TOPEKA, Kan. – Davion Caston and Travis McIntosh continued their win streak from the NAIA East Regionals an advanced to the NAIA National Championships semifinals with a pair of wins Friday in the Kansas Expocentre.

The duo is joined by junior Shawn McGhee as the three All-Americans for the seventh-ranked Campbellsville Tigers, which finished Day 1 in seventh-place as a team but within striking distance of the Top 5.

Caston and McIntosh both received a bye in the first round and pinned their way into the quarterfinals Friday morning.

Caston, a junior transfer from Darton College (Ga.), worked his way to a 3-2 win in the national quarterfinals to begin CU's action Friday night. When action resumes Saturday at 9 a.m., Caston will meet Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech in the national semifinals for a rematch of the NAIA East Region semifinals.

McIntosh, ranked fourth in the NAIA, dominated his quarterfinal win over Baker's Bryant Guillien, with an 11-1 major decision to set up a Saturday semifinal against University of Great Falls' Shawn Lau, ranked No. 3. Guillien rebounded to pin Marvin Lawrence in the first period of the All-America consolation round.

McGhee slipped up in his first match of the tournament and was pinned by Baker's Nick Haugan, but responded with a 12-2 major decision over Tommy Cooper from Montana State-Northern. He then pinned Missouri Valley's Andrew Simmons and worked a 15-3 major in the All-America round over Williams Baptist's Jonathan Drendel.

McGhee is now the fifth Tiger wrestler to become a three-time NAIA All-American after finishing third at 149 pounds in 2013 and fifth at 157 pounds in 2014.

Juniors Kyle Terry and Nate Knauf, as well as Lawrence, a senior, looked to add their name to the Tigers' All-America board after working their way back through the day. However, Terry was locked in a 1-1 tie through three periods and gave up an escape with 20 seconds to go in the tie breaker to fall 2-1 to Life's Dallas Brown. Knauf lost 6-0 after dropping his quarterfinal bought 7-4 to Dickinson State's Hudson Buck.

Sam Conners took an early exit for the Tigers in the second consolation round, as did freshman LJ Henderson at 165 pounds, who was fighting for a pin with 33 seconds remaining, but had a defensive pin called against him. Sophomore heavyweight Terrell Moore also went 0-2 after being up 6-1 against top-ranked Toby Chef before being pinned. Chuck Sharon, a redshirt freshman, fought his way to Friday night's third consolation round, but fell short, 5-2.

Despite the disappointment of losing several early matches and having only three All-Americans, CU head coach Frank James is still pleased with where his young team is after Day 1.

"It's a lot of fun. These tournaments are tough. They're a rollercoaster," CU head coach Franky James said. "I'm proud of this team. They're fighting. We have a chance to be Top 5 still and two guys have a chance to be in the finals and be national champions. Also Shawn now has a chance to come back next year and be only our second four-time All-American behind Dave Clemons. There are a lot of good things going on, and a lot of these guys are coming back for a great team next year. We need to have a good day tomorrow and finish strong."

Campbellsville is seventh in the team standings with 37.5 points. Concordia (Neb.) is sixth with 40 points and Oklahoma City is fifth with 41 points, both within striking distance for the Tigers.

Three-time defending champion Grand View University leads the tournament with 83 points, followed by the University of Great Falls with 64 points. Lindsey Wilson College and Southern Oregon University are third, tied with 62 points each.

For complete results and coverage of CU's trip to the NAIA Tournament, visit the CU Team Central Page, HERE.