GRANTHAM, Pa. – Mike Conklin eclipsed 100 career wins and joined six teammates in the semifinals as the TCNJ wrestling team concluded a rousing first day atop the leaderboard at the Region III Championship.
 
Matthew Griffin (125), Garrett Totten (133), Sam Kotch (141), Mike Conklin (149), Nick Sacco (165), Hunter Mays (174), and D.J. Henry (197) all booked their spots in Saturday's semifinals and sit one win away from NCAA qualification.
 
James Romaine (184) and Matt Coon (285) remain alive in the consolation rounds for TCNJ, which racked up 95.5 points to finish the day with a sizable lead over Messiah (80.5), Alvernia (79.5), and NYU (72.5).
 
125
Griffin, the No. 8 seed, opened the day by pinning his opponent from Scranton in less than two minutes, setting up a quarterfinal against top-seeded Harrison Gordon. The NYU junior, ranked 8^th in the country and sporting a record of 28-1, did not compete when the Violets made the trip to Ewing for a regular-season dual.
 
Griffin took advantage of his opportunity this time around, netting two first-period takedowns in jumping out to a 6-1 lead. He led 9-3 after a takedown in the second, and another takedown in the third gave him plenty of separation to post a 12-6 victory and seal his semifinal spot.
 
Griffin will take on 4^th-seeded Malik Asfour of Delaware Valley in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Asfour also did not compete when the Aggies and TCNJ matched up in the regular season.
 
133
Totten, the top seed, got a scare in his opening bout with Marymount's Joseph Custodio. Totten scored a takedown almost immediately, but Custodio escaped and took Totten to the mat, adding four near-fall points to put the Lions' star into an 8-3 hole. That changed very quickly, however, as Totten reversed Custodio and pinned him in the closing seconds of the first period.
 
Totten had no issue in the quarterfinal, rolling to a 12-1 major over Messiah's Caiden Heller. He'll take on 4^th-seeded Corey Cope of Elizabethtown in the semifinals.
 
141
Seeded No. 2, Kotch racked up five takedowns and four near-fall points, and his fifth takedown sealed a 19-3 tech fall over Misericordia's Kruz McCusker in their first-round bout.
 
Koch tallied another tech fall in the quarters, routing Gettysburg's Brendan Callahan by a 21-4 count to set up a showdown with No. 3 seed Tyler Kadish of NYU.
 
149
Conklin made his milestone moment right away, scoring two near-fall points from his initial takedown of Scranton's Shkeb Nadir and punctuating his 100^th career victory with a pin in just over two minutes. 
 
Conklin doubled up on pins with a second-period fall against Messiah's Dalton Monger, and will meet No. 4 seed Chance Babb of Alvernia in the semifinals.
 
157
J.J. Giordano dropped a 9-3 decision to Merchant Marine's Edward Pinc in the first round.
 
He won his next bout by technical fall before bowing out on a hard-fought 5-4 decision to Marymount's Tallion Elliott.
 
165
Reigning champion Sacco started off with a bang, posting two four-point near falls en route to pinning Muhlenberg's Chris Sockler midway through the second period, when he had already amassed a 14-1 advantage. 
 
The No. 2 seed took on Elizabethtown's Justice Hockenberry in the quarterfinals and immediately fell into a 7-0 hole. He scored a reversal and then a takedown to get within 8-5 after one, escaped to start the second, and then took the lead for the first time with a takedown. He rode out the entire third period, getting a stall warning to boot and clinching an 11-8 victory with an abundance of riding time.
 
Sacco now gets a rematch with Messiah's Keegan Demarest, the No. 3 seed whom he defeated by a 2-0 count in the teams' regular-season dual.
 
174
Mays, the No. 2 seed, wasted no time getting on top of USMMA's Maxwell Corral, leading 6-1 after a period and finishing with an 11-1 major decision. He registered a pair of takedowns in each of the first two periods of an eventual 13-3 victory over Scranton's Jacob Burgette, moving into the semifinals with his second major of the day.
 
Mays will meet Ursinus' Anthony Cerulli – the No. 6 seed – in Saturday's semifinal bout.
 
184
Romaine started with a preliminary match and made short work of it, notching an 18-3 technical fall against Delaware Valley's Aidan Murray. He followed with another tech fall, 19-3, against Johns Hopkins' Noah Graber to reach the quarterfinals.
 
Romaine lost, 11-1, to No. 4 seed Tyler Withers of Merchant Marine in the quarters, but produced his third tech fall of the day – 19-2 over King's Jake Bobersky – to stay alive.
 
197
Henry, seeded second, netted five takedowns and an 18-3 technical fall over Scranton's Jack McCaffrey. He then cruised to another 18-3 tech fall, this one against NYU's Luke Dupont, to gain the semifinals.

Henry will take on Messiah's Sawyer Dereszynski in the semifinals.
 
285
Coon, seeded seventh, notched a first-period pin – his team-leading 14^th – over Messiah's Micah Martinez to reach the quarterfinals. That put him against No. 2 seed Logan Flynn of Delaware Valley, and Coon fell by pin to drop into the consolations.
 
Coon bounced back with another pin, this one against McDaniel's Kaden Bryan, to keep his NCAA hopes alive.

UP NEXT
The Lions go for their fifth consecutive regional title tomorrow. Wrestling gets underway at 9 a.m.