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.

The NCWA has released it's qualifiers for the 2016 National Championships. The List of qualifying athletes includes those that placed high enough in their respective Conferences to earn a spot at the Championships as well as the wildcards chosen by their conferences to represent them at a given weight.

This years field of qualifiers is the largest ever at the NCWA nationals and again represents the largest college National Championship in the country with over 500 male and 65 female athletes compared to NCAA DI Qualifying wrestlers at just under 350.

Qualifiers & Brackets Here

Click here to see newest rankings.

DEARBORN, Mich. - With Henry Ford College’s wrestling program moving to the National Junior College Athletic Association next season, the Great Lakes Conference agreed to give HFC a send-off by allowing them to showcase wrestling on their campus. With top-five finishers earning auto-bids to the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships and an additional eight wildcards to be awarded by the conference coaches, the stakes were very high. With fifteen teams from four states, the National Duals runner-ups in Grand Valley State University, and eight returning All-Americans in the brackets, the GLC put on quite a show.

DUBOIS, Pa. — The Penn State DuBois wrestlers continued their successful roll through the postseason, claiming the NCWA Mid-East Qualifier team championship, hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) on Saturday afternoon. Leading the way for Coach Dave Hoare’s wrestlers were champions Brett Himes (125), Garrett Brown (133), Ty Haines (149) and Bryce Hanley (285).
The team champions, Penn State DuBois outdistanced runner-up UMBC by a whopping 55 points, 174 to 119. Third place was the Penn State University Park wrestling club (108), fourth was Rowan College > More

The Daily World

BUTTE, Mont. — Grays Harbor College’s first year back in collegiate wrestling got a lot better on Saturday when the Chokers finished with three individual champions and the overall team championship at the NCWA Northwest Conference Championship at Montana Tech University.
Fabian Wickham (125 pounds), Ke’Vionne Robbins (133) and Brek McGaughy (235) won their respective weight classes for GHC, which will send 12 qualifiers into the NCWA Nationals in Kissimmee, Fla. on March 10-12. The Chokers are currently ranked eighth overall in the NCWA Team Rankings.

- See more at: http://thedailyworld.com/sport...

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - By placing 17 of its 22 wrestlers in the top five of Saturday's Mid-Atlantic Conference tournament at Middle Tennessee State, Liberty University's wrestling team matched the number of national qualifiers it earned last season, when it captured its first NCWA Grand National Championship.

The Flames had five individual champions to help win their fifth consecutive MAC Tournament title, racking up 185 points followed by runner-up Apprentice > More

2016 NCWA National Championships

HELPFUL LINKS

Schedule and general information : NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEBSITE

Venue: Silver Spurs Arena

Co-Host Hotels: Raddison Resort Celebration - Holiday inn Celebration

Host City: Kissimmee, FL.

Host Institution: University of Central Florida

Discount Event Tickets: TICKETING

Discount Tickets To: DISNEY, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, SEA WORLD

By JOSH PEICK - GRAND RAPIDS : Rick Bolhuis, head coach of the Grand Valley State wrestling team, said early in the wrestling season that he fully expected his team to contend for a national title. Bolhuis' expectation became reality on Jan. 22 and 23, as the Lakers secured a second-place finish at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association national duals in Dalton, Georgia.

Here are the finals results from the placing matches at the National Duals. Also included are the team points awarded based on a team's finish that will carry into the NCWA Championships in March. The results from the Western Regional Duals will be added at a later date.

DALTON, Ga. – The Central Florida bench was largely quiet during the opening bouts of its championship match, waiting for its strength in the bottom part of its lineup to come through.

There were some nervous moments along the way. But when Chandler Dobler put his opponent on his back early in the 184-pound match, the Knights’ bench erupted as if it knew the match would be in hand. Dobler, top-ranked in his weight class, responded to the surge on cue, pinning Eric Dietz in 1:48 to send UCF on its way to a 32-18 win over Grand Valley State.

DALTON, GA – The National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s National Duals Tournament, the first leg of the NCWA Championship Series, begins today in Dalton as 300 wrestlers and coaches return to Georgia’s mountains to compete for the favorite’s role toward the national title.

DALTON, GA. – Seven of the eight top seeds, including top-seed and tournament favorite Central Florida, advanced through their round-robin action Friday into the quarterfinals at the NCWA National Duals. Liberty, the defending champion, also advanced into Saturday’s quarterfinals that begin at noon at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center.

In its first dual meet competition of the season, following six individual tournaments in the fall, Liberty University's wrestling team experienced mixed results at the Virginia Duals, going 2-2 to place fourth in the American College division of the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum.
The Flames opened the tournament with a 30-18 victory over Camden County College, winning > > Read More

By: Scott Farrell

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The University of Central Florida rallied twice to overtake Southeastern University and gain its most coveted dual win of the season. The Knights, wrestling its home match Monday at Osceola High School, won the last three matches to come back from a 16-6 deficit to defeat the Fire, 20-16. The Knights' Tyrell Walker capped off the dual with a dramatic tech fall win, 19-3, in the heavyweight match. Southeastern led 16-15 to that point.

View the NCWA Individual & Team Rankings here.