YORK, Pa. – Four TCNJ wrestlers advanced to the semifinals on the first day of action at the New Standard Invitational on Friday.
The Lions produced a semifinalist in each of the four lowest weight classes:
Joey DeAngelo at 125,
Garrett Totten at 133,
Sam Kotch at 141, and
J.J. Giordano at 149.
Luke Theis had yet to wrestle his quarterfinal bout at 184 when play was halted for the night.
TCNJ ended the day in fifth place in the team standings with 51 points, just 7.5 behind first-place Washington and Lee.
DeAngelo opened with a pair of pins before upsetting second-seeded Tomah Gummow, the nation's 8
th-ranked wrestler, in the quarterfinals. The TCNJ rookie tied the bout at 5-5 with a late escape and won it with a takedown in overtime, setting up a semifinal against sixth-seeded Malik Asfour of Eastern.
Matthew Griffin, seeded third at 125, won two bouts before dropping a tough 4-2 decision to Asfour in the quarters.
Totten roared his way into the semifinals with three consecutive technical falls. The nation's No. 3 ranked wrestler will meet fifth-seeded Jay McDonnell of Ithaca in the semifinals on Saturday.
Kotch, seeded third at 141, shook off a strong challenge from Misericordia's Nikosh Marsten for a 4-2 victory in the first round, then posted back-to-back tech falls – the second a 21-4 rout of sixth-seeded Ben White of Ithaca – to punch his ticket to the semifinals. Kotch will face No. 15 Skyler Hickman of W&L in the final four.
Giordano continued his strong performance of late, getting to the quarterfinals with a pair of convincing wins before edging North Central's Tyler Starr, 5-4, via a last-second takedown. He'll take on top-seeded Evan Lindner of W&L in the semifinals.
Theis led 7-0 before winning via medical forfeit against fifth-seeded Joey McCullough of Delaware Valley, in his lone bout of the day.
Aidan Carmody and Griffin at 125;
Luke Reitter at 133;
Anthony Viscido at 141;
Colin Menier at 149;
Jack Miller and
Konnor Tubin at 174; and
Henry Saxon at 197 all remain alive in the consolation brackets.
