in the NWCA All-Star Classic, and first since both James Green and Robert Kokesh competed in the 2014 event. Montoya is a three-time NCAA qualifier (twice at Nebraska) and took fifth place at last year’s Big Ten Championships. He went 29-10 overall last season.

The majority of the Nebraska wrestling team will compete at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., on Sunday, starting at 9 a.m. (CT). The tournament will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org (subscription required), while live results and brackets will be on TrackWrestling.com.