PRINCETON, N.J. – The TCNJ wrestling team made its partial debut on Sunday as All-Americans Mike Conklin and Nick Sacco joined transfer Hunter Mays at the Princeton Open for their first taste of competition.
 
Conklin picked up a pair of victories at 149, starting with a 15-5 major over Rider's Cael Huxford. After a 14-4 loss to Rutgers' Andrew Clark, a 2023 NCAA qualifier, Conklin pinned West Point's Cole Stone in just over a minute. He then lost by fall to another West Point grappler, Trae McDaniel.
 
Mays, a transfer from Lehigh, gave Princeton's Xavier Giles everything he could handle in the opening round. He jumped out to a 9-2 lead with three first-period takedowns, and still held a 9-4 advantage entering the third, but Giles netted three takedowns in the final frame, including one with 20 seconds left to nose in front.
 
Mays was tied 1-1 with West Point's Oscar Aranda in the third before conceding a takedown with 17 seconds remaining in an eventual 4-1 setback.
 
Sacco, last year's NCAA champion, took on a pair of Division I foes at 165. He conceded a 9-3 decision to Lehigh's Richie Grungo before falling by a slim 7-5 decision to Rider's Liam Scrivanich. Sacco tied the bout at 5-5 with a takedown late in the second period, but Scrivanich went ahead with an escape and added another after starting the third on bottom.
 
UP NEXT

• The Lions open their dual season at home against Wilkes on Friday night