PROVIDENCE, R.I.. — Pierre Baldwin (junior, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) won his first two matches at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Friday and the Central College men's wrestler advanced to the 141-pound semifinals.

Baldwin will wrestle Saturday morning against the unseeded Sean Conway of the University of Chicago (Ill.). The morning session starts at 10 a.m. (EST).

He started his day with a 5-2 win over James Rodriguez of Castleton State University (Vt.) in the second round after receiving a bye. Baldwin avenged a loss against Rodriguez in the opening match of last year's national meet. He dispatched Hayden Myers of Wesleyan University (Ct.) in a 14-3 major decision in the quarterfinals.

"He's doing exactly what we talked about," coach Landon Williams said. "He's getting to his offense and attacking through all positions. When he's attacking, he's finishing and finishing multiple takedowns from all positions."

His semifinal opponent, Conway, won a pair of 4-1 matches in sudden victory. After starting with an 18-4 major decision in the first round, he knocked off No. 2 Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern University in his second match.

"It doesn't matter who we wrestle, we're going to wrestle our match," Williams said. "The message to Pierre will be to keep firing his attacks and get to the legs. Every point will put him closer to a win."

Carson Martinson (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) sandwiched losses to a pair of seeded opponents around a 12-0 major decision to conclude his first national meet with a 1-2 record

"Getting to experience a national tournament is going to prepare him for the future," Williams said. "He was able to see it and know that the little things will matter when it comes to winning hard matches. He'll learn from it and take it back to the room and elevate the teammates around him."

Baldwin's match is available to watch at https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2025/03/15