Elijah Griffin of Rider University defeated Pierson Manville of Arizona State by decision during the Las Vegas Invitational college wrestling meet. His Round of 16 victory is subject to controversy and criticism.
The fifth-year graduate student recklessly slammed his opponent into the ground after he had already stepped out of bounds.
To make for even worse optics, the Broncs star had a smug grin on his face while his college wrestling opponent grabbed his knee in pain. And Griffin’s teammates defended his actions!
Elijah Griffin tossed Pierson Manville.
The aforementioned incident took place at 141 pounds on Friday.
Griffin, a fifth-year graduate student at Rider, faced Manville, a redshirt sophomore at Arizona State. Manville was one of the headliners in the recruiting class of 2024. Griffin transferred from Cal Baptist during the offseason.
It was the Broncs that ultimately proved victorious over the Sun Devils in this specific match by a 9-2 decision. However, the officials chose not to issue a Flagrant Misconduct penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct that might’ve flipped the result on its head.
Elijah Griffin lifted Pierson Manville up from the mat during the third period, took two full steps outside of the circle and threw him down out of bounds. Manville immediately grabbed for his knee and rolled on the floor in pain while Griffin walked off with a smirk on his face.
How is this legal? Elijah Griffin lifts Pierson Manville, walks out of bounds and then slams him onto the hard floor. pic.twitter.com/e1AJqACLEz
— notawrestler (@notawrestler_x) December 5, 2025
It is one thing for a wrestler to get in the zone and not know where he is or what is going on. It is another thing for a wrestler to see that he hurt his opponent and smile while he is in pain.
The organizers of the meet should’ve used large mats but that does not change what happened.
And not only was Griffin not penalized for flagrant misconduct, he essentially received a free point for his actions. Arizona State had to take an injury timeout so Rider was given choice when the match resumed.
Rider teammates celebrated the college wrestling takedown.
Most people would agree that it was a bad look for Elijah Griffin, who later advanced to the semifinal. His teammates seemed to think he did not do anything wrong.
Ohio State transfer Will Betancourt posted twice on X in praise of Griffin’s win over Manville.
“Y’all are weird 😂,” he wrote first.
“Pretty dominate match by that boy griff! Haters gonna hate no matter what. Let’s go griff get it done today champ! 💪💪,” he followed up.
Both of his posts have since been deleted. Perhaps someone advised him to take them down. Perhaps he came to that conclusion on his own. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter.
Rider should not be proud of how its team acted.