WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The TCNJ wrestling team puts its depth on full display at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Penn College of Technology on Saturday, racking up eight top-four place-winners on the way to a third-place squad showing.

The Lions, one day removed from a win over York in Friday night's home opener, sent 23 grapplers to Williamsport's Liberty Arena, and a large swath of them returned to Ewing with hard-earned certificates. James Romaine (165) and Peter Wersinger (285) were runners-up in their respective weight classes, while Ryan Rosenthal (125), Kyle Nase (133), and Benny Dahdah (197) placed third. Alex Amato (157), Nick Sacco (165), and Joe Daddario each finished fourth.

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Rosenthal, seeded seventh, finished 4-2 in his collegiate debut. He advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Union County's Jeffrey Ureta. After a hard-fought 6-4 setback to Castleton's Kaya Bogle, the rookie ran off three bonus-point victories in succession – an 8-0 major decision followed by a pair of pins against Elizabethtown's Ethan Litzpin and Lycoming's Garrett Lee. He dropped a 16-0 technical fall to Wilkes' Nicholas Bauer in the third-place bout.

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The Lions had four entrants in the 133-pound bracket, headlined by Nase. The first-year made his debut a memorable one, pinning Castleton's Jack Taylor in his first match. He edged Gettysburg's Luke Kowalski, 9-8, with a late reverse, to make the semifinals, where he fell 3-1 to Wilkes' Jack Bauer. Nase picked up a 2-0 decision over teammate Larry Melchionda and was awarded third place when Kowalski forfeited their rematch.

Jacob Falleni joined Nase in the semifinals, routing Elizabethtown's Scott Reagan by a 17-0 count and pinning Scranton's Matthew Murawski in the quarterfinals. He held a 4-2 advantage after one period against eventual champion Michael Gonyea, who came back for a 14-7 triumph. Falleni lost, 113-5, to Kowalski in the consolation semifinals.

Melchionda impressed in his season debut, giving Bauer – the eventual finalist – everything he could handle before a third-period takedown gave the Wilkes wrestler enough room for a 3-2 first-round victory. Melchionda rallied to defeat teammate Drake Torrington, 7-4, after advancing on a medical forfeit.

Torrington also notched a pair of bout wins in his collegiate debut, posting a 12-3 major decision over TJ Bodei, Jr. of Penn College in his first-round match and adding a 16-0 technical fall against Union County's Cory Boss in the consolations.

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Steven Schwab made a run to the semifinals in his first action of the campaign. He pinned JoJo Figueroa of Elizabethtown, knocked off Wilkes' Allen Kokilananda by an 8-3 count, and eked past Penn Tech's Cullen Van Rooyen, 6-5, on riding time. Schwab fell, 8-4, to Wilkes' Max Shaffer before suffering a 3-1 setback to Castleton's Nick Roerger.

Connor Doherty reached the quarterfinals with a 13-7 win over Elizabethtown's Matteo Pinnero before dropping his next two bouts.

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Amato downed Wilkes' Chris Mann by fall and stunned Lycoming's Logan Bartlett, 2-1, on a takedown with 11 seconds remaining to move on to the semifinals. Castleton's Logan Dubuque edged Amato, 4-2, in the semifinals, but Amato gained the third-place bout with a 6-1 result against Elizabethtown's Luke Moynihan. He fell just short there as Lycoming's Hunter O'Connor prevailed, 3-2.

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Romaine reached the finals of a Lion-filled bracket at 165. He scored decisions over Scranton's Ryan Bihasa-Lenahan (10-4) and Wilkes' Charles Everdale (6-1) before defeating teammate Luke Petaccia, 10-2, in the semifinals. Romaine was defeated, 4-2, by Castleton's Michael Angers in the final.

Sacco lost twice to Scranton's Jeremiah Oakes, who defeated him in the quarterfinals and in the third-place bout. In between, though, Sacco posted two pins and two decisions, including an 8-0 result over Petaccia to reach the consolation final.

Petaccia pinned Wilkes' Devin Doty and upset second-seeded Preston Rogers of Lycoming by 13-4 major decision before losing back-to-back matches to teammates Romaine and Sacco.

Jack Murray claimed two victories, including a 6-2 result over Thomas Stigliano, before being edged 1-0 by Sacco in the consolation. Stigliano dominated Doty, 20-5, in his first back-draw bout.

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Nick Golden notched two pins, one over Castleton's Alfred Faison in the first round and another opposite Gettysburg's Mason Canonico in the consolation rounds.

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Daddario was impressive, starting his day with back-to-back pins to reach the quarters, where he led eventual champion Colton Babcock of Wilkes, 7-6, before Babcock scored a reverse and pinned him with 15 seconds to go. Daddario defeated Gettysburg's Blake Silber (7-1), TCNJ's Kal-el Corbitt (8-3), and Penn College's Jake Kallenborn (14-2), but did not contest the third-place tilt.

Corbitt advanced to the quarters with a 19-2 tech fall of Elizabethtown's Kai Ramm and a 14-2 major against Wilkes' Quentin Day. He also pinned Wilkes' Alexis Perez in the consolations before falling to Daddario.

Alfonso Pinto Jr. produced two pins of his own in his season debut.

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Dahdah had a 20-5 tech fall over Castleton's Cruz Henton and a 6-0 win against Wilkes' Austin Cominsky to reach the semifinals, where Castleton's Chance Lapier eked out a 2-1 victory. He then edged Alex Kostantas, 7-6, and pinned Cominsky to secure third place.

Kostantas made the quarters with a pair of wins, including a pin of Lycoming's Jacob Davis. He pinned Wilkes' Kevin Falcon and added an 11-5 defeat of Elizabethtown's Tyler Phenegar before succumbing to Daddario in a thriller.

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Wersinger opened with consecutive pins and tacked on a 5-1 win over Abbas Abdulrahman before outlasting Elizabethtown's Dylan Waller, 3-2, in overtime in the semifinals. He then fell 3-0 to Lycoming's John Fulmer in the title match.