By Scott Farrell

NCWA Staff

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Grand Valley State leads the NCWA Championships after the first day of competition, but second-place Central Florida and perhaps even third-place Emmanuel College may sit in a better position as the tournament reaches its quarterfinal stage on Friday.

The Lakers stormed out of the opening rounds with plenty of bonus points to go along with wins up and down their roster. Grand Valley scored 16 pins as a team Thursday with two other tech falls, giving it close to 30 bonus points and a big part of its Division I-high 82.5 points. Their slim two-point lead over Central Florida (80.5 points) might have been greater had GVSU not missed a handful of opportunities turning in a 1-4 record in head-to-head meetings with the Knights.

Even more important was where the bulk of those five matches took place. UCF stayed close to Grand Valley with wins in three head-to-head meetings in the round-of-16 at 125, 133 and 174 pounds, two of them with bonus points attached. Timothy Sakow of UCF won by fall over Charlie Hang in 6:37 at 125, then Justus Griffith won a close decision over GVSU’s Nick Reddy, 6-5. Geordan Speiller, a U.S. Greco-Roman champion, won another head-to-head match at 174, scoring a tech fall over Ben Wright. C.J. Cook made it four-in-a-row for UCF, pinning Bobby Montney in the 149 consolations.

Austin Geerlings stopped the run for GVSU when he pinned UCF’s Michael Seymour in the 165-pound round-of 16. That buoyed Grand Valley’s chances as Geerlings reached Friday’s quarterfinals along with six other Lakers – Brendan Hazelton (125), top-seed Mitchell Hrnyak (133), two-seed Zach Cooper (141), Geerlings (165), Bailey Bischer (174), Eric Dietz (184) and Harun Bogdonic (235). In all, Grand Valley sits in great shape to make a run at its first national title since winning three in a row from 2006-08. The Lakers have 15 wrestlers alive (eight in consolation) and only lost two out of the tournament on Thursday.

Bonus points will again be a key for Grand Valley, as they’re outnumbered by UCF’s 10 quarterfinalists with seven others in consolation. The Knights only lost one wrestler out of the tournament Thursday. Besdies Sakow (125), Griffith (133), Cook (149) and Speiller (174), UCF advanced Matthew Seymour (141), Chandler Dobler (184), Tyrell Walker (197), Angel Perez (235) and Jesse Gaudin (285) reached the final eight in their class.

Grand Valley has two important quarterfinal matches against Emmanuel right off the bat Friday. Hrnyak faces Emmanuel’s Dylan Carlile at 133, Bischer takes on Zakery Pitt at 174.

Emmanuel has nine wrestlers in the quarterfinals and four more in consolation. The Lions only lost one wrestler Thursday. Liberty sits in fourth place with 62 points, followed by Penn State-DuBois (54), Apprentice (51) and then a scoring gap down to seventh-place Grays Harbor College and Maryland-Baltimore County with 35 each and Middle Tennessee with 34.

In Division II, Florida’s 48 points stand well-ahead of second-place Penn State Wrestling Club (36). Grand Canyon’s Wrestling Club is in third with 33 points and Maine, a pleasant surprise on Thursday, in fourth at 28.5.

Besides the championship quarterfinals and semifinals, Friday will also have the women’s tournament opening up. Southwestern Oregon CC is the heavy favorite to win its fifth consecutive NCWA Women’s title.

Here are the team scores from the first day of the NCWA Championships. You can find more scoring information plus the brackets on trackwrestling.com.

1. Grand Valley State 82.5

2. Central Florida 80.5

3. Emmanuel 73.0

4. Liberty 62.0

5. Penn State - DuBois 54.0

6. Apprentice 51.0

7. Grays Harbor 35.0

7. MD-Baltimore County 35.0

9. Middle Tennessee 34.0

10. Marion Military 31.0

11. Wayne State 30.5

12. South Florida 28.0

13. Florida Gulf Coast 26.5

14. Penn State - Mont Alto 23.5

15. Temple 23.0

16. U.S. Air Force Prep 20.0

17. Central Washington 15.0

17. M. I. T. 15.0

19. Williamson Trades 13.0

20. Mott Community College 8.5

21. New Hampshire 8.0

22. North Florida 5.5

22. Stony Brook 5.5

24. Penn State - New Kensington 5.0

25. Penn State - Schuylkill 4.0

26. Penn State - Fayette 0.0

Division II

1. Florida 48.0

2. Penn State WC 36.0

3. Grand Canyon WC 33.0

4. Maine 28.5

5. Dixie State 23.0

6. Georgia 20.5

7. Toledo 20.0

8. Alfred State 19.0

8. Connecticut 19.0

8. Houston - Downtown 19.0

11. Akron 17.5

11. Northern Kentucky 17.5

13. Arizona 17.0

14. Colorado 16.0

15. Montana Western 15.5

15. Utah State 15.5

15. Washington State 15.5

18. Texas 13.0

19. James Madison 12.5

20. Northeastern 11.5

20. South Carolina 11.5

20. Wisconsin WC 11.52

3. B Y U 11.0

23. Ohio State WC 11.0

23. Rowan Univ 11.02

6. Farmingdale State 10.5

26. Tennessee 10.5

26. Winona State 10.5

29. East Carolina 10.0

30. Delaware 9.5

30. Notre Dame 9.5

32. Defiance 9.0

32. Henry Ford College 9.0

32. Texas State 9.0

32. U.S.C. 9.0

36. Rensselaer 8.5

36. Virginia Military 8.5

38. Fresno State 8.0

38. Texas A & M 8.0

38. U.C.L.A. 8.0

41. Ferris State 7.0

41. Iowa State WC 7.0

41. Lehigh WC 7.0

41. Memphis 7.0

45. Michigan WC 6.5

45. Saginaw Valley 6.5

45. Western Washington 6.5

45. William & Mary 6.5

49. North Texas 6.0

50. Montana Tech 5.5

51. Texas - Arlington 5.0

52. Washington 4.5

53. Colorado State 4.0

53. Florida A & M 4.0

55. Alabama 3.5

56. Montana State 3.0

56. Towson 3.0

58. Massachusetts 2.0

58. Michigan State WC 2.0

60. Idaho 1.0

60. Iowa WC 1.0

60. UC - Merced 1.0

63. Bridgewater College 0.0

63. Concordia - Ann Arbor 0.0

63. Husson Univ 0.0

63. Miami 0.0

63. Missouri Science 0.0

63. Rhode Island 0.0

63. Rutgers 0.0

63. Sacramento State 0.0

63. Yale 0.0