Middle Tennessee State's Kyle Chandler (in blue) secured this hold on Mercer's Andrew Eck, but Eck rallied in the third period to take a 9-4 win. Middle Tennessee State edged Mercer, 24-23, in the opening round of the NCWA National Duals. Jason Heartfield photo

DALTON, Ga. – Lindenwood-Belleville made the most of its first trip to the National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s National Duals, pulling off one of the day’s most impressive wins in a 23-21 upset over The Apprentice School (Va.). All but two of the top eight seeds each won their first-day matches, setting up the round of 16 in Saturday’s championship bracket at the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center. 
 
Lindenwood-Belleville was seeded 14th coming into the tournament. The Lynx thumped Toledo in its opening match, 63-0, then came back three hours later and won a tense match over No. 3-seed Apprentice, where three matches were decided by injuries or penalties. Lindenwood-Belleville’s win sets up at 9 a.m. match Saturday against No. 13 seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Top-seeded Liberty, new to the NCWA and a former NCAA Division I program, advanced with two wins over Carroll (Wis.), 48-12, and Wichita State, 43-16. The Flames will face Southern Virginia tomorrow in the round of 16.

Lindenwood-St. Charles, another of the NCWA’s newest program, swept two matches from Cincinnati, 55-6, and Southern Virginia, 60-0. The Lions face Wichita State to start tomorrow’s action.

No. 4-seed Central Florida advanced with two wins, and will face Apprentice, the three-seed, in the next round. The teams have split two duals this season, with Apprentice winning the most recent match at the Virginia Duals earlier this month.

Marion Military Institute (Ala.), the No. 9 seed, topped No. 8 seed Georgia Southern 51-3 in the day’s only other upset among the seeded teams. MMI will face No. 7 seed Mercer in the next round.

The boxscores from Friday’s matches are available at www.ncwa.net under the results tab.

Saturday’s opening matches in the round of 16 are listed below, along with scores from Friday’s three sessions. The championship quarterfinals are at noon, with the semifinals at 4 p.m. and the final at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s Schedule
(9 a.m., round of 16; seeding in parenthesis)
(1) Liberty vs. (18) Southern Virginia
(7) Mercer vs. (9) Marion Military Inst. (Ala.)
(5) Md.-Baltimore County vs. (11) East Tennessee State
(3) Apprentice School (Va.) vs. (4) Central Florida

(13) Massachusetts Inst. of Technology vs. (14) Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.)
(6) Grand Valley State vs. (12) North Florida
(8) Georgia Southern vs. (10) Middle Tennessee State
(2) Lindenwood-St. Charles (Mo.) vs. (16) Wichita State

Friday’s Results

Session I Scores (with seeding in parenthesis)
(16) Wichita State 25, (17) Carroll (Wis.) 22
(9) Marion Military Inst. (Ala.) 57, (24) Tennessee 4
(12) North Florida 26, (21) Georgia 19
(13) Mass. Inst. of Tech. 39, (20) Bowling Green 6

(14) Lindenwood-Bellville (Ill.) 63, (19) Toledo 6
(11) East Tennessee State 27, (22) Auburn 24
(10) Middle Tennessee State 57, (23) Connecticut 5
(18) Southern Virginia 33, (15) Cincinnati 22

Session II Scores (with seeding in parenthesis)
(3) Apprentice School 63, Toledo 0
(6) Grand Valley State (Mich.) 49, Auburn 9
(7) Mercer 66, Connecticut 0
(2) Lindenwood-St. Charles (Mo.) 55, Cincinnati 6

(1) Liberty 48, Carroll (Wis.) 12
(8) Georgia Southern 45, Tennessee 14
(5) Md.-Baltimore County 42, Georgia 9
(4) Central Florida 61, Bowling Green 0

Session III Scores

Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 23, Apprentice 21
Grand Valley State 58 (Mich.), East Tennessee State 3
Middle Tennessee State 24, Mercer 23
Lindenwood-St. Charles (Mo.) 60, Southern Virginia 0

Liberty 43, Wichita State 16
Marion Military Inst. (Ala.) 51, Georgia Southern 3
Md.-Baltimore County 56, North Florida 0
Central Florida 41, Mass. Inst. of Tech. 12