CEADAR RAPIDS, Iowa --  Three Baldwin Wallace University wrestlers competed today (Friday, March 11) on the first of the two-day and 2016 NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championship Tournament at the U.S. Cellular Center. The second and final day of competition is tomorrow.  The top eight wrestlers in each weight class earn Div. III All-America honors.

Senior two-time Division III All-American 133-pounder Jesse Gunter (Akron/ Coventry), who placed third as a sophomore in 2014 and fourth as a junior in 2015 at 125 pounds entered the tournament as the fourth seed. He won his first two matches to advance to the semifinals. He earned his first win in sudden victory, 3-1 against Dustin Weinmann of Wisconsin Lacrosse. He advanced to the semifinals with his second triumph, a 2-1 victory over ffth-seeded Tyler Keane of Springfield (Mass.) College. Gunter is now 35-2 season and 121-14 in his career to rank second all-time in school history in terms of victories. He will wrestle against unseeded Dennis Broukal of Wabash (Ind.) College at approximately 11:10 a.m. EST.

Senior Div. III All-American 174-pounder Garrett Chase (Erie, Pa./ Cathedral Prep) entered the tourney seeded sixth at 174 pounds.  The two-time first-team All-OAC selection won his first match 5-4 against Garrett Beaman of St. Olaf (Minn.) College with a reversal in the final 10 seconds of his first match. Unfortunately, Chase lost his second match 3-2 to third-seed Tyler Schneider of Wisconsin LaCrosse drop into the consolation bracket. He then lost to Doug Hamann of the College of New Jersey and was eliminated and ended his Tellow Jacket career. Chase ends this season with a 33-7 mark and his career as BW's all-time leader in victories with 129 and a 129-37 overall record.

Sophomore 197-pounder Tyler Maclellan (Medina/ Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), made his first NCAA national trip. He lost both of his matches and was eliminated. Maclellan lost his first match, 7-3, to No.8-seed Dennis Melendez of Hunter (N.Y.) College and was eliminated 2-1 by Luke Fernandez of Elizabethtown (Pa.) College. The two-time first-team All-OAC selection ended his season 27-16 this season and 43-23 mark for his career.

In 2015-2016, the BW wrestling team set a school-record for dual match victories with 18, finished 18-8 overall with a perfect 5-0 mark versus OAC competition to claim its first OAC title since 1973. The Yellow Jackets also placed an all-time best second at the NCAA Div. III Mideast Regional Tournament two weeks ago.