SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Liberty leads the NCWA Championships after the first day, ahead of Apprentice and Grand Valley State at the moment and with the depth of 18 wrestlers still competing in 10 different brackets.

But the day also provided plenty of highlights for other individuals and programs who look to surge up to the medal stand Saturday. Many questions remain. Here is a look at the day’s results broken down by weight class.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Liberty began pursuit of its record fifth consecutive NCWA title in a big way Thursday with a battery of 18 wrestlers that still have a dozen alive in the championship brackets. Already with a cushion over second-place Apprentice and with three more wrestlers in the quarterfinals than the Builders, the title could be the Flames’ to lose.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The 26^th annual National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships are set to begin Thursday at the Puerto Rico Convention Center with more than 100 teams ready to compete for national titles. The tournament is an exciting venture for the association as it brings collegiate wrestling into Puerto Rico for the first time.

The 9 NCWA Conference Tournaments are over and with it comes the anticipation of the National Tournament Bracket.

The brackets have been released and can be viewed in there entirety online on FloArena!

The Men will start the Championships on Thursday, March 9th. #1 seeds for the Men's tournament are:

125 - Jack Parker (Fr, Bellarmine) 24-13
133 - Dillon Messick (Sr, Apprentice) 27-8
141 - Parker Watson (Sr, Ohio State WC) 10-0
149 - Zac Cowan (So, Bellarmine) 24-8
157 - Ian McIlhenny (Sr, Liberty) 10-7 RETURNING NATIONAL CHAMP
165 - Cole Nance (So, Bellarmine) 27-12
174 - Devan Hendricks (Sr, Bellarmine) 21-4
184 - Michael Jackson (Jr, Allen) 27-4
197 - Josiah Murphy (Sr, Liberty) 12-1 RETURNING NATIONAL CHAMP
235 - Jeffrey Allen (Sr, Liberty) 25-2 3x DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMP
285 - Frederick Weaver (Sr, Liberty) 18-1 2X DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMP

Note that two other National Champions are in the brackets with the 2022 141-lb Champion, Thomas McCane (now with Central Florida and the #10 seed at 149) and the 2022 174-lb NJCAA Champion, Josh Kenny (previously of Muskegon CC) as the #2 seed at 174.

The Women start competition on Friday, March 10th. #1 Seeds for the Women's tournament are:

101 - Jasmine Cortez (Fr, Texas State) 7-0
109 - Hermelinda Mendoza (Jr, Ottawa-Arizona) 17-1 2022 NATIONAL CHAMP at 101
116 - LyQualah Kinsey (So, Ottawa-Arizona) 18-5
123 - Lauren Stone (Jr, Florida) 3-2 2022 NATIONAL CHAMP
130 - Viveca Pannell (So, MIT) 16-7
136 - Julie Wilson (So, Washington State) 10-7
143 - Anastasia Fucci (Fr, Colorado State) 16-0
155 - Leilani Frazier (Fr, Santa Rosa JC) 2-1
170 - Maile Ka'ahanui (Jr, Liberty) 4-5
191 - Ranaeh Ureste (So, Grays Harbor College) 18-6
235 - Katie Moore (Jr, Stony Brook) 2022 NATIONAL CHAMP

NCWA Staff, Personnel, and Teams are starting to arrive in Puerto Rico as we speak! See everyone at the tournament!

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Springfield Technical Community College’s wrestling team continued its winning streak, capturing the sixth consecutive conference title on Feb. 25.STCC won first place at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Northeast Conference Championship (NEC). Shawn Conniff was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the NEC championship. He and six other STCC wrestlers were crowned conference champions for their weight classes.

Seventeen STCC wrestlers will compete March 9-11 at the 2023 NCWA National Championship in Puerto Rico. "It feels amazing that STCC has won the conference for

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Apprentice School wrestling team finished in second place at the NCWA Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships once again Saturday, crowning three individual champions in the process. Host Liberty University claimed the team title with 229 points, followed by the Builders with 187.5. Third was Allen University and fourth was Virginia Tech Wrestling Club with 123.5 and 110 points, respectively.

On the day, 16 Builders placing top six received automatic qualifying bids to the NCWA National Championships in

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellarmine wrestling traveled to Toledo, Ohio for the NCWA Great Lakes Conference Championships on Saturday, and the Knights crowned seven champions.
Bellarmine's Jack Parker (125), Zac Cowan (149), Alex Rivera (157), Cole Nance (165), Devan Hendricks (174), Kennedy Wyatt (184), and Thadd Huff (285) all claimed first place in their respective weight classes.
The Knights placed second out of nine teams with 128 points on the day, only trailing Grand Valley State who scored 144.5.
"The guys had a lot of fun today with scoring a lot of points in their matches and bonus points for the team," Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said.

The final NCWA Women's Rankings before next weekend's Conference tournaments show Ottawa University - Arizona distancing themselves from the pack including arch-rival Grays Harbor College (Washington). Perhaps the biggest surprise (outside of Surprise, AZ) is the mighty women of M.I.T. who at 3 strong come in at 3rd in the rankings! The top-10 teams in the Women's Division are as follows:

1. Ottawa University - Arizona (Surprise, AZ) - 57
2. Grays Harbor College (Aberdeen, WA) - 46
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) - 23
4. Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ) - 22
5. Washington State University (Pullman, WA) - 19
6. Big Bend CC (Moses Lake, WA) - 15
7. Texas State University (San Marcos, TX) - 13
8. Colorado State University (Ft. Collins, CO) - 11
8. Northeastern University (Boston, MA) - 11
10. Fresno State University (Fresno, CA) - 10

The individual rankings are spread out among teams with only M.I.T. having more than one #1 ranking:

101 - Jasmine Cortez - Fr - Texas State - 4-0
109 - Hermelinda Mendoza - Jr - Ottawa-Arizona - 14-1
116 - Mercaydeez Scott - Jr - Ferris State
123 - Lauren Stone - Jr - Florida
130 - Viveca Pannell - So - M.I.T. - 16-7
136 - Samantha Tuttle - Jr - Grand Canyon - 8-5
143 - Anastacia Fucci - Fr - Colorado State - 14-0
155 - Maggie Palmore - Jr - Tampa
170 - Maile Ka-ahanui - Jr - Liberty - 2-0
191 - Sarah Sams - Jr - M.I.T. - 3-2
235 - Katie Moore - Jr - Stony Brook

For a full list of top-8 rankings for all 11 NCWA weight classes click READ MORE.

One thing has become clear since the NCWA National Duals...Bellarmine is for real. Not only are they for real in the NCWA Division with a shot at a National Title in March, but they are a legitimate contender in their NCAA Southern Conference as well compiling an overall dual record of 10-2, with their only NCAA-D1 losses coming to Appalachian State and Gardner-Webb. What isn't clear is which team will leave Puerto Rico with the National Championship title. The current rankings have Liberty still at #1 with 78 points; however, Bellarmine has closed the gap considerably at #2 with 75 points. The top-10 NCWA-D1 are as follows:

#1 Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA) - 78
#2 Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY) - 75 [NCAA-D1]
#3 The Apprentice School (Newport News, VA) - 61
#4 University of Toledo (Toledo, OH) - 42
#5 Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI) - 39
#6 Queens University of Charlotte (Charlotte, NC) - 29 [NCAA-D1]
#7 Springfield Tech CC (Springfield, MA) - 26
#8 University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL) - 21
#9 Allen University (Allen, SC) - 14 [NCAA-D2]
#10 Grays Harbor College (Aberdeen, WA) - 13

Leading NCWA-D2 are some of the mainstays:

#1 Ohio State WC - 25
#2 Penn State WC - 21
#3 Slippery Rock - 11
#4 Rutgers WC - 10
#5 Fresno State WC / South Carolina / Virginia Tech WC - 9

Bellarmine and Liberty dominate the #1 spots for the men:

125 - Jack Parker - So - Bellarmine - 21-10
133 - Michael Schiffhauer - Fr - Bellarmine - 20-4
141 - Melvin Rubio - Gr - Queens - 11-10
149 - Zach Blevins - Gr - Toledo - 6-1
157 - Grant O'Dell - Fr - Bellarmine - 8-3
165 - Cole Nance - So - Bellarmine - 22-11
174 - Luke Lardarello - Jr - Penn State-Mont Alto - 10-5
184 - Ben Liss - Jr - Rutgers WC - 17-2
197 - Josiah Murphy - Sr - Liberty - 9-1
235 - Jeff Allen - Sr - Liberty - 22-2
285 - Fredrick Weaver - Jr - Liberty - 23-3

For a full list of top-25 rankings for all 11 NCWA weight classes click READ MORE.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Springfield Technical Community College’s wrestling program hosted the inaugural 2023 National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) Massachusetts state wrestling championships on Feb. 5 at its home gym and came out on top in team standings. STCC went up against squads from >>>

The NCWA had significant growth this season, both in the men's and women's divisions. The men's numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels and added a 9th conference: the Puerto Rico Conference; while the Women's division continues to grow in popularity. As such, the NCWA Tournament Committee has released an increase in National Qualifying bids to account for the growth.

It was a tough 20 hour journey for the STCC team. Leaving at 3am on Friday morning from MA and arriving at 11pm Friday night. "Delay after delay at Chicago O'Hare airport left us wondering if we were going to actually make it to the event. We did not have any time to get a practice in so we had to rely on jumping rope and taking jogs through the airport in order to maintain our weight. Thanks to JMU Coach Colin Steele once we arrived he had the wrestling arena open for us to check our weight. He was a great host. The next morning we weighed in and wrestled some tough teams. STCC traveled to Virginia with 7 national qualifiers 4 of whom were all-Americans." ~ Alberto Nieves (STCC Head Coach)

The team was led by 125 two time all-American Dylan Beddow who went undefeated in the duals with a 4-0 record. All-American Michael Gonzalez at 133 went 3-1 with two hard fought overtime matches while #3 Ranked freshman Kalil Shabazz chalked up a 4-0 record for the duals over the weekend. At 149 Joe Podolak a 2022 National qualifier also went 4-0 for the Pride and freshman 157lb. James Lunt recorded a 3-1 tournament record. Mitchell Aarons the 165lb freshmen went 1-3 and 174, Ricardo Magny 3x National qualifier dropped a weight from 184 to record 3-0 undefeated weekend. 184lb Stephano Magny went 3-1 after dropping weight from 197 and scored key wins for the team. At 197 Johnny Andre, National qualifier went 3-1 and at 235lb. Shawn Conniff finished the tournament undefeated at 4-0. #4 ranked heavyweight Jacob Gariepy closed out the STCC streak with 4 wins against no losses.
STCC will look forward to hosting the first NCWA Massachusetts State Championship at home on Feb 5th. with MIT, UMASS and Northeastern University in attendance.

Washington State University Men’s Team earned first place at the Western Regional Duals in Surprise, Arizona. WSU had a total of 5 wins and 0 losses at the Duals in head-to-head wins of 60-6 over Colorado State, 46-12 over Texas A&M and 49-12 over host team Ottawa University to win their pool of 4 teams on day one of competition.

Day two saw a tough battle between WSU and Wayne’s State College with the Cougers prevailing 39-21 securing them a spot in the final match against North West Conference rival Grays Harbor. WSU pulled an upset of the number one seeded Grays Harbor team with an overwhelming 39-18 win to end the 2-day event with WSU’s first ever Western Regional Championship. The WSU Cougar wrestlers were led by numerous undefeated .....

VIRGINIA BEACH - The Apprentice School hosted its first Builder Invitational since January 2020 Sunday, winning the team title with a total of 206 points. Seven Builders claimed gold, winning their respective weight classes. Surging NCWA rivals Toledo was second with 106 points, followed by the inaugural squad from NCAA Division III Marymount University with 85. The 125 pound bracket was nearly......

The Roberto Clemente Coliseum became unavailable due to unexpected repairs and determined unusable for the 2023 National Collegiate Wrestling Championships. Discover Puerto Rico's Carlos Deliz and promoter Jerry Orsini have joined forces to make the Puerto Rico Convention Center available as the new and improved venue for this year's event.

The move to this state-of-the-art Convention Center also places the venue and host hotels in the upscale T-Mobile District, eliminating the need for buses to transport athletes and coaches. Guests of the hotels can now walk the five minutes to the Convention Center. For more information on the 2023 National Collegiate Wrestling Championships, please visit www.NcwaNationals.org.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In its second day of competition at the Louisville
Exposition Center, the Bellarmine wrestling team earned first place in the
NCWA Division at the NWCA / US Marine Corp National Duals.

The Knights won all six duals they competed in over the past two days to claim the title. Each dual featured 11 bouts, including a 235 match, which is unique to the NCWA division. Seven Bellarmine wrestlers went 6-0 to help propel the Knights to the tournament win.

Friday – Pool B Results
-Bellarmine 42 – Queens 9
-Bellarmine 58 – Emory & Henry 6
-Bellarmine 46 – Apprentice School 6

Saturday – Tournament
-Bellarmine 48 – Central Florida 6
-Bellarmine 35 – Queens 12
-Bellarmine 29 – Liberty 21

"I love how our team continued to grow together as the tournament progressed," Knights Head Coach Ned Shuck said. "A dual meet atmosphere is really special and we

Four-time-defending NCWA National Duals tournament champion Liberty University’s men’s wrestling team came up just short in its bid for a fifth consecutive crown, Saturday at the Kentucky Convention Center.

More than 1,600 men’s and women’s wrestlers converged in Louisville, Ky., for the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) multi-divisional dual meet national tournament, divided into NCAA DII and DIII as well as NAIA and NCWA classifications.

After rallying from a 21-9 deficit to edge Mid-Atlantic Conference foe Apprentice School, 25-24, in the semifinals, the Flames bowed to Bellarmine University, which is

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Emory & Henry College Men's Wrestling Team competed at the USMC/NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Meet Championships on Friday and Saturday. The Wasps wrestled in three pool play duals on Friday and three placing duals on Saturday. Seeded eighth in the NCWA division, which included two NCAA DI teams being reclassified from DII institutions. E&H finished in seventh place defeating University of Central Florida on Saturday afternoon with a 31-26 upset victory.

The Basics
FINAL SCORE – #4 The Apprentice School 59, #8 Emory & Henry 0
FINAL SCORE – #2 Bellarmine 58, #8 Emory & Henry 6
FINAL SCORE – #6 Queens (N.C.) 60, #8 Emory & Henry -1
FINAL SCORE – #1 Liberty 57, #8 Emory & Henry 3
FINAL SCORE – #5 Grand Valley State 40, #8 Emory & Henry 24
FINAL SCORE – #8 Emory & Henry 31, #7 Central Florida 26
LOCATION – Louisville, Kentucky
VENUE – Kentucky Exposition Center
RECORD – Emory & Henry (3-17, 0-3 SACC)

Liberty University’s top-seeded, four-time-defending NCWA National Duals championship wrestling team got out to a dominant start in Friday’s matches in its pool, slamming No. 5 seed Grand Valley State, 40-14, in the morning opener and No. 7 Central Florida, 55-3, in the afternoon match before taking down No. 3 Toledo, 41-9, in the evening clash at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky.

The Flames got pins from senior Charles Hudson at 149 pounds, sophomore Gabe Hayes at 184, and senior Seth Ellsmore at 235, and technical falls from seniors David Over at 165 and Rick Weaver at heavyweight to sink the Lakers. Ellsmore, who played football at NCAA.....

The Toledo Rockets and Grand Valley State Lakers previously squared off at the Thanksgiving Duals with the dual coming down to the heavyweight match. Toledo ultimately won 28-21. The dual was much closer at the 2023 NCWA National Duals as both squads had key additions to the lineup that weren't present in November. As with the November dual, the match ultimately came down to the heavyweight match. #3 seeded Toledo won that match and consequently the dual to secure a 27-25 victory over #5 GVSU heading into Saturday's Quarterfinals.

See Match Breakdown using current NCWA rankings: