Shane Griffith, Mekhi Lewis have meant so much for NCAA and New Jersey wrestling

It was one of those cool moments wrestling creates through the respect those who have been in the arena have for each other.

Michigan's Shane Griffith had just defeated Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis 4-0 Saturday in the 174-pound third-place bout in the NCAA Tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

It was a matchup of past national 165-pound champions and two wrestlers who combined for five NJSIAA championships during their scholastic career. When the buzzer sounded, Lewis patted Griffth on the head.

The crowd then gave both, who have given so much to the sport over the last decade and are warriors who have fought their injuries at various times of their career, a warm ovation.

Later, while Griffith was being interviewed by reporters in Kansas City, Lewis came by and shook Griffith's hand and Griffith put his arm around Lewis.

"It’s always great winning, great beating a prior national champ, I’m happy I did that,” Griffith said in that interview in Kansas City. “Obviously not the ideal scenario either of us wanted to be in. But it’s always good to get the job finished, get a win, finish my career on a win too. That’s pretty cool.

"Mekhi and I have been kinda dominating the scene since we’ve been young. It was awesome watching him come to the collegiate level and win that national championship. just knowing that I was capable of doing that, i think he pioneered the way for me personally. I have nothing but respect for him.''

Griffth, who was a three-time NJSIAA champion at Bergen Catholic, won his national championship in 2021 for Stanford.

Lewis, who was a two-time state champion for Bound Brook, won his national title in 2019 over two-time national champion Vincenzo Joseph of Penn State.

The two combined for eight All-American medals. Lewis is Virginia Tech's first four-time All-American and arguably the greatest wrestler in Virginia Tech history. He was the runner-up in tiebreaker period No. 2 to Penn State's three-time 174-pound champion Carter Starocci in 2022 and fourth at 174 the last two seasons. Starocci defeated Lewis again this year's tournament with a 4-0 win in the quarterfinal.

Griffith helped save the Stanford program with his national title.

The Stanford program was going to be dissolved after the 2021 season. The school's administration had made that announcement in the summer of 2020. Pleas and monetary donations to save the program had fallen mostly on deaf ears until Griffith won his title in St. Louis.

The momentum from Griffith's title became an unstoppable locomotive. Stanford's program is alive and well now under former Princeton University head coach Chris Ayres.

Griffith wrestled two more seasons for Stanford. He was the national runner-up at 165 to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole in 2022 and fifth at 165 last season. He transferred to Michigan after last summer for his final season of collegiate eligiblity.

He persevered in this tournament despite wrestling with an injury that forced him to default the Big Ten final and a bandage around his head.

“I think I’ve had a unique experience,” Griffith said. "“I’ve had 10 plus coaches in college career. It’s been a rollercoaster up and down. I said before it’s about meeting great people and the connections you make.”

In this tournament, Griffith advanced to the semifinal with a dramatic come-from-behind 8-7 win over Northern Iowa's Jared Simma in the quarterfinal. He was then defeated 2-0 by Starocci in the semifinal.

New Jersey's other All-Americans

Cornell's Jacob Cardenas was fourth at 197; Lehigh's Luke Stanich was fifth at 125; Rutgers' Dylan Shawver and Yaraslau Slavikouski were seventh at 133 and 285 respectively and Rider's Quinn Kinner was eighth at 149.

Cardenas, a two-time state champion for Bergen Catholic, was defeated by Oklahoma's Stephen Buchanan 9-4 in the third-place bout.

Stanich, the 2023 NJSIAA champion for Roxbury, defeated Nebraska's Caleb Smith 5-1 in the fifth-place bout.

Shawver defeated North Carolina State's Kai Orine 10-5 in the seventh-place bout and Slavikouski defeated Campbell's Taye Ghadiali 4-3 in the seventh-place bout.

It is the eighth time in the last nine NCAA Tournaments Rutgers has had multiple All-Americans.

Kinner, a two-time NJSIAA champion for Kingsway, was defeated 19-8 by Iowa State's Swiderski in the seventh-place bout.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NCAA Wrestling: Shane Griffith, Mekhi Lewis have been special