PRINCETON, N.J. – The TCNJ wrestling team sent three of its best to nearby Jadwin Gym for a taste of high-level competition at the season-opening Princeton Open on Sunday.
 
Garrett Totten (133), Sam Kotch (149), and D.J. Henry (197) all won at least one match against fields chock full of Division I grapplers, with Henry's run to the quarterfinals highlighting the Lions' prestigious trio.
 
Henry opened with a routing 7-1 victory over Lehigh's Remy Brancato-Roed, notching takedowns in each of the last two periods. Despite falling behind 3-0 early to Princeton's Conor McCloskey, Henry then reeled off 13 consecutive points to close out a convincing major decision and book his spot in the quarters.
 
Henry dropped a major decision to fourth-seeded Wolfgang Frable of Army in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with a 4-1 decision over Army's Reid Schroeder for a third victory. His day ended with an 11-2 setback to Andrew Reall of Brown.
 
Totten, who was an NCAA semifinalist last season and is ranked No. 2 in the nation at 133, proved his bonafides with a terrific performance in a hard-fought loss to top-seeded Ethan Berginc of Army. Berginc, a Division I NCAA qualifier last year, needed overtime to eventually clinch a 4-1 win over Totten with a takedown in the extra session.
 
Totten then scored two third-period takedowns to overcome a 7-3 deficit and post an 11-8 victory against Rider's Michael Campanaro. The Lions' star junior led Oregon State's Manny Saldate, 7-2, in the third period before Saldate eked out a 9-7 decision with a takedown and four near-fall points.
 
Kotch logged a remarkable victory in his opening match, falling behind 9-0 almost immediately to Army's Shane Reilly before posting four takedowns, the last of which came with 21 seconds remaining and gave the Lion a thrilling 13-12 decision.
 
Kotch bowed out with a pair of close decisions, 9-5 to Brown's Austin McBurney and 11-6 to Army's Ryan Franco.
 
TCNJ gets its dual season underway on Friday, when the Lions head to Wilkes.