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    Grand View leads NAIA Championships after first session

    TOPEKA, Kan. -- Four-time defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) closed session I of the 2016 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by USA Wrestling-Kansas, leading the team competition with 41 points. Session II is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CST with the parade of champions, while action on the mat starts at approximately 6:30 p.m. The 59th annual event is taking place inside the Kansas Expocentre for the third-straight year.

    The Vikings had 10 of their 11 grapplers advance to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket. Walker Marshall at 141 pounds was the only Grand View individual to lose in session I, falling to No. 2 seed Andrew Schulte of Concordia (Neb.) in the first round. Marshall is still alive in the consolation bracket after eliminating David Sparks of Campbellsville (Ky.), 8-4.

    Montana State-Northern is second in the team standings with 30.5 points, followed by Missouri Valley with 25 points and Indiana Tech with 24.0 points. All three programs have five individuals in the quarterfinals.

    All three defending national champions - Davion Caston of Campbellsville (Ky.) (133 pounds), Ricky McCarty of Oklahoma City (165 pounds) and Gabi Musallam of Missouri Valley (285 pounds) - kept their repeat title hopes alive by advancing to the quarterfinals.

    Twenty-one unseeded grapplers advanced to the quarterfinals, including a trio at 149 pounds, 197 pounds and 285 pounds. It was a tough morning for the No. 5 seeds, as six of the 10 wrestlers fell out of the championship bracket in the first two rounds.

    Arguably the most shocking upset of session I came in the second round at 125 pounds, as unseeded Casey Coulter of Southern Oregon downed top-seeded and top-ranked Adrian Gaines, 12-10. Gaines - a returning All-American - entered the match with a 20-0 record. Unfortunately for Gaines, his tournament would end in the consolation bracket with an 11-8 loss to Robert Ozuna of York (Neb.).

    Coulter, who is a sophomore from Grant Pass, Ore., is in the championships field for a second-straight year. He will face the No. 8 seed Hugo Perez of Midland (Neb.) in the quarterfinals.

    Another notable upset was Montana State-Northern's Toby Cheff falling to Korey Walker of Oklahoma City, 9-4. Cheff is a two-time All-American after finishing third in both 2014 and 2015.

    Lyon (Ark.) and Southeastern (Fla.) - both schools in their inaugural season of intercollegiate varsity action - earned first-ever championship wins today. Lyon's Dustin Miller won 5-2 over Kaleb Furr of Ottawa in the 125-pound consolation round one.

    Both of Southeastern's wrestlers won their first-ever championship bout, as Olson Delisca defeated Miller at 125 pounds and Ethan Owen (133 pounds), who received a bye in the first round, downed No. 8 seed Vicente Hernandez of Simpson (Calif.), 8-3, in the second round. Owen will face the top-seed Jacob Colon tonight in the quarterfinals.

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