GRANTHAM, Pa. – Garrett Totten, Hunter Mays, and D.J. Henry all won individual titles as the TCNJ wrestling team ran away with its fifth consecutive regional title at Messiah on Saturday.
 
Totten (133), Mays (174), and Henry (197) helped the Lions rack up 174.5 team points, a full 37 clear of Alvernia in a runaway Region III crown that will join a handful of others in the team trophy case.
 
Matthew Griffin (125), Sam Kotch (141), Mike Conklin (149), and Nick Sacco (165) all finished runner-up in their respective weight classes, punching their tickets to the NCAA Championships alongside TCNJ's trio of champions. The Lions' seven national qualifiers are the program's most since sending eight over two decades ago in the 2003-04 campaign, and the three regional champions are tied with the 2021-22 team for the most in school history.
 
THE CHAMPS

• Totten continued his breathtaking run of dominance with a 19-4 tech fall against Elizabethtown's Corey Cope in the semifinals, then pinned NYU's Jacob Venezia with 13 seconds remaining in the first period of the title bout. Totten, ranked 6^th in Division III, is 18-0 since joining the Lions as a mid-year transfer from Navy.
• Mays, ranked No. 7 in Division III handled Ursinus' Anthony Cerulli, 12-1, in the semifinals to set up a showdown with No. 2 Nate Lackman of Alvernia, who won the 165-pound national title in 2023 and is a 3-time NCAA qualifier. Knotted at 1 after three tough periods, Mays scored the clinching takedown in overtime to seal a thrilling title
• Henry's first career regional title was mostly stress-free. He led 9-2 after one period en route to an 11-6 win over Messiah's Sawyer Dereszynski in the semifinals, then routed Elizabethtown's Will Davis – ranked 6^th in Division III – by a 10-3 count in the title bout

THE RUNNERS-UP

• Griffin punched his ticket to nationals in dramatic fashion. He trailed Del Val's Malik Asfour, 4-0, entering the third period, then started with a takedown and two near-fall points to grab a shock lead. An Asfour escape knotted it at 5-5, but Griffin took him down again and tacked on four near-fall points to set up a 12-7 victory. Griffin came close against Alvernia's Keito Shaw in the final, but his last-second takedown to tie the bout at 3 was rendered moot by Shaw's riding time advantage in a 4-3 defeat
• Kotch, ranked 14^th in the nation, clinched his NCAA qualification with a 12-8 victory over NYU's Tyler Kadish in the semifinals. He fell, 4-2, to No. 13 Sean O'Toole of Delaware Valley, whose first-period takedown proved too much to overcome in the title match
• Conklin, ranked 10^th in the nation, reached his third consecutive regional final with an 8-0 shutout of Alvernia's Chance Babb in the semifinals. The reigning 149-pound champion was unable to repeat, getting pinned by No. 12 Thomas Monn of McDaniel to settle for his second career second-place finish
• Sacco, ranked 10^th nationally, clinched his NCAA berth with a 7-3 victory over No. 14 Keegan Demarest of Messiah in the semifinals. He was denied a third straight regional title by top-ranked Matt Lackman of Alvernia, a 3-time All-American who collected his fourth straight 165-pound regional crown

PLACE-WINNERS

• Matt Coon was one match away from NCAA qualification, ultimately placing 4^th at heavyweight. He advanced to the third-place bout with a pin of McDaniel's Kaden Bryan, a 4-3 victory over Muhlenberg's Andrew Franklin, and a pin of E'town's Ksawery Niewadomy. With an NCAA bid on the line, he lost a 7-3 decision to Delaware Valley's Logan Flynn
• James Romaine placed 6^th at 184, edging Alvernia's Hayden McClellan, 5-4, before conceding a hard-fought 2-1 decision to No. 14 Ryder Slayton of Messiah in the consolation semifinals. Romaine fell, 4-1, to Ursinus' Nils Updale in the fifth-place bout

NOTES

• Conklin and Sacco are each making their 3^rd trip to the NCAA Championships. Both are 2-time All-Americans, and Sacco was the 165-pound national champion last year
• The other five Lions are all making their NCAA Championships debuts

UP NEXT

• TCNJ heads to Providence, Rhode Island for the NCAA Championships on March 14-15