EVENT: NCWA NATIONAL DUALS

LOCATION: Dalton, Georgia/NW Georgia Trade & Convention Center

DUAL RESULTS: Apprentice School 177, E. Tennessee St. 12

Apprentice School 131, North Texas 18

Apprentice School 39, Univ. of Florida 22

APPRENTICE SCHOOL RECORD: 15-4

IN BRIEF

The Apprentice School opened action at the 2015 National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Duals in Dalton, Georgia and won three matches to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.

ON THE MAT

MATCH #1 – EAST TENNESSEE STATE

The Builders took advantage of a depleted East Tennessee State University squad as they rolled to a 177-12 win in their opening match.  Seven Builders earned forfeit wins, while Derek Burhenn (133 lbs/1:33) and Philip Porto (174/:47) won their matches by fall.

MATCH #2 – UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

In its final match in pool play the Builders scored five wins by fall and took all 11 weight classes in defeating University of North Texas 131-18.   Michael Holcomb (133 lbs/1:01), Derek Burhenn (141/3:27),  Ty Watkins (149/2:31), Porto (174/4:35) and Ian Jones (285/4:05) all won by fall to propel the Builders.

This was a rematch of a late November dual match held in Arlington, Texas as the Builders defeated the Mean Green 48-18.

MATCH #3 – UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

In the championship bracket round of 16, the Builders took on the University of Florida and opened with a pair of wins by fall from Jacob Michael (125 lbs/4:15) and Holcomb (133/:43) to take an early 12-0 lead.

The Gators chomped back into the match winning the next three bouts and four of the next five with all coming with bonus points.  Kyle Lowry broke up that run with a win at 157 for the Builders by a 3-2 decision as the Builders trailed 22-15 after 174 pounds.

Apprentice School won the final four weight classes with forfeit wins to advance to the quarterfinals with a 39-22 win.

NEW OPTIONAL SCORING SYSTEM TO BE USED IN ROUND-ROBIN MATCHES

The first three rounds of the National Duals incorporated the NCWA's Optional Scoring System in which individual match scores are directly reflected in the team scores. The NCWA is the first to use the pilot program that is being studied by the NCAA and the national coaches association. The new scoring simply adds the final match scores together to create the team score. Instead of three team points going to the winner of a 12-7 decision to start a match, the team score moving forward would be Home 12, Visitor 7. Falls, disqualifications and injury defaults would earn 15 points for the winning team. Forfeits give the winning team 16 points. Technical falls begin when a wrestler is ahead by 10 points or more, and are worth 10 points but can be worth up to 15 depending on near-fall criteria.

The teams were divided into pools of three for a round-robin start to the tournament before falling into championship or consolation brackets.

DAY TWO – QUARTERFINALS

The Builders advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCWA National Duals and will start on Saturday at noon against sixth-seeded Wayne State University.  Depending on the result at noon, they'll face either second-seeded Middle Tennessee State University or seventh-seeded Marion Military Institute in its second match on Saturday.

RESULTS

Apprentice School 177, E. Tenn. St. 12

ETSU had team point taken away at 174

Apprentice School 131, North Texas 18

North Texas had team point taken away at 125; Apprentice School had one taken away at 174

Apprentice School 39, University of Florida 22

Note: NCWA Sports Information Director Scott Farrell contributed to this recap