ERIE, Pa. - Three-time defending champion and No. 1 seed Baylor won five of six events and used a dominating second half to knock off No. 8 Converse 277.535-260.905 Thursday evening in the third quarterfinal of the 2018 National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA) National Championships hosted by Gannon University and the Erie Sports Commission at the Hammermill Center.
Baylor was on its game from the start, opening a 38.150-34.225 lead after the compulsory event. The Bears posted a pair of 9.90 scores in the acro and pyramid heats. After Baylor extended its lead with a 29.475-27.235 cushion in the acro event, Converse rallied with a 29.025-28.350 win during the pyramid event. The decision in the third event left the top seed with a 95.98-90.58 lead at the halftime intermission.
After a tight 28.740-27.125 victory in the toss event, Baylor pulled away with sizeable wins in the tumbling event (58.150-51.775) and team event (94.660-91.430) to secure a 16+ point overall victory.
Baylor will face the winner of the fourth national quarterfinal meet between No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 Gannon during Friday's second semifinal meet beginning at 7 p.m. A live video webcast will be available at
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/gannon.
