YORK, PA- The TCNJ Wrestling team won their first New Standard Invitational in program history on Saturday with 139.5 team points, narrowly besting Stevens by two team points.
 
12 Lions placed in the top six of their respective weight classes to push the Lions forward to the tournament win.

 
PLACE WINNERS:
 
Sam Kotch (141) – 2^nd Place:

• In his Semifinal match, Kotch earned a 4-2 decision victory over Skyler Hickman of Washington & Lee but unfortunately fell to Roanoake's Mark Samuel in the Championship bout.

 
Alex Strashinsky (157) 2^nd Place:

• Strashinksy was riding a high going into the Finals after pinning Zach Ortega of Apprentice in the second round. In the Championship match, he fell to Jack Richardson of Johnson & Wales by major decision.

 
Ryan Datz (157) – 3^rd Place:

• Datz had an impressive day, including three straight decision wins to take third place. After winning the consolation Semifinal 12-6, he won the consolation final in a 15-12 shootout to earn a spot in the third-place match. The freshman bested Nic Zamaloff of Washington & Lee by a score of 6-1 in the third-place bout.

 
Peter Wersinger (285) – 3^rd Place:

• In the heavyweight Semifinal, Wersinger fell to the Merchant Marine Academy's Reid Garrison by a score of 2-1. Following this, he went on to pin his opponent in the consolation final in 49 seconds to advance to the third-place match. He bested Ithaca's Jeremy Mazzella in a 7-1 decision to claim third.

 
Mike Conklin (149) – 3^rd Place:

• Conklin had a big bounce back day after falling in the Quarterfinals as he did not lose a match today, battling his way to third place. He started his day off with an 18-2 tech. fall win and followed that up with two decision wins, one over teammate Mayson Harms to secure third.

 
Matthew Griffin (125) – 4^th Place:

• Griffin won his way to the third-place match by way of fall and major decision. In the third-place bout, he fell in a close matchup 5-3 against Matt Cafurello of Roanoake.

 
J.J. Giordano (141) – 4^th Place:

• With a 7-3 decision win in his first matchup of the day, Giordano advanced to the third-place bout due to injury default. In that match, he fell to Skyler Hickman of Washington & Lee, taking fourth.

James Romaine (174) – 4^th Place:

• After an undefeated Friday, Romaine lost the Semifinal match to Jackson Gray of Ithaca. He then won his next match 6-2 to wrestle for third place at 174 pounds. Stefan Major of Stevens bested Romaine in a 6-0 decision, giving him fourth place.

 
Mayson Harms (149) – 5^th Place:

• Harms had a slow start to Saturday, losing in the Semifinal as well as the following bout to Conklin. He finished off the day strong with a near major, claiming 5^th place in an 11-4 decision win over Ursinus' Dante Monaco.

 
Chris Stavrou (197) – 5^th Place:

• Following a loss in the consolation Semifinals, Stavrou won the next match by forfeit to secure fifth for the Lions.

 
Nick Sacco (165) – 6^th Place:

• After advancing to the Semis, Sacco unfortunately had to medically forfeit his three matches today. His efforts yesterday were enough to earn him sixth place.

 
Larry Melchionda (141) - 6^th Place:

• After falling 3-0 by decision in the Semifinal bout, Melchionda forfeited his next two matches due to injury default and finished sixth.

 
UP NEXT:

• The Lions return to the mat next Friday as they head to No. 7 Johnson & Wales for a highly-anticipated top-25 dual matchup.