La Crosse, WI – Since late December, The College of New Jersey's Mike Denver (Bayville, NJ/Central Regional) has been ranked first nationally at 184 pounds. He lived up to that billing on Saturday at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships as the senior capped his career as a national champion.
 
Denver defeated Metropolitan Conference opponent Mike Reilly from King's College via fall in 3:55 in the title bout to become the first Lion since 2003 to take his spot at the top of the awards podium.
 
He finished the tournament 5-0 to finish the season with a 37-2 record with his only two losses coming against wrestlers from Army and Navy Prep, respectively. Against Division III opponents, he was perfect. This caps a magical career for Denver as he is a three-time All-American and has the most wins on record in one of the most storied programs. During his time at TCNJ, he went 143-21.
 
He is the program's first National Champion since assistant coach Dave Ilaria won the title in 2003 at 133 pounds and became the 21^st wrestler in program history to place first at the national tournament. Denver is also the first three-time All-American since another current assistant coach, Brian Dempsey accomplished that feat from 2004 until 2006.
 
In the morning semifinals, he pinned York (PA) College's Alex Martocello in 6:29. The match was tied at 2-2 before Denver took a 4-2 lead in the second period and then controlled the third frame before winning by fall in the final minute.
 
Denver wasn't the only Lion to participate in the Parade of All-Americans at the start of the finals as junior Dan Herr (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) finished fifth at 133 pounds and classmate John Darling (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) was sixth at 157.
 
The combination of all three performances elevated the Lions to a sixth-place finish in the team standings as they collected 47 points. Wartburg College won the team title for the second straight year.  

By placing in the top 10, that earned Lion head coach Joe Galante Rookie Coach of the Year honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
 
Herr worked his way through the consolation bracket at 133 pounds as he finished fifth. He started the day by upsetting second-seeded Corey Brown from Thiel, 4-3. He then fell to Joe Mileski from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, 11-2, but finished strong as he edged third-seeded Adam Sheley from Wisconsin – La Crosse, 7-6 in the fifth-place match. That match was extra rewarding for her as Sheley defeated him on the opening day of the tournament. He finished the tournament with a 4-2 record as he finished with 20 wins, marking the third time in his career he has hit that plateau.
 
Darling started the day in the semifinals, but dropped that match to second-seeded Nazar Kulchytsky from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 14-5. In the consolation bracket, he fell fifth-seeded Dale Hadley from Coe College by a narrow 4-3 margin and then came out on the short end of that same score in the fifth-place match against Centenary College's Chris Burdge. Darling finished the tournament with an even 3-3 record capping his junior year with 33 victories.