Future DI Grand Canyon wins NCWA Championship

ALLEN, Texas – The finals matches as a whole proved to be a formidable foe for Grand Canyon University. But the Antelopes’ blistering start to the NCWA Championships the first two days were enough that Saturday’s 4-3 record in the finals did little to take the luster off of a dominating 83-point margin of victory.

Grand Canyon — which competed in the NCWA while transitioning to NCAA Div. I — had already whipped most of the field in rolling to a 55-point lead after two days, and with seven finalists, the team title was all but secured. So snagging as many individual titles as they could was the focus of GCU coach R.C. LaHaye.

“That was the plan all along, win early and grab as many bonus points as we could,” LaHaye said. “Once we got the big lead, it was up to the guys to try and win as many titles as we could. We all figured winning the individual brackets would be harder than taking the team title.”

The tournament opened with the 141-pound final, holding off the 133-pound title match between two undefeated wrestlers until the end. At 141, GCU’s Zach Zehner cruised to a 9-0 win over Grand Valley State’s Kyle Horr. Mike Hamel followed with another win, 7-1 over Luke Bilyeu of West Chester.

But that’s where the Antelopes’ streak stopped, as defending NCWA champion Santiago Martinez edged GCU’s Bryant Wood 4-3 to score back-to-back championships. Other wrestlers took the cue as well, and at 174 the U.S. Military Academy’s Parker Maytrott won over GCU’s Martin Fabbian, 5-3. And at 184, Shorter’s Terrence Smith gritted out a 5-4 win over Austin Gaun (Grand Canyon) 4-1.

NCWA Championships

March 14-15 • Allen, Texas

Top 20 Team Results

Pl.            School            Points

1.             Grand Canyon             254.5

2.             Liberty             171.5

3.             Shorter             162.5

4.             Central Florida             122.0

5.             Grand Valley State             90.5

6.             U.S. Naval Prep             85.5

7.             Middle Tennessee             84.5

8.             Apprentice             75.0

9.             U.S. Air Force Prep             70.0

10.             U.S. Military Prep             65.0

11.             North Florida             60.0

12.             Alfred State             55.0

13.             Mott Community College             48.0

14.             West Chester             41.5

15.             Marion Military Inst             41.0

16.             Penn State – Mont Alto             35.5

17.             Mercer             34.5

18.             MD – Baltimore Cty             27.0

19.             Douglas College             21.5

19.             Georgia Southern University             21.5

Individual Placement Matches

125 Results
1st Place Match
AJ Salazar (Grand Canyon) 5-0 record, over Ben Smith (Shorter) 4-1, (Dec 2-0).
3rd Place Match
Drew Romero (U.S. Air Force Prep) 5-1, over Buddy Poyner (Mott Community College) 4-2, (Dec 14-10).
5th Place Match
Sean Badua (U.S. Military Prep) 5-2, over Jacob Wasserman (Florida) 5-3, (Dec 7-4)
7th Place Match
Michael Dauterive (Texas – Arlington) 5-2, over Anthony Patnode (Middle Tennessee) 3-3, (Dec 6-5).

133 Results
1st Place Match
Ryan Diehl (Liberty) 5-0, over Sam Shames (M.I.T.) 4-1, (Dec 15-10).
3rd Place Match
John Lino Estrado (Grand Canyon) 5-1, over Eric Feuerbacher (Middle Tennessee) 5-2,  (Dec 7-4).
5th Place Match
Nick Anthony (Central Florida) 4-2, over Bryan Mongiello (Alfred State) 5-3, (Fall 1:52).
7th Place Match
Jimmy Hughes (Penn State – Mont Alto) 4-2, over Zachary Vatalare (Michigan) 4-3, (Dec 4-0).

141 Results
1st Place Match
Zach Zehner (Grand Canyon) 5-0, over Kyle Horr (Grand Valley State) 4-1, (MD 9-0).
3rd Place Match
Collin Lewis (Liberty) 7-1, over Austin Souders (Texas A & M University) 5-2, (Dec 3-2).
5th Place Match
Chad Baumann (North Florida) 4-2, over Antonio Martinez (Texas) 4-3, (Dec 5-2).
7th Place Match
Joshua Gaspard (Georgia Southern University) 6-2, over Tyler Aldinger (Alfred State) 5-3, (Inj. 0:00).

149 Results
1st Place Match
Mike Hamel (Grand Canyon) 5-0, over Luke Bilyeu (West Chester) 4-1, (Dec 7-1).
3rd Place Match
Robert Walker (U.S. Air Force Prep) 8-1, over Nicholas Cegelski (Southern Cal) 5-2, (Dec 4-3).
5th Place Match
Gabriel Stepanovich (Grand Valley State) 4-2, over Peter Tatanish (Liberty) 3-3, (Fall 2:59).
7th Place Match
DeAndre Beck (Marion Military Inst) 6-2, over Greg Artalona (Auburn) 4-3, (TB-1 5-2).

157 Results
1st Place Match
Santiago Martinez (Central Florida) 5-0, over Bryant Wood (Grand Canyon) 4-1, (Dec 4-3).
3rd Place Match
Chase Boontjer (Liberty) 6-1, over Nick Bendon (Central Washington) 4-2, (Dec 4-3).
5th Place Match
James Peterson (Montana Western) 4-2, over Samuel Kreimier (U.S. Air Force Prep) 4-3, (Fall 5:55).
7th Place Match
Austen Brower (William and Mary) 5-2, over Codie Nichols (Alfred State) 3-3, (Dec 4-1).

165 Results
1st Place Match
Drew Daniels (U.S. Naval Prep) 5-0, over Wally Figaro (Shorter) 4-1, (Dec 3-2).
3rd Place Match
Juan Carlos Maynes (Grand Canyon) 6-1, over Conner Burns (RPI) 4-2, (Fall 1:54).
5th Place Match
Michael Billingsley (U.S. Air Force Prep) 6-2, over Brett Johnson (Washington State) 3-3, (Dec 5-4).
7th Place Match
Frankie McKeown (Alabama) 5-2, over Danny Apgar (NW Missouri State) 5-3, (Dec 10-6).

174 Results
1st Place Match
Parker Maytrott (U.S. Military Prep) 5-0, over Martin Fabbian (Grand Canyon) 4-1, (Dec 5-3).
3rd Place Match
KeyShaun Ward (Liberty) 5-1, over Dalton Lane (Shorter) 4-2, (Fall 6:53).
5th Place Match
Giovanni Jiovenetta (Florida Gulf Coast University) 5-2, over Robert Manier (U.S. Naval Prep) 4-3, (TB-1 3-2).
7th Place Match
Eric Dietz (Grand Valley State) 4-2, over Jon Williams (Wayne State) 3-3, (Dec 6-2).

184 Results
1st Place Match
Terrance Smith (Shorter) 5-0, over Austin Gaun (Grand Canyon) 4-1, (Dec 5-4).
3rd Place Match
Royal Brettrager (Liberty) 5-1, over Jadaen Bernstein (U.S. Naval Prep) 4-2, (Fall 2:46).
5th Place Match
Steban Cervantes (U.S. Naval Prep) 6-2, over Jack Wedholm (U.S. Military Prep) 4-3, (Fall 6:40).
7th Place Match
Matt Reynolds (Liberty) 6-2, over Jonathan Roberts (Middle Tennessee) 3-3, (Fall 1:38).

197 Results
1st Place Match
Paul Ardila (Georgia) 5-0, over Tyrell Walker (Central Florida) 4-1, (Dec 3-2).
3rd Place Match
Marcus Haughian (Grand Canyon) 5-1, over Aaron Thompson (Liberty) 4-2, (TB-1 3-2).
5th Place Match
Carl Brown (Auburn) 6-2, over Scott Schretzenmaier (University of Pittsburgh) 4-3, (MD 12-3).
7th Place Match
Jacob Laux (M.I.T.) 5-2, over Wayne Sanders (Saginaw Valley State University) 3-3, (Fall 2:52).

235 Results
1st Place Match
Andrew Ewers (Shorter) 5-0, over Stuart Maddox (North Florida) 4-1, (Dec 8-3).
3rd Place Match
Josh Woods (Central Florida) 5-1, over Parm Dhesi (Douglas College) 4-2, (Dec 9-6).
5th Place Match
Jim Eavenson (Montana Western) 6-2, over Dave Stratton (Washington State) 5-3, (Dec 4-3).
7th Place Match
Victor Irwin (Eastern Maine CC) 4-2, over Ryan Kreppel (West Chester) 3-3, (Dec 4-2).

285 Results
1st Place Match
Peter Angel Anguiano (Grand Canyon) 5-0, over Rashied Rayford (Middle Tennessee) 4-1, (Fall 3:26).
3rd Place Match
Donald Shovestull (U.S. Naval Prep) 5-1, over Ian Jones (Apprentice) 5-2, (Dec 2-1).
5th Place Match
Dean Lusk (Penn State – New Kensington) 4-2, over Marlen Morgan (Shorter) 4-3, (Dec 6-2).
7th Place Match
Greydon Pavlik (Bowling Green State University) 5-2, over John Long (Marion Military Inst) 4-3, (Fall 6:12).