“If I wouldn’t have either won that match or pinned, I feel like (Austin) Eicher would have had a little shut down there, but my job is to come out with the energy, and to get everybody going and to push everyone through,” Griffin said.

Redshirt-sophomore Austin Eicher followed Griffin’s performance in dramatic fashion as a last-second takedown earned him a 3-1 win in the 133-pound weight class.

However, the Spartans would lose their next three matches, giving the Scarlet Knights a 10-9 lead at intermission.

Freshman Drew Hughes broke that losing streak as he defeated Anthony Pafumi 1-0 in the 165-pound weight class to give the Spartans a 12-10 lead. It was win No. 21 on the season, tying him with Austin Thompson, 157-pounder, and Javier Gasca, 141-pounder for the team lead.

“I’ve been used to it," Hughes said. "In high school, I was a freshman wrestling a lot of juniors and seniors so I’m kind of used to wrestling the older kids."

The team went on to drop the next four matches and eventually fall to the Scarlet Knights, 24-12. In spite of the loss, head coach Roger Chandler took away positives from his team’s performance.

“Our guys, they changed their mindset from Friday to today," Chandler said. "They competed up and down. Sometimes you’re just outmatched in matches and our guys continued to compete. After the match, I told them that if we bring that same effort every time we step on the mat, the results will come.”

The Spartans will have senior day next Feb. 5 as they go up against their in-state rival University of Michigan in the last home meet of the season.

“Our guys do a pretty good job of keeping their mindsets right," Chandler said. "We’ve done a lot of soul searching and talking as a team. They understand now how they have to compete for seven minutes."