YORK, Pa. – Mike Conklin and Hunter Mays claimed individual titles to head up seven place-winners for the TCNJ wrestling team as the New Standard Invitational came to a close on Saturday.
 
Conklin won at 149 pounds and Mays did so at 174 for the Lions, who finished third in the team standings with 126.5 points, behind only Roanoke and Johnson & Wales. D.J. Henry (2^nd at 197), Kyle Nase (3^rd at 133), Matthew Griffin (4^th at 125), Sam Kotch (6^th at 141), and Colin Menier (6^th at 133) gave TCNJ a roster of place-winners as large as any team's save the first-place Maroons, who had eight over the annual two-day showcase hosted by York.
 
TCNJ won the team title a year ago, but did so without an individual champion. This time around the Lions produced two, one of four teams to have multiple champs. Of the nine Lions who made it to the quarterfinals at the conclusion of Friday's wrestling, five punched their tickets to the semifinals, and three made it to the finals.
 
Conklin had a tough tilt with Stevens' Tyler Roe in the quarters, but did all of his scoring after the first period and led 7-2 after two. Roe got within 7-6 after a takedown, but Conklin quickly pulled a reversal. Roe did the same to make it 9-8 before Conklin escaped and won, 11-8, on riding time.
 
Conklin cruised into the championship bout with a 20-5 rout of Stevens' Carmen Cortese. He had a 13-4 lead after one period and eventually capped the tech fall with four near-fall points midway through the second.
 
In the title bout, Conklin scored an early takedown on Del Val's Charlie Robson and led 3-1 after one. After Robson escaped to start the second, Conklin took him to the mat again and pinned him there at 3:27 to clinch his crown.
 
Mays routed New England's Joe Bolduc, 18-3, notching two of his five takedowns in the final period and clinching his tech fall with near-fall points with 15 seconds left in the bout. He met Stevens' Harrison Hinojosa in the semifinals, going in front with a takedown late in the first period and adding another late in the second for a 6-1 decision.
 
Henry conceded only a single escape in a 12-1 major over W&L's John Santowski in their quarterfinal clash. He was even more impressive in the semifinals, controlling his matchup with No. 14 Desmond Harrison of Albion on the way to a comfortable 7-3 victory.
 
Nase ran rampant in his quarterfinal matchup, racking up 13 near-fall points en route to a 16-0 rout of York's Logan Barkey, polishing off his tech fall in 4:25. He had a harder time in the next round, dropping a 19-4 tech fall to Roanoke's Jonah Paulino, but rebounded to take an 11-2 major over New England's Caden Frost and a 7-0 shutout of York's Vincent Paolucci in the third-place bout.
 
Griffin reached the consolation final with a 7-2 win over Roanoke's Josh Noble, a 26-second pin of Ithaca's Tomah Gummow, and a medical forfeit. He lost by major decision to Del Val's Malik Asfour to settle for fourth.
 
Kotch also tallied a tech in the quarters, posting six takedowns and handling Ursinus' Evan Shriberg, 22-7. He took New England's Bobur Berdiyorov down to the wire in the semifinals, the two trading a pair of escapes to start the second and third periods before Berdiyorov – ranked No. 15 in the nation at 149 – notched a match-winning takedown in the closing seconds. Kotch forfeited his last two matches to take sixth.
 
Menier made his way through the consolations in impressive fashion. He sandwiched a pair of decisions against Ursinus' Michael Adams and USMMA's Wesley Wydick around a 14-2 major versus York's Logan Barkley before dropping his last two bouts to land in sixth.
 
James Romaine finished 4-2 for the weekend at 184. Gavin Rucci won three bouts – two by fall – at 149, while Luke Reitter (133) and Dan Hong (141) each picked up two wins.

The Lions return to action with a dual at Centenary on January 3.