MEQUON, Wisc. – Garrett Totten, Hunter Mays, and D.J. Henry all backed up their lofty national rankings with individual titles as the TCNJ wrestling team stood out from the pack at Saturday's CUW Invitational.
 
The title-winning trio highlighted a host of standouts for the Lions, who produced seven other place-winners on the day. Vinnie Santaniello was runner-up at 141; J.J. Giordano (149) and Matthew Griffin (125) took third; Colin Menier (149) was fourth; Steve Dalling (165) and Luke Reitter (133) placed fifth; and Matt Coon (285) finished in sixth.
 
Totten cruised into a highly-touted title bout with a major decision, a first-period pin, and a 5-3 semifinal victory over North Central's Ethan Spacht, won with a first-period takedown and a second-period reversal.
 
That set up a titanic tilt against top-ranked James Day of Wabash, a two-time All-American who placed 4^th at 133 last season. Deadlocked at 1 in the third frame, Totten sealed it with the bout's lone takedown, claiming the crown with a 4-2 victory.
 
Mays posted a pin and a technical fall in his first two bouts before passing a stiff test in the quarterfinals, where he pulled out a 9-6 decision against Wartburg's Heston Johnson. Mays, ranked No. 1 in the nation, easily dispatched 14^th-ranked Carson Trotzer of UW-Stevens Point by 11-1 major decision to book his spot in the final opposite Wabash's Jaylen Young. Mays cruised to an 8-2 victory to clinch the title.
 
Henry backed up his own No. 1 ranking with a waltz to the title bout, sandwiching two technical falls around a second-round pin before scoring a 10-2 major decision over No. 8 Casey Aikman of North Central. He staked his claim as the nation's best with a statement, an 8-0 shutout of No. 3 Gunnar Garriques of Chicago.
 
Santaniello remained unbeaten with his latest display of dominance, reeling off three consecutive technical falls to reach the semifinals. Matched up with No. 5 Justin Fortugno of UW-Whitewater for the second time in three days – the first an 11-3 major decision – the Pitt transfer broke a deadlock with a third-period takedown on the way to a tough 5-3 decision. Santaniello was forced to withdraw from the championship bout with 7^th-ranked Joshua Robinson of North Central due to medical forfeit.
 
Griffin pinned his first two opponents and advanced to the semifinals via a 7-3 defeat of Whitewater's Luke Berktold. He lost by technical fall to top-ranked Chip Guzman of North Central, a two-time national runner-up and three-time All-American, but handled Chicago's Matthew Barlay, 16-2, to reach the third-place bout.
 
Griffin secured third in stunning fashion, dominating 5^th-ranked Brett Birchman of Wartburg by technical fall, 18-3, in a match that ended in the second period.
 
Giordano and Menier impressed with their own runs to the semifinals at 149, Menier by working a technical fall in the first round before emerging with back-to-back decision victories over CUW's Benjamin Kaus (8-5) and MSOE's Alex Morales (11-7). He staged a furious rally against 12^th-ranked Riese Thornberry of Stevens Point, overturning an 8-2 deficit before Thornekeberry managed to escape from a late takedown and eke out a 15-14 thriller.
 
Menier then pulled out a 2-1 grinder with Wartburg's Matthew Arias to set up a showdown with Giordano, who also reached the semifinals thanks to a takedown in overtime against Arias in the quarters. Giordano dropped a 4-0 decision to 6^th-ranked Max Mukhamedaliyev of Chicago, but defeated Morales, 10-4, to make the third-place match.
 
Giordano bested his Lion teammate in their head-to-head matchup, taking third with an 11-4 decision.
 
Reitter went 4-2 in the 133-pound bracket, including a 13-1 major over Loras' Wiley Jessup to lock up fifth place.
 
Dalling won his first three matches with ease before falling to 10^th-ranked Aiden Brosinski of Wartburg and to Stevens Point's Caden Young by 2-1 sudden victory. He succeeded in claiming fifth place, however, with a 4-3 win over Loras' Allen Catour fueled by a third-period takedown.
 
Ayyash was a standout again at 174, landing two majors and two tech falls before outlasting Carthage's Christian Gilbert, 8-5, to finish the day at 5-1.
 
Coon was 3-3 at heavyweight, winning his first two bouts and posting two pins on the day.
 
Joey DeAngelo (three) and Aidan Carmody (two) each notched multiple pins in the 125-pound bracket.
 
Josh Lee won three matches at 157 before falling in the consolations to teammate Jackson Bush, who picked up four wins – including one pin – in between his two defeats.
 
Jimmy Dolan was 1-2 at 184.