MACON, Ga. – Grand Valley State used its bonus points to surge into the lead following the first day of competition at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships. The Lakers, the North Central Conference champions, lead California Baptist, the West Coast Conference champions, 40-38 after two sessions at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University.

Grand Valley wrestlers scored seven pins in the first two rounds, and advanced seven of 11 wrestlers into Friday morning’s quarterfinals. Cal Baptist has nine in the quarterfinals, including all six of its wrestlers seeded among the top four in their bracket. 

Matt Morrill, Carl Worthy and Corey Melinn led Grand Valley by scoring pins in their two matches. Morrill will draw third-seeded Marcus Chevres of fourth-place The Apprentice School (Va.) in the quarterfinals of the 133-pound bracket. Worthy, who scored a 39-second pin in the second round, is in the 235 quarters for a second year in a row. Melinn is a returning heavyweight All-American who placed third last year but was not seeded in the top four this year.

Adam Bastow (141), Robert Tymes (165), third-seeded Derek Marshall (184) and third-seeded Frank Bastien (197) each won one of their matches by fall for the Lakers, who placed fourth nationally last year.

Cal Baptist scored five pins in the first two rounds, and its advancement points put it in the lead for most of the session. Ethan Hall draws a tough 141 assignment to start Friday, facing top-seeded and returning All-American Kendall Albert of Kennesaw State in the quarters. C.J. Knowland will have top-seeded Kevin Bacci of West Chester (Pa.) in the quarters of the 184 bracket.

Top-seeded Jimmy Martinez (125), Chris Santana (157), second-seeded Bronson Gerl (165) and third-seeded Kenneth Tribble (174) also earned pins in the first two rounds.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville is third with 32 points after the first day, with Apprentice fourth with 30 and defending champion Central Florida fifth with 28. Mercer, the tourney host, is sixth tied with West Chester with 27 points.

In the Division II club standings, Northwest Missouri State leads with 16 points, which places 12th overall among the 68 scoring teams.

The tournament continues with a consolation round at 9 a.m. Friday, followed by the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. and an evening sessions at 7 p.m. 

Full tournament coverage and live streaming video can be found at www.ncwa.net.

Tourney Notes – Almost 10 percent of the qualifiers – 33 – came from Georgia hometowns or were competing for Georgia schools. Of the 33, all but four are still alive in the tournament. Five have reached the quarterfinals: Georgia’s Joel Hyder (174), Kennesaw State’s Albert (141), Mercer’s Derek Wojcik (174), and Marion Military Institute’s Brandon Westerman (141) and Trevor Bailey (149). . . . The two biggest upsets during the day’s two sessions came in the 133- and 197-pound brackets. In the uber-balanced 133 bracket, John Petrov of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville upended Landon Saldana of California Baptist, 8-6. Saldana was ranked in the top five at 133. At 197, Joel Wyman of Marion Military pinned Stuart Roes of The Apprentice School (Va.) in the second period, eliminating the defending All-American who placed sixth last year.

NCWA NATIONALS
Team Scores after two rounds

Division I Teams
1. Grand Valley State (Mich.) – 40
2. California Baptist – 38
3. So. Illinois-Edwardsville – 32
4. The Apprentice School (Va.) – 30
5. Central Florida – 28
6t. Mercer – 27
6t. West Chester (Pa.) – 27
8. U.S. Naval Academy Prep – 24.5
9. Md.-Baltimore County – 22.5
10. Marion Military Institute (Ala.) – 21.5
11. U.S. Military Academy Prep – 19
12. Mass. Inst. of Technology – 14.5
13. U.S. Air Force Academy Prep – 14
14. Penn State – DuBois – 12.5
15. New Hampshire – 11
16t. Georgia – 9
16t. Douglas College (B.C.) – 9
16t. Middle Tennessee State – 9
19t. Colorado State – 8.5
19t. Mott CC (Mich.) – 8.5
21t. Williamson School of Trade – 7.5
21t. Amherst – 7.5
23. Texas-Arlington – 6.5
24. Penn Tech – 6
25. East Tennessee State – 5.5
26. Dayton – 5
27t. Wayne State (Neb.) – 4.5
27t. Rensselaer Poly. Inst. – 4.5
27t. San Jose State – 4.5
30t. Valley Force Military Acad. – 3
30t. Blair Academy (N.J.) – 3
30t. Florida A&M – 3
33. Northland CC (Wis.) – 2.5
34. Connecticut – 1
35. Southern Virginia – 0.5

Division II Clubs
1. Northwest Missouri State – 16
2. South Carolina – 13
3t. Oakland (Mich.) – 12.5
3t. Massachusetts – 12.5
5. North Florida – 11
6. Cincinnati – 10.5
7t. Northeastern – 9
7t. Florida State – 9
7t. Bowling Green – 9
10. Virginia Military – 7.5
11. Hudson Valley CC (N.Y.) – 6.5
12t. Texas A&M – 6
12t. Florida – 6
12t. Kennesaw State – 6
15t. SUNY-Albany – 5
15t. Colorado – 5
17t. Illinois State – 4
17t. Radford – 4
19. William and Mary – 3.5
20t. Texas – 3
20t. Texas State – 3
22t. Texas-San Antonio – 2.5
22t. Georgia Tech – 2.5
22t. SUNY-Cobleskill – 2.5
22t. Texas Tech – 2.5
26t. Georgia Southern – 2
26t. Florida Gulf Coast – 2
28. Delaware – 1.5
29t. Slippery Rock – 1
29t. Kansas State – 1
31t. Tennessee – 0.5
31t. Penn State – 0.5
31t. Lansing CC (Mich.) – 0.5