Bellarmine men lead NCWA Nationals on day one, with Liberty and The Apprentice School within one point

BOSSIER CITY, Louisiana - The top three teams in the men’s division at the 2024 NCWA Championships are all within one point of each other after the first of three days of competition at Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, Louisiana.

Returning champion Bellarmine sits at 65 points, with Liberty one-half behind at 64.5 points, and The Apprentice School just one point behind Bellarmine at 64 points.

Bellarmine, a SoCon member which is transitioning to NCAA Div. I, brought 10 wrestlers. Eight advanced to the quarterfinals, and the other two remain in consolations.

Liberty has the most in the quarterfinals with nine athletes, an still have eight others in consolations. Apprentice punched six into the quarterfinals and has eight in consolations.

Four returning 2023 NCWA champions are in the quarterfinals: Zac Cowan of Bellarmine (149), Cole Nance of Bellarmine (174), Josiah Murphy of Liberty (235) and Frederick Weaver of Liberty (285). Murphy won his title last year at 197 pounds, while Nance won his at 165.

One of the 2023 NCWA champions was beaten in the round of 16, Alfonso Vargas of Florida (141). Seeded No. 4, Vargas was beaten by Clemson’s Kenneth Lambert, the No. 13 seed, by a 4-3 margin.

All 11 No. 1 seeds also advanced, Cowan, Nance, Murphy and Weaver, plus Damion Ryan of Bellarmine (125), Jahleel Armstrong of Liberty (133), Thomas McCane of Central Florida (141), Gray Ortis of Bellarmine (157), Grant O’Dell of Bellarmine (165), Ben Liss of the Rutgers WC (184) and Matthew Micale of West Chester (197).

On Friday, the men’s competition continues with the quarterfinals in the morning and the semifinals in the evening. The women’s competition begins on Friday, with preliminaries and semifinals contested. Both tournaments will also have their “blood round” to determine which athletes are All-Americans.

Enjoy the competition live on FloWrestling.

NCWA NATIONALS

At Bossier City, La., March 14, 2024

Quarterfinal pairings

125

Damion Ryan (Bellarmine) vs. Dominic Ciolli (Ohio State WC)

Juan Cantu (Texas A&M) vs. Shay Horton (Thomas More)

Aiden Scheeringa (Liberty) vs. Kobe Bui (Washington State)

Nathan Gipson (Apprentice) vs. Austin Kegley (Lindenwood)

133

Jahleel Armstrong (Liberty) vs. Isaiah Duran (UCLA)

Kevin Kerns (Central Florida) vs. Ethan Vugman (Florida)

Trayce Eckman (Bellarmine) vs. Dillon Messick (Apprentice)

Jonathan Tanguma (Washington) vs. Caiden Pelc (Lindenwood)

141

Thomas McCane (Central Florida) vs. Bruno Alves (Apprentice)

Ryan Wilson (Washington State) vs. Kenneth Lambert (Clemson)

Jordan Robins (Apprentice) vs. Zachary Foote (Iowa State WC)

Abass Diaby (Kennesaw State) vs. Cole Thomas (Thomas More)

149

Zac Cowan (Bellarmine) vs. Gabriel Ojeda (UNLV)

William Lara (Lindenwood) vs. Lincoln Vick (Iowa State WC)

Zachary Ortega (Apprentice) vs. Eli Davis (Clemson)

Justin Barr (Springfield Tech CC) vs. Ryan Moore (Thomas More)

157

Gray Ortis (Bellarmine) vs. Fernando Luna (Colorado State)

Max Wise (Stony Brook) vs. Mitchell Helgert (Washington State)

Reid Stewart (Liberty) vs. Keaton Fischer (West Chester)

Noah Reichelderfer (Penn State WC) vs. Kailan Keith (Thomas More)

165

Grant O'dell (Bellarmine) vs. Sebastian Gaberette (Emory & Henry)

Ezekiel Burkholder (Toledo) vs. David Over (Liberty)

Jolan Martori (Springfield Tech CC) vs. Peter Haverick (Montclair State)

Lucas Nieminen (Central Florida) vs. Keith Brubach (Slippery Rock)

174

Cole Nance (Bellarmine) vs. Derrick Andolsek (Akron)

Alex Dorce (Allen) vs. Charles Roche (Central Florida)

Wayne Lamont (Stony Brook) vs. Alex Ford (Washington State)

Jahmon Spiller (Thomas More) vs. Talon Pisarchuk (Williamson Trade)

184

Ben Liss (Rutgers WC) vs. Tim Goddard (Liberty)

Luke Shaver (Lindenwood) vs. Graham Carson (Ohio State WC)

Michael Jackson (Allen) vs. Riley Hackworth (Florida)

David Mcelravy (Apprentice) vs. Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine)

197

Matthew Micale (West Chester) vs. Cesar Ubico (Utah Tech)

Mckinley Kemper (Lindenwood) vs. Dominic Love (Florida A&M)

Carder Miller (Liberty) vs. Glean Gonzalez (Virginia Tech WC)

Carson Bey (Ohio State WC) vs. Ryan Golnick (Lindenwood)

235

Josiah Murphy (Liberty) vs. Rey Miller (Montclair State)

Jacob Meek (Toledo) vs. Franco Fontela (Dubuque WC)

Dylan Jahrling (UNLV) vs. Prasad Dalvi (Texas State)

Diara Spencer (Fresno State WC) vs. Joseph Pineda (Dubuque WC)

285

Frederick Weaver (Liberty) vs. Emmanuel Velazquez (Allen)

David Hernandez (Lindenwood) vs. Thadd Huff (Bellarmine)

Aden Halsey (Virginia Tech WC) vs. Wade Wheeler (Liberty)

Sam Oppedisano (Massachusetts) vs. Daulton Mayer (Thomas More)

Team Standings after day one

1             Bellarmine           65

2             Liberty  64.5      

3             Apprentice           64

4             Thomas More      57.5      

5             Washington State 52

6             Central Florida    46.5      

7             Lindenwood        45.5      

8             Allen     38.5      

8             Utah Tech            38.5      

10           Springfield Tech CC          37

Remaining schedule

Friday, March 15th

9:00 a.m. - Session III - Consolation / Quarter-finals

9:00 a,m. - Session III - Women's - Preliminaries

5:00 p.m. - Session IV - Men's Blood Round

5:00 p.m. - Session IV - Women’s Semi-final / Blood Round-Bouts

7:00 p.m. - Men's Semi-finals

7:00 p.m. - Women's Consolation Semi-finals

Saturday, March 16th

1:00 p.m. - Session V - Men's All-American Consolations

1:00 p.m. - Session V- Women's Finals & 3rd place Bouts

6:00 p.m - Session VI - Men's Championship Finals