MINNEAPOLIS – Matt Griffin claimed the 125-pound championship to lead seven top-four place-winners for the TCNJ wrestling team in a standout performance at the Augsburg Invitational on Saturday.
 
In addition to Griffin, Alex Strashinsky placed 2^nd at 184; Sam Kotch (141), Nick Sacco (165), and Hunter Mays (174) took 3^rd; and Kyle Nase (133) and D.J. Henry (197) finished 4^th.
 
Mike Conklin (6^th) and J.J. Giordano (8^th) also earned places at 149 and 157, respectively.
 
Griffin put his credentials on full display, netting a 16-6 major against UW-La Crosse's Thomas Giere before scoring decision victories over Augsburg's Austin Laudenbach (6-3) in the semifinals and La Crosse's Quinton Wolbert (11-4) in the final. It was Griffin's second win over Wolbert, ranked 12^th in the nation, in three days.
 
Strashinsky reached the finals at 184 on the back of a 10-6 win against La Crosse's Tyler Dormanen, a 12-1 major against Augsburg's Brian Ramos, and a pin of Augsburg's Max Borton with 20 seconds remaining in their semifinal bout. He took Upper Iowa's Colter Bye to overtime in the title bout, but Bye's takedown secured him a 4-1 victory and the championship.
 
Kotch needed an overtime takedown to defeat Upper Iowa's Ryan Wehner, 4-1, in his opening bout. He then downed Augsburg's Austin Gabbert, 7-2, before losing by fall to Concordia Moorhead's Ty Bisek in the semifinals. Kotch edged Augsburg's Cade Willis, 4-2, in the third-place match.
 
Sacco pinned Sioux Falls' Cooper Sanders in the first round and rolled to a 16-3 major opposite Augsburg's Trenton Dow. He lost by sudden victory, 6-3, to La Crosse's Robert Flege in the semifinals, and scored a 10-3 decision against Stevens' Christopher Stathopoulos to take third.
 
Mays defeated Augsburg's Moise Madimba, 8-6, and Upper Iowa's Lawson Losee, 13-5, to reach the semifinals. He then conceded a hard-fought 1-0 decision to La Crosse's Eddie Simes before rebounding with an 8-3 win against Upper Iowa's Griffin Luke in the third-place match.
 
Nase won 10-2 over La Crosse's Cael Weinzweig and 6-0 against Minnesota-Mankato's Chase Beckett to gain the semifinals, but was pinned by Augsburg's Chance Suddeth and then dropped a 9-6 decision to Upper Iowa's Dawson Schmidt to take fourth.
 
Henry logged 4-1 decision victory against Upper Iowa's Hunter Bye in the quarterfinals, then fell by an 11-4 count to Augsburg's Parker Venz and by a score of 10-8 in the third-place match against Stevens' Blaise Wagner.
 
Conklin won his first two bouts, taking down Luther's Chase Kmosena in sudden victory, 11-8, and pinning Sioux Falls' Mitchell Koss in just 35 seconds. He came up just short in an 8-7 loss to Mankato's Isaiah Mlsna in the quarters, but responded with a 17-2 tech fall against Sioux Falls' Beau Beavers and outlasted Stevens' Carmen Cortese, 12-11. Conklin was pinned by Central's Duncan Delzell in the fifth-place bout.
 
Giordano won, 11-3, against Upper Iowa's Dalton Schams before falling to Augsburg's Charlie Stuhl in the quarters. He eked out a 2-1 decision over Concordia Moorhead's Alexander McPhee before losing, 4-1, in a rematch with Schams.
 
Mayson Harms won two bouts to reach the quarterfinals at 149, while Josh Lee and Matt Coon were runner-up at 157 and 285, respectively, in the freshmen brackets.