GRANTHAM, Pa. – Matt Coon picked up the decisive decision to hand the No. 4 TCNJ wrestling team a hard-fought 20-18 victory at Messiah on Saturday in a dramatic dual that came down to the heavyweight bout.
 
The Lions trailed 18-17 going into the final match of the day, but Coon delivered a takedown with 21 seconds remaining in the third period to effectively seal an eighth consecutive dual-match triumph for the blue and gold, this one against a strong regional rival.
 
TCNJ (16-6) once again jumped out to a big early lead behind its tandem of stars in the first two weight classes. No. 5 Matthew Griffin made swift work of Austin Jeffrey with a pin in just 87 seconds of action.
 
No. 2 Garrett Totten ran rampant at 133, tacking a pair of four-point near falls onto a second-period takedown to seal an 18-1 technical fall just 56 seconds into the second period against Caden Heller, who came in ranked seventh in Region 3.
 
Luke Reitter came up with a huge result at 141, sealing a 9-3 upset of Jacob Cunningham – ranked third in the region – with an escape and a takedown with 20 seconds remaining at 141.
 
TCNJ led 14-0 at that point, but the Falcons (13-5) turned the tide, starting with Levi Snyder's 6-5 sudden victory in overtime against No. 14 J.J. Giordano at 149.
 
Messiah posted a major decision at 157 and a tech fall from No. 7 Keegan Demarest at 165, trimming the Lions' lead down to 14-12.
 
No. 1 Hunter Mays kept the Falcons at arm's length with a straightforward 9-4 defeat of No. 14 Zach Needles in a nationally ranked tussle at 174. The Lions' star junior picked up eight quick points in the first period via a pair of takedowns and a two-point near-fall and cruised from there.
 
Luke Theis wrestled hard but ultimately conceded a 10-4 decision to No. 7 Austin Brass at 184, and Messiah nosed in front when Tuck Seidel – ranked sixth in the region – won a 5-1 decision over Henry Saxon at 197.
 
That left it to the heavyweights, and Coon was the one to hand his team a victory. Coon rode out the entire second period before breaking a scoreless deadlock with an escape to start the third. With Kaleb Britting chasing a takedown, Coon got it instead, picking up those three critical points with 21 seconds left to send the Lions back to the Garden State with a victory in tow.
 
NOTES

• Griffin's pin was his seventh of the season, one off the team lead shared by Coon and Joey DeAngelo
• Totten's second tech fall in as many days gives him nine on the season, behind only D.J. Henry's 12
• 20 of Totten's 24 victories this season have come with bonus points attached
• Mays stayed perfect on the year at 19-0 and 14-0 in duals
• TCNJ has won six straight and eight of its last nine in the annual series
• The Lions' 16th dual win of the season gave them a tie for their highest total since going 18-3 in 2018-19

UP NEXT

• The Lions host York in their regular-season dual finale on Friday, February 13 at 6 p.m.

 
No. 4 TCNJ 20, Messiah 18
125 – No. 5 Matthew Griffin (TCNJ) pinned Austin Jeffrey, 1:27
133 – No. 2 Garrett Totten (TCNJ) tech fall Caiden Heller, 18-1 (3:56)
141 – Luke Reitter (TCNJ) dec. Jacob Cunningham, 9-3
149 – Levi Snyder (M) dec. #14 J.J. Giordano, 6-5 (SV)
157 – Noah Rice (M) maj. dec. Joey Fulco, 8-0
165 – #7 Keegan Demarest (M) tech fall Jordan Ayyash, 18-3 (4:28)
174 – #1 Hunter Mays (TCNJ) dec. #14 Zach Needles, 9-4
184 – #7 Austin Brass (M) dec. Luke Theis, 10-4
197 – Tucker Seidel (M) dec. Henry Saxon, 5-1
285 – Matt Coon (TCNJ) dec. Kaleb Britting, 5-0
 
Extra Countable Matches
149 – Sam Kotch (TCNJ) tech fall Dylan Hart, 21-6 (6:23)
285 – Michael Martinez (M) defeated Clifford Dirkes by disqualification