CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The TCNJ wrestling team became the sixth program in Division III history to reach 800 all-time dual wins with a 32-11 victory over No. 16 Wisconsin-Whitewater at the NWCA Multi-Division National Duals on Saturday morning.
With the victory, the Lions joined Springfield, Wilkes, Wartburg, Olivet, and Lycoming in the 800-win club, a worthy milestone for one of the nation's proudest and most accomplished wrestling programs.
After the milestone win, TCNJ fell to No. 13 Loras to settle for 10
th place.
#8 TCNJ 32, #16 UWW 11
Garrett Totten continued his dominant weekend by pinning Tyler Weidman at 133, giving the Lions a lead after Whitewater secured a tech fall at 125 to open the match.
Sam Kotch (141) and
Mike Conklin (149) followed with back-to-back major decisions to open up a 14-5 lead.
After UWW posted a major decision at 157,
Nick Sacco pinned Aden Byal in just 83 seconds at 165.
Hunter Mays then edged out Ryan Riser, 3-2, at 174, and
Alex Strashinsky officially sealed the deal by pinning Gavin Kohel in just over a minute at 194.
D.J. Henry tacked on a 9-2 decision over Evan Danowski at 197.
#13 Loras 26, #8 TCNJ 12
Kotch fell just shy of a major with a 10-3 win against Nosa Egbon at 141, and Conklin polished off an unblemished weekend with an impressive 14-8 defeat of 12
th-ranked Chase Fiser at 149.
Loras, however, put the match out of reach with three straight wins, all from wrestlers ranked in the top-6 of their weight classes.
James Romaine notched a 9-7 win against Landry Barker at 184, and Henry handled Alex Watson, 8-1, at 197.
NOTES
- The Lions have finished 10th at the NWCA National Duals in each of the last two years
- The win was the 165th in the career of head coach Joe Galante
- Conklin was a perfect 5-0 on the weekend, while Totten went 4-0 in his first action at TCNJ
- TCNJ finished the weekend 2-3, with all five matches coming against top-16 teams and two against top-10 opponents
UP NEXT
- TCNJ heads to Ursinus for the annual Will Abele Invitational on Saturday, January 18
