FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Nine Campbellsville University wrestlers earned a bid to the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, Saturday with a top five finish at the NAIA East Region Qualifying Tournament, hosted by Indiana Tech.

The top four finishers from the 10 weight classes at each of the four NAIA qualifiers combined for a total of 160 automatic bids to the NAIA tournament Saturday, while the rest of the national qualifier field will be determined by wild card. However, instead of issuing several wild cards, the coaches in the East voted to give automatic bids to the Top 5 finishers and handed out three wild cards. 

Five of CU's nine are first-time NAIA qualifiers, led by 133-pounder Davion Caston, who led CU with 20 team points, including two pins and a major decision. He advanced to the first-place match with a 7-5 sudden victory win over Indiana Tech's Mitch Pawlak and went on to win the weight. Nate Knauf, a junior who missed last year's regional due to illness, finished second at 197 pounds to earn his first national bid, despite losing the first-place bought due to injury. 

Senior Marvin Lawrence (fourth, 174 pounds) and freshmen Chuck Sharon (third, 184 pounds) and LJ Henderson (fifth, 165 pounds) are the other three first-time qualifiers.

Shawn McGhee finished runner-up at 157 pounds and Kyle Terry was fourth at 149 pounds to earn their third-straight NAIA bid, while seniors Travis McIntosh (first, 174 pounds) and Sam Conners (third, 141 pounds) earn their second-straight bid.

Conners and Sharon each scored the second-most points with 15.5 team points and two pins as the third-place 184-pound finisher. It was his first time back on the mat since an injury against Lindsey Wilson last month. Henderson, McIntosh and McGhee each scored 15 points. Henderson led CU with three pins. 

Two CU grapplers finished just one win away from an NAIA bid. 

Heavyweight Terrell Moore fell, 6-4, in the quarterfinals to Life's Jacob Roza, and then dropped a close, 5-4, decision to Life's Tracy Jewett in the consolation semifinals. Moore ran into Roza again in the fifth-place match, losing, 7-0. He finished just shy of becoming the Tigers' first heavyweight automatic qualifier since 2010, but will be listed as the third alternate from the East for the NAIA Championships.

Evan Decker dropped his first match of the day at 197 pounds, but wrestled back to the consolation semis, where he lost to St. Catharine's BJ Carman, 6-2, eliminating his chance at a Top 4 finish. He went on to lose, 5-1, to Eric Johnson from Calumet College of St. Joseph in the fifth-place match. 

Terry Harris, the 12^th Tiger grappler, went 0-2 at 157 pounds after receiving a first round bye.

As a team, the Tigers finished second behind Lindsey Wilson College, which won the tournament with 165.5 team points. CU had 148.5 points. The Tigers won only three of nine head-to-head battles against the Blue Raiders. Two of those wins belonged to Caston with a 15-4 major over LWC's Felix Casa del Valle and a first-period pin in the title bought against Keaton Thomas. McIntosh had the other with a 3-2 finals win over Erick Gomez. 

Harris and McGhee both lost close decisions to LWC wrestlers. 

"Our team competed well, we just came up short," CU head coach Franky James said. "We expected a two-team race and knew we needed to win the head-to-heads with them, and we couldn't make it happen."

The other region team champions across the nation were Concordia (Neb.), three-time defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) and Southern Oregon.

The 58th annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships will take place for the second-straight year at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. The four-session event begins on Friday, March 6 and concludes with the 10 championship bouts on Saturday, March 7 starting at 7 p.m. Stretch Internet, the NAIA's official video streaming provider, will broadcast the final session live on www.NAIANetwork.com.

The complete list of national qualifiers will be announced Monday, Feb. 23.

For additional information on the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, click here.

EAST REGION RESULTS

NAIA East National Qualifier Results for Campbellsville
133 - Davion Caston (13-4) placed 1st and scored 20.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Caston (CU) def. Tyler McCoy (St. Catherine), Fall 2:32
Quarterfinal - Caston (CU) def. Felix Casa del Valle (Lindsey Wilson), MD 15-4
Semifinal - Caston (CU) def. Mitch Pawlak (Indiana Tech), SV-1 7-5
Championship - Caston (CU) def. Keaton Thomas (Lindsey Wilson), Fall 1:58

141 - Sam Conners (17-10) placed 3rd and scored 15.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Conners (CU) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Conners (CU) def. Joe Hulen (Truett-McConnell), Fall 0:35
Semifinal - Daniel Leonard (Lindsey Wilson) def. Conners (CU), MD 13-4
Cons. Semi - Conners (CU) def. Bobby Ehman (Cumberlands), Fall 3:52
3rd Place Match - Conners (CU) def. Austin Meyn (Cumberland), Dec 3-2

149 - Kyle Terry (25-8) placed 4th and scored 10.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Terry (CU) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Terry (CU) def. Rowdy Prior (Life), MD 9-0
Semifinal - Isaac Thomas (Lindsey Wilson) def. Terry (CU), Dec 3-2
Cons. Semi - Terry (CU) def. Ladigo Williams (Cumberland), Dec 5-0
3rd Place Match - Dallas Brown (Life) def. Terry (CU), Dec 3-2

157 - Terry Harris (18-11) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Harris (CU) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Nate Croley (Cumberland) def. Harris (CU), MD 10-2
Cons. Round 2 - Michael Clark (St. Catherine) def. Harris (CU), MD 11-1

157 - Shawn McGhee (27-5) placed 2nd and scored 15.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - McGhee (CU) def. Michael Clark (St. Catherine), Dec 5-3
Quarterfinal - McGhee (CU) def. Conrad Lacey (West Virginia Tech), Fall 0:49
Semifinal - McGhee (CU) def. Tristan Macri (Cumberlands), Dec 5-4
Championship - Joe Cozart (Lindsey Wilson) def. McGhee (CU), Dec 7-4

165 - LJ Henderson (23-11) placed 5th and scored 15.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Henderson (CU) received a bye
Champ. Round 2 - Henderson (CU) def. Mitch Rusch (St. Catherine), Fall 1:37
Quarterfinal - Henderson (CU) def. Peter Donchev (Cumberland), Fall 1:06
Semifinal - Jacob Johnson (Indiana Tech) def. Henderson (CU), MD 11-3
Cons. Semi - Orlando Medina (Brewton-Parker) def. Henderson (CU), Fall 1:17
5th Place Match - Henderson (CU) def. Scott Deluse (Cumberlands), Fall 4:12

174 - Marvin Lawrence (3-2) placed 4th and scored 11.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Lawrence (CU) def. George Nathaniel (St Andrews), Dec 3-0
Quarterfinal - Lawrence (CU) def. Daniel Toth (Cumberlands), Inj. 1:23
Semifinal - Erick Gomez (Lindsey Wilson) def. Lawrence (CU), Fall 5:44
Cons. Semi - Lawrence (CU) def. Dustin Harris (Cumberland), Dec 3-2
3rd Place Match - Khalil Abdush-Shakur (Life) def. Lawrence (CU), Dec 6-3

174 - Travis McIntosh (23-7) placed 1st and scored 15.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - McIntosh (CU) def. Tyler McCoy (Calumet St. Joseph), Dec 11-4
Quarterfinal - McIntosh (CU) def. Antonio Rodriguez (Indiana Tech), Dec 7-1
Semifinal - McIntosh (CU) def. Khalil Abdush-Shakur (Life), Dec 2-0
Championship - McIntosh (CU) def. Erick Gomez (Lindsey Wilson), Dec 3-2

184 - Chuck Sharon (21-7) placed 3rd and scored 15.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Sharon (CU) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Sharon (CU) def. Joey Garcia (St. Catherine), Fall 1:40
Semifinal - LJ Grayson (Indiana Tech) def. Sharon (CU), Dec 7-3
Cons. Semi - Sharon (CU) def. Dalton Bailey (Life), Fall 3:59
3rd Place Match - Sharon (CU) def. Kyle Delaune (Cumberland), Dec 8-2

197 - Nate Knauf (20-5) placed 2nd and scored 13.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Knauf (CU) received a bye
Quarterfinal - Knauf (CU) def. Terry Nance (West Virginia Tech), Dec 4-0
Semifinal - Knauf (CU) def. Brandon Sunday (Indiana Tech), Dec 3-2
Championship - Jake Maupin (Lindsey Wilson) def. Knauf (CU), Inj. 5:26

197 - Evan Decker (17-11) placed 6th and scored 7.50 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Jacob Dempsey (Life) def. Decker (CU), Dec 5-2
Cons. Round 1 - Decker (CU) received a bye
Cons. Round 2 - Decker (CU) def. Terry Nance (West Virginia Tech), SV-1 8-2
Cons. Round 3 - Decker (CU) def. Ryan MacGeorge (Lindenwood-Belleville), Fall 3:58
Cons. Semi - BJ Carman (St. Catherine) def. Decker (CU), Dec 6-2
5th Place Match - Eric Johnson (Calumet St. Joseph) def. Decker (CU), Dec 5-1

285 - Terrell Moore (13-8) placed 6th and scored 10.00 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Moore (CU) def. Buddy Camp (Truett-McConnell), MD 17-4
Champ. Round 2 - Moore (CU) def. Andrew Reininger (West Virginia Tech), Fall 5:57
Quarterfinal - Jacob Roza (Life) def. Moore (CU), Dec 6-4
Cons. Round 4 - Moore (CU) def. Darius Lewis (Lindenwood-Belleville), Dec 4-2
Cons. Round 5 - Moore (CU) def. Ameer Daniels (Lindsey Wilson), TB-1 3-2
Cons. Semi - Tracy Jewett (Life) def. Moore (CU), Dec 5-4
5th Place Match - Jacob Roza (Life) def. Moore (CU), Dec 7-0