MACON, Ga. – California Baptist maintained its commanding lead at the NCWA Championships by sending four of its wrestlers to the national title matches with five others in placing matches. The Lancers, first-year members of the NCWA, lead Grand Valley State 142.5-116 heading into Saturday night’s finals session.

California Baptist’s Jimmy Martinez started the championship run with a 7-2 win over Scott Filbert of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School in the 125-pound semifinals. Chris Santana, another top-seed along with Martinez, continued it with a 6-4 win over Josh McCoy of Marion Military Institute at 157. 

Martinez faces Hermon Gillum of Mott Community College (Mich.) in the 125 final. Gillum remained undefeated (31-0) with a 15-3 win in the semifinals, and is one of two remaining undefeated wrestlers left. Daniel Swain of Douglas College (B.C.) is the other wrestling for the title at 149.

The NCWA Finals begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at the University Center on the Mercer University campus.

The Lancers’ rise came at the expense of their pursuers in two classes. At 197 pounds, CBU’s Caleb Gerl rode out a 3-0 win over Frank Bastien of Grand Valley State. At heavyweight, fourth-seeded Alex Evers took a sudden-victory 4-2 win over top-seeded and defending national champion David Devine of SIU-Edwardsville. Evers will now face Corey Melinn, Grand Valley State’s two-time NCWA All-American, the national title match. 

Grand Valley State lost an opportunity to gain on California Baptist with its 1-3 overall mark in its semifinal matches. The Lakers do have heavyweight Corey Melinn, now a three-time NCWA All-American, in the finals.

Defending national champion Central Florida made a move into third place overall by advancing three wrestlers into the title matches. The Knights have 90.5 points, just ahead of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville’s 89 in fourth. 

UCF’s Stephen DeAugustino earned a fourth consecutive All-American award, will wrestle in his first national title match at 133. Richard Rippy joined DeAugustino became the 18th and 19th four-time All-Americans in NCWA history by advancing to the 197 final. Joshua Woods also advanced to the 235 final.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville held its fourth-place standing based on the success of its 174-pounders. Top-seeded Mike Dace won his semifinal, 5-2, and will face teammate Deshoun White in the national final. White, the SIUE’s non-scoring wrestler, beat third-seeded Kenneth Tribble 10-8 in the semifinals. White upset second-seeded Daniel Hiller of the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School in the second round, 5-2. 

The NCWA national finals matches are as follows: 

125 – (1) Jimmy Martinez, California Baptist, vs. (2) Hermon Gillum, Mott CC (Mich.)
133 – (1) Colton Rasche, U.S. Naval Academy Prep School, vs. (2) Stephen DeAugustino, Central Florida
141 – (1) Kendall Albert, Kennesaw State, vs. (2) Brandon Westerman, Marion Military Institute (Ala.)
149 – (1) Daniel Carr, Md.-Baltimore Country, vs. (3) Daniel Swain, Douglas College (B.C.)
157 – (1) Chris Santana, California Baptist, vs. (3) Ryan Madson, Mass. Inst. of Technology
165 – (1) Dustin Tancredi, West Chester, vs. (3) Jordan Peter, Northwest Missouri State
174 – (1) Mike Dace, So. Illinois-Edwardsville, vs. (U/S) Deshoun White, So. Illinois-Edwardsville
184 – (1) Kevin Bacci, West Chester, vs. (6) Dalton Henderson, U.S. Air Force Academy Prep School
197 – (1) Richard Rippy, Central Florida, vs. (2) Caleb Gerl, California Baptist
235 – (8) Joe DiSalvo, Northeastern, vs. (3) Joshua Woods, Central Florida
285 – (4) Alex Evers, California Baptist, vs. (6) Corey Melinn, Grand Valley State

Team Scores after Session 5 of 6 (going into finals matches)

Division I Teams
1. California Baptist – 142.5
2. Grand Valley State (Mich.) – 116
3. Central Florida – 90.5
4. So. Illinois-Edwardsville – 89
5. Marion Military Institute (Ala.) – 84
6. West Chester (Pa.) – 77
7. The Apprentice School (Va.) – 76
8. U.S. Naval Academy Prep – 62.5
9. Md.-Baltimore County – 54.5
10. U.S. Military Academy Prep – 47
11. Mercer – 39.5
12. U.S. Air Force Academy Prep – 38
13. Mass. Inst. of Technology – 36.5
14. Middle Tennessee State – 29
15. New Hampshire – 28
16. Mott CC (Mich.) – 27
17. Douglas College (B.C.) – 25
18. Amherst – 22.5
19. Williamson School of Trade – 20
20. Penn State – DuBois – 19
21. Wayne State (Neb.) – 14.5
22. Georgia – 13.5
23. Dayton – 11
23. Colorado State – 10.5
24. Texas-Arlington – 10
25. Penn College – 8.5
26. San Jose State – 6
27t. Valley Force Military Acad. – 5.5
27t. East Tennessee State – 5.5
30. Rensselaer Poly. Inst. – 5
31. Florida A&M – 4
32. Blair Academy (N.J.) – 3.5
33. Southern Virginia – 3
34. Northland CC (Wis.) – 2.5
35. Connecticut – 1

Division II Clubs
1. Northwest Missouri State – 45
2. Cincinnati – 33
3. Northeastern – 28.5
4. South Carolina – 27.5
5. Kennesaw State – 23
6. Colorado – 19.5
7t. Massachusetts – 18.5
7t. Florida – 18.5
9. Hudson Valley CC (N.Y.) – 18
10t. Illinois State – 13.5
10t. Florida Gulf Coast – 13.5
12. North Florida – 13
13. Bowling Green – 11.5
14. Virginia Military – 10.5
15. Texas Tech – 10
16. William and Mary – 8
17. Radford – 7.5
18. Florida State – 7
19. Texas A&M – 6
20t. Texas – 5.5
20t. Texas State – 5.5
22t. SUNY-Albany – 5
22t. SUNY-Cobleskill – 5
24. Georgia Southern – 4
25t. Texas-San Antonio – 2.5
25t. Georgia Tech – 2.5
27. Delaware – 2
28t. Slippery Rock – 1
28t. Kansas State – 1
30t. Tennessee – 0.5
30t. Penn State – 0.5
30t. Lansing CC (Mich.) – 0.5
33t. Auburn – 0
33t. Michigan – 0
33t. South Florida – 0
33t. Virginia Tech – 0
33t. Winona State – 0