ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The TCNJ wrestling team enjoyed a spectacular first day at the NCAA Mideast Regional championship on Saturday, after which six Lions had advanced to the semifinals and its entire 10-man contingent remained alive with a chance at NCAA Championship berths.

When the dust settled, the Lions had accumulated 87.5 points to take the lead in the team standings. Ithaca (83) is a close second, with RIT (72.0) and Brockport (65.5) in fourth.

Ithaca has seven semifinalists, one more than TCNJ, but the Bombers lost two wrestlers on Saturday.

Domenic Difrancescantonio (141), Mike Conklin (149), Matt Sacco (157), Daniel Surich (184), Quinn Haddad (197), and Thomas Marretta (285) all reached the semifinals of their respective brackets and find themselves one win away from a trip to nationals.

Ryan Rosenthal (125), Jake Giordano (133), Matt Surich (165), and Reid Colella (174), meanwhile, all stayed alive in the consolations and will need three victories apiece to take third place and the final qualification slot in their respective brackets.

125
Rosenthal racked up three takedowns and a four-point near fall en route to a 13-5 major decision over McDaniel's Alex DuFour in the opening round. The rookie dropped a 5-2 decision to fourth-seeded Matt Caccamise of Brockport in the quarterfinals.

That dropped Rosenthal into the consolation bracket, where he made short work of Oneonta's Tyler Skala in a 15-0 technical fall. He'll open with NJCU's Damianlee Torres on Sunday morning.

133
Giordano, the top seed at 133, gave himself a tough path after suffering a 5-3 sudden-victory upset at the hands of Ithaca's Luis Hernandez in the first round. Giordano held a 3-0 lead late in the second period, but back-to-back escapes bridging the end of the frame and a penalty on the Lion senior brought things level at 3-3. Hernandez scored a takedown in the extra session to clinch the win and send Giordano into the consolations.

Giordano responded in a big way, routing Mason Cardinale of Elmira by tech fall (17-2) and pinning Alfred's Elijah Moshenek in the first period.

Giordano nearly bowed out in the next round, trailing Oneonta's Anthony Romero in the closing seconds before keeping his career alive with a takedown with just seven seconds on the clock. The senior will meet Muhlenberg's Frank DiEsso in his first match on Sunday.

141
Difrancescantonio, the number one seed, certainly looked the part of favorite at 141. He pinned NJCU's Jon Mejia in the closing seconds of the first period, then registered 14 near-fall points in the second period alone to seize a 16-0 tech fall against Oneonta's Michael Blando.

Difrancescantonio will meet Penn College's Noah Hunt, who made an impressive run to the semifinals as the No. 12 seed, with a spot in the NCAA championships on the line.
 
149
Conklin's remarkable rookie campaign continued into the postseason, which began with a pin of Keystone's Dalten Kinges in 2:24, his sixth of the year.

The freshman followed with a dominating 17-1 tech fall over sixth-seeded Marquis Lamond of Brockport, setting up a semifinal showdown with Ithaca's Matthew Beyer. Conklin lost by a 7-2 decision to Beyer in the teams' dual on January 29.

157
Seeded second, Sacco led off with a dominating 20-4 technical fall against Alfred's Ryan Nugent during which he compiled six takedowns, six near-fall points, and a reversal before sealing the 15-point margin with just over a minute remaining in their opening bout.

His quarterfinal bout against Ursinus' Shawn Marchesano was considerably more difficult, but a takedown early and another one late was more than enough to advance to the semifinals with a 5-1 decision. Sacco will face Jersey City's Jeff Johnson, whom he defeated by 9-3 decision in the teams' dual match in January.

165
Matt Surich produced 10 near-fall points in an 18-1 rout of Ursinus' Alex Koenig, advancing to a matchup with No. 2 seed Austin Lamb of RIT. Lamb got the best of a 6-1 decision, sending Surich into the consolation draw.

Surich proceeded to edge Alfred's Sean Malenfant, 4-2, to advance to a meeting with McDaniel's Alexander LaVeck on Sunday morning.

174
Colella had to stave off a fight from Elizabethtown's Traisach Roland, who knotted their first-round bout at 2-all with a takedown in the second period. Choosing bottom to start the third period, Colella quickly took the lead with an escape and managed to see out the remaining 100 seconds to move into the quarterfinals with a 3-2 decision.

Colella lost 9-3 to second-seed Charlie Grygas of Oswego, but kept his campaign going with a 7-2 win against Centenary's Haakon Mathewson. He'll match up with RIT's Zach Stedeford next.

184
The number one seed at 184, Daniel Surich proved his mettle with a quick 16-1 technical fall over Elizabethtown's Hunter Beaudet, crossing the 15-point threshold early in the second period. He then booked his semifinal spot with a 9-4 win over Centenary's Justin Hopman.

Surich takes on RIT's Colby Giroux in the semifinals.

197
The top seed at 197, Haddad finished off Hopkins' Will Shiner with a first-period fall. He went down early against Oswego's Anthony Cascen, but took control with a takedown and four-point near fall in the second period of an 8-2 victory.

Haddad faces RIT's Josh Harkless in the semifinals; he was a 4-2 winner over Harkless earlier in the season.

285
Marretta needed less than two minutes to pin Elizabethtown's Kurt Driscoll, then bested RIT'S Calik Kennedy in a hard-fought 2-0 tilt in which the only scoring was Marretta's third-period escape and riding time.

Marretta is set to duel with Keystone's Caleb Burkhart in Sunday's semifinals.