PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Garrett Totten and Hunter Mays advanced to the semifinals and Mike Conklin and Nick Sacco will join them as All-Americans on a strong first day of competition for the TCNJ wrestling team at the NCAA Championships.
 
Totten (133) and Mays (174) will compete for national titles on Saturday, while Conklin (149) and Sacco (165) won the consolation bouts they needed to become three-time All-Americans.
 
The Lions ended the day in ninth place with 35 team points.
 
Matthew Griffin went 0-2 at 125, while Sam Kotch (141) and D.J. Henry (197) each won a bout before bowing out.
 
125
Griffin got the day started quickly, taking Wartburg's Brett Birchman down within the first 20 seconds, but was unable to sustain the pressure. Birchman escaped to start the second, then grabbed a 5-3 lead with a takedown midway through the frame. The Wartburg sophomore added another takedown plus four near-fall points in the third to seal a 13-3 major decision.
 
Griffin was eliminated by technical fall by Delaware Valley's Malik Asfour.
 
133
Totten, the No. 3 seed, opened his NCAA journey with another dominating performance. A late takedown gave him a 3-0 lead after one against Ithaca's Isaias Torres, and Totten rode out the entire second period before staying on top for the third. A second stalling on Torres gave Totten a 4-0 lead before his opponent finally escaped with 30 ticks left in the third, and the Lions star wrapped up a 5-1 win with 3:35 of riding time.
 
That set up a second-round showdown with Roanoke freshman Jonah Paulino. After a scoreless first, Totten rode out the entire second and third periods, racking up five near-fall points on the way to a 7-0 shutout.
 
Totten will take on 7^th-seeded Bryce Parke of Coe in the semifinals on Saturday.
 
141
Kotch opened with No. 6 seed Sam Lorenz of UW-La Crosse, a 2024 NCAA qualifier. Trailing 4-1 in the second, he knotted the bout with a takedown, leaving him just one point shy of Lorenz after an escape. Just before the match's final second ticked off, he managed to get on top of Lorenz, and after a review the officials awarded Kotch the takedown to seal the upset.
 
Kotch's second match was not quite as dramatic but still came down to the wire. He traded first-period takedowns with Wesleyan's Hayden Myers, then notched the first takedown of the second to go up 7-5, but Myers answered back just before the timer to take a 9-7 lead into the final frame. Kotch gained the upper hand again with an early takedown to go up 10-9, leaving the wrestlers level at 10-all after Myers' escape. Myers, however, netted the tiebreaking takedown with about a minute remaining and rode out the rest of the bout to snag a 14-10 victory.
 
Kotch bowed out in a heartbreaker to Augsburg's Cole Becker, who went ahead for good with a third-period takedown and staved off Kotch's attempts at another last-second takedown for a 9-8 decision.
 
149
Conklin matched up with two-time NCAA qualifier Evan Lindner of W&L and made light work of it, riding out almost the entirety of the first period after an early takedown en route to an 8-0 major decision.
 
The second round pitted Conklin against unbeaten Angelo Centrone of Cortland, the No. 2 seed and Region II's Most Outstanding Wrestler. After a scoreless first, Centrone chose bottom and quickly escaped before logging a takedown midway through the period. Conklin got within 4-2 on back-to-back escapes before Centrone grabbed another takedown. Conklin reversed him to cut the lead to 7-4 but was unable to do further damage in suffering an 8-4 defeat.
 
Conklin stayed alive for the night session by pinning Loras' Chase Fiser 47 seconds into the third period of a bout he already led 10-0 before the fall.
 
In the night session, Conklin edged W&J's Taylor Smith, 6-5, and downed Dubuqe's Brett Back, 7-2, to complete his run through the wrestlebacks and lock up his third career All-America honor. He will meet McDaniel's Thomas Monn in his first bout on Saturday.
 
165
Sacco, the reigning 165-pound champion, began his title defense against 4^th-seeded CJ Shea of Wesleyan, who came in 35-1 after a regional title and Most Outstanding Wrestler nod. The champ showed his mettle, taking Shea down early and staying on top for the final 1:45 of the first. That was all the separation Sacco needed for an eventual 5-1 decision.
 
Sacco lost, 10-0, in the quarters to Baldwin-Wallace's Andrew Supers, but defeated Ohio Northern's Teagen Hendricks, 4-1, to cap his night with a third career All-America accolade. Sacco will take on Springfield's Jack Deguire on Saturday morning.
 
174
Mays, seeded 4^th at 174, went into an early hole after Stevens' Harrison Hinojosa scored a quick takedown. Mays, however, answered back with two takedowns of his own to take a 7-4 lead into the second period. Mays tacked on another takedown in the second to go up 10-5, which was more than enough cushion to coast home with a 12-7 decision after riding time.  
 
Mays jumped all over Springfield's Nick Rogers in the second round, racking up a 9-1 first-period lead before holding off a late charge and moving into the quarters with a 10-7 decision.
 
Mays used two first-period takedowns to separate from Coe's LJ Richardson for a 9-6 victory, setting up a semifinal showdown with No. 1 seed Jared Stricker of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
 
197
Henry started his NCAA trip in dramatic fashion, going to overtime after a 2-2 regulation with Oneonta's Carson Licastri. He ended it almost immediately, getting on top of Licastri with a lightning-quick shot and walking off with a 5-2 sudden victory.
 
Henry lost by tech fall to top-seeded Massoma Endene of Wartburg, the two-time reigning NCAA champion, and then succumbed 13-6 to Wheaton's Jackson Punzel.