Brackets | Championship Central

EWING, N.J. – A six-pack pride of Lions is set to represent the TCNJ wrestling team at the NCAA Championships this weekend.
 
Region III champions Garrett Totten (133), Vinnie Santaniello (141), Hunter Mays (174), and D.J. Henry (197) will be joined by fellow qualifiers Matthew Griffin (125) and J.J. Giordano (149) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where wrestling is slated to begin at 11 A.M. on Friday inside Alliant Energy Powerhouse.
 
TCNJ is one of a dozen teams bringing at least six wrestlers to NCAAs, a list headlined by Augsburg with 10 and Wartburg and Roanoke with nine apiece. For the Lions, however, it's all about quality over quantity.
 
Five of the Lions' representatives are seeded in the top-6 of their respective weight classes, and three of them – Totten, Mays, and Henry – are the No. 1 seed. With such a loaded arsenal, the blue and gold is primed to re-join the top-5 in the team standings for the first time since head coach Joe Galante's senior season in 2007 - and perhaps challenge for even greater heights. 
 
THE TOP SEEDS
A mid-year transfer from Navy last season, Totten comes in with an overall record of 31-4, his only Division III losses coming to North Central's Ethan Spacht (who will miss the NCAA Championships due to injury) and 7^th-seeded Jacob Blair of Arcadia. Within his bracket, the junior already owns head-to-head wins over 3^rd-seeded James Day of Wabash, 6^th-seeded Patrick Mullen of Wartburg, 10^th-seeded Connor Fiser of Luther, and 11^th-seeded Jay McDonnell of Ithaca (twice), in addition to a pair of wins over fellow qualifier Jacob Venezia of NYU.
 
A year ago, Totten carried an undefeated season all the way to the semifinals, where he dropped a tight decision on the way to a 6^th-place finish.
 
Mays was also a semifinalist a year ago, when he paced the pride with a 5^th-place finish at 174. This year, he's back and better than ever.
 
The Lehigh transfer is a perfect 25-0 and one of the most dominant grapplers in the country, regardless of weight class. This season, he has already defeated 3^rd-seeded Dustin Bohren of Loras, 4^th-seeded Ty Finn of NYU (in the Region III final), 9^th-seeded Konrad Parker of Ithaca, and UW-Whitewater's Brayden Peet, the No. 7 seed at 165.
 
Mays' main obstacle to a national title may come from a familiar foe – to TCNJ, at least – in UW-La Crosse's Noah Leisgang, the No. 2 seed who finished third at 165 in 2023 and runner-up to the Lions' Nick Sacco in 2024.
 
Henry has been nothing short of dominant during his junior campaign, going 25-1 against Division III competition, with the only loss coming to 5^th-seeded Ethan Winkelman of Augsburg. Since then, Henry has taken down No. 2 seed Josh Stahl of York (9-3 in the regional final), No. 4 seed Cal Dorota of Wartburg, and No. 10 seed Gunnar Garriques of Chicago.
 
The Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Region III Championship, Henry is making his second trip to nationals after winning one bout last season.
 
THE REST
Santaniello makes his NCAA debut as a transfer from Pitt, and his impact has been immediate. The junior, seeded 4^th at 141, comes in with a record of 21-1, his only blemish a 2-1 loss to 3^rd-seeded Kade Blum of Wartburg.
 
Santaniello has defeated No. 10 seed Justin Fortugno of UW-Whitewater twice this season, and his main adversary on the way to the semifinals could be 5^th-seeded Isaias Torres of Ithaca, whom Santaniello outlasted in sudden victory during the teams' dual on January 30. Santaniello is in the semifinal path of top-seeded Mark Samuel of Roanoke, the undefeated reigning national champion at 141 pounds.
 
Griffin is making his third consecutive NCAA appearance and looking for his first wins at the national meet since posting a pair of victories as a rookie in 2024. The junior is seeded No. 6 and set for a first-round showdown with No. 11 seed Brayden Parke of Coe. The winner would likely meet No. 3 seed Alex Diaz of NYU, the undefeated Region III champion Griffin battled to a slim 8-6 decision back on January 24.
 
Against his potential competition, Griffin scored a tech fall against 8^th-seeded Brett Birchman of Wartburg, lost by 10-9 decision to 5^th-seeded Nico Rivera of JWU, lost twice to 4^th-seeded Malik Asfour of Eastern, lost to No. 1 seed Christian Guzman of North Central, and defeated qualifiers Aidan Gruenfelder of Loras and Matthew Barlay of Chicago.
 
Giordano makes his NCAA debut after working his way through consolations to a third-place finish at regionals. The junior will meet Elmhurst's Ryan Hinger in the preliminary round, with the winner to face No. 1 seed Thomas Monn of McDaniel; Giordano has already defeated Hinger this season, a 9-3 decision at the CUW Invitational in November.
 
Giordano has faced many of his competitors at 149 pounds, and although Hinger is his only victory, the losses were almost all by decision.
 
THE SCHEDULE
The Championships will run through the quarterfinals on Friday, with the semifinals and consolation semifinals to open the action on Saturday morning.  

TCNJ AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Galante has coached the Lions to four top-10 finishes in 15 seasons at the helm of the program, placing sixth and seventh in his first two years on the job (2012 and 2013), eighth in 2019, and ninth in 2024. TCNJ is aiming for its first top-four finish since a mid-90s run that included a runner-up finish in 1995 and back-to-back third place showings in 1996 and 1997.

The Lions have produced multiple All-Americans in each of the last six NCAA championships, including four last season. 

With three No. 1 seeds, TCNJ can also dream of a rare achievement: multiple national champions, something the Lions have not done since 1987. The blue and gold has accomplished the feat four times, all in the golden age of the program in the 1980s (1981, 1982, 1985, and 1987).