Arcata’s Trent Stevenson had an outstanding day at Senior Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., Saturday, winning all four of his matches to guarantee a spot in the country’s top 12 at 140 pounds, regardless of how he does today.

In his first match, Stevenson pinned Ohio’s Andrew Evans in the first round before defeating two-time Georgia state finalist Daniel Helena 8-0 and Connecticut state champion Charles Satti 10-3.

It was in Stevenson’s final match of the day, against Tennessee’s Dean Pavlou, that things got interesting.

Pavlou, a two-time state champion, was leading by a point going into the third period before Stevenson had a critical tilt that gave him a 3-2 lead.

Then, Stevenson was called for a technical violation for locking hands in the final moments of the third period to send the match into overtime before he took down Pavlou to finally win the match 5-3.

Arcata head coach Robert England said Stevenson was superb on Saturday and will need a similar performance against New York’s Chris Collura today if he hopes to be an All-American.

“The key so far for Trent has been wrestling open. He’s initiating takedowns and letting his talent take over,” England said. “He needs to keep doing that because the first takedown is big when you get an early lead.”

If Stevenson wins his match against Collura, he will automatically finish in the top eight and earn All-American honors.

As things stand now, Stevenson will finish in the top 12, and this is an outstanding accomplishment in itself, according to England.

“It’s the highest level for seniors to compete in,” England said. “And no matter what happens, he did a great job.”