HOFSTRA WRESTLING SCHEDULE/RESULTS

Transcription

1 Hofstra sent eight wrestlers to the 2004 NCAA Championships in St, Louis last March. Four have graduated. But the Pride still has seven NCAA qualifiers on their roster. Four (Chris Skretkowicz, Paul Siemon, John Manarte, and James Strouse) from last year and three (Ricky LaForge, Jon Masa and Mike Patrovich) from the 2003 Championships Hofstra has won four straight conference championships. HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY WRESTLING Season Match 2 # 10 Hofstra Pride (0-1) vs #2 Lehigh Mountain Hawks (5-0) Hofstra Arena Hempstead, NY Sunday, November 28, HOFSTRA WRESTLING SCHEDULE/RESULTS Nov. 19 Nov. 20 Nov. 28 Dec. 3-4 Dec. 11 Dec. 11 Jan. 9 Jan. 15 Jan. 16 Jan at Nebraska at The Omaha Open LEHIGH at Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational at Boston University* at Harvard at Sacred Heart* ARMY at Pennsylvania at NWCA-Cliff Keen National Duals (at Cleveland, OH) Jan. 29 at West Virginia Jan. 30 at Old Dominion* Feb. 5 CORNELL Feb. 12 at Drexel* Feb. 12 at Wagner* Feb. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE Feb. 15 RIDER* Feb. 18 Columbia Mar. 4-5 at CAA Championships (at Boston, MA) Mar NCAA Championships (at St. Louis, MO) * - CAA match; L p.m. All Day 4 p.m. 7 p.m. 4 p.m. 5 p.m. All Day Noon 6:30 p.m. 10 a.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. All-Day All Day HOFSTRA NOTES, STREAKS AND TIDBITS: This is Hofstra s 57th season of intercollegiate wrestling. The Pride has had nine coaches direct the wrestling program, beginning with Walter Brick Stone in 1947 and currently with Tom Ryan, who is in his 10th season. The Pride has won eight of its last 10 dual matches dating back to last season. Hofstra s only losses during that time came at then seventh-ranked Lehigh 25-9 on February 6, and third-ranked Nebraska on November 19. Hofstra is undefeated in 35 consecutive dual conference matches posting a record during that time. The last time Hofstra dropped a conference match was February 17, 1999 when the Broncs of Rider beat the Pride in an East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) match. HOFSTRA HEAD COACH TOM RYAN: Tom Ryan is in his 10th season as Head Wrestling Coach at Hofstra University. During that time he has rebuilt the Pride into a Top 20 caliber program. He is at Hofstra but has posted a mark during the past seven seasons. Ryan has received the Coach of the Year award six times, including five straight times dating back to 2000, and has won four consecutive conference championships. THE HOFSTRA-LEHIGH SERIES: Today's match is the tenth meeting between Hofstra and Lehigh in a series that started in The Mountain Hawks lead the series 8-1. The two teams last met on February 6, 2004 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at the Grace Hall. The then-7thranked Mountain Hawks downed Hofstra THE LAST HOFSTRA-LEHIGH MEETING February 6, 2004 at #7 Lehigh: The seventh-ranked Mountain Hawks of Lehigh (18-3) took decisions in seven of the ten weight classes on the way to a 25-9 victory over the 11th-ranked Hofstra Pride at Grace Hall. Lehigh recorded its sixth straight dual victory to improve to Tom Noto, James Strouse and Chris Skretkowicz all posted victories for Hofstra. With the match starting at 125, Lehigh's 12th-ranked Mario Stuart got an early takedown against No. 5 Tom Noto. But Noto fought back to get Hofstra on the board 7-5. Lehigh's Matt Ciasulli accepted a forfeit at 133 to put Lehigh in the lead 6-3. At 141, The Mountain Hawk's sixth-ranked Cory Cooperman took an easy 10-2 major decision over John Manarte. Hofstra came right back at 149 with freshman James Strouse defeating Matt Anderson 7-1. At 157, Derek Zinck topped Chris Vondruska in a close 4-2 victory that saw only one takedown. In the highest-ranked match-up of the night, Lehigh's top-ranked Troy Letters defeated No. 5 Ralph Everett 8-2, getting three takedowns in the process. Everett is the second-highest ranked opponent Letters has

2 faced on the season, as he also defeated No. 4 Pat Owen of Michigan earlier in the season. In the most intense wrestling of the night, No. 5 Brad Dillon squared off against Hofstra's 11th-ranked Noel Thompson at 174. Dillon took an early lead with a takedown and three-point near fall, but then gave it right back with rare back points of his own. With Thompson leading 7-5, Dillon executed another five-point maneuver, and reclaimed control to win In another very close match at 184, Travis Frick used an escape and a penalty point for his opponent stalling to beat Brad Christie 2-1. At 197, Hofstra picked up their third victory of the night as fifth-ranked Chris Skretkowicz shut out Matt Cassidy 8-0. It was Skretkowicz' 16th consecutive victory of the year and improved his record to 30-2 on the season. In the last match of the evening, Lehigh's Paul Weibel defeated Dan Garay at heavyweight by a 8-3 final in overtime, getting a takedown and three point near fall to win by sudden victory. Hofstra lost a point for unsportsmanlike conduct to end the match, giving the 25-9 final score. PROJECTED HOFSTRA STARTES: Here are Hofstra's projected starters for today's match against Lehigh: Class Name Record InterMat/AWN/WIN 125 Dave Tomasette (RFr.) 5-2 NR/NR/NR 133 Charles Griffin (Fr.) 6-0 NR/NR/NR 141 Ricky LaForge (Sr.) /16/ Jon Masa (Jr.) 3-2 5/5/5 157 James Strouse (So.) 4-3 NR/NR/NR 165 Chris Vondruska (So.) 3-3 NR/NR/NR 174 Paul Siemon (Sr.) /14/ Joe Rovelli (Fr.) 4-2 NR/NR/NR 197 Chris Skretkowicz (Sr.) 5-1 5/4/6 HWT Gian Villante (RFr.) 0-0 NR/NR/NR PROJECTED LEHIGH STARTES: Here are Lehigh's projected starters for today's match against the Pride: Class Name W-L InterMat/AWN/WIN 125 John Stout (So.) 1-3 NR/NR/NR 133 Jeff Santo (RFr.) 10-1 NR/16/NR 141 Cory Cooperman (Jr.) 5-0 4/4/3 149 Matt Anderson (So.) /NR/NR 157 Derek Zinck (Jr.) 4-1 7/7/8 165 Troy Letters (Jr.) 2-0 1/1/1 174 Travis Frick (Jr.) 4-1 6/11/7 184 Matt Cassidy (So.) /19/NR 197 Jon Trenge (Sr.) 5-0 1/1/1 HWT Paul Weibel (So.) 7-2 NR/16/NR PRIDE RANKED 10 TH IN NWCA/INTERMAT COACHES POLL: Following their fine showing in Nebraska last weekend, the Hofstra Pride wrestling team moved up from 13th in the preseason poll to number 10 this week in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/InterMat NCAA Division I Poll, as of November 22, The current poll is as follows: NWCA/InterMat Coaches Poll (Team Rankings (First Place Votes) 1) Oklahoma State (11) 2) Lehigh 3) Iowa State 4) Illinois 5) Michigan 6) Nebraska 7) Minnesota 8) Oklahoma 9) Iowa 10) Hofstra 11) West Virginia 12) Cornell 13) Missouri 14) Central Michigan 15) Northern Iowa 16) Penn State 17) Wisconsin 18) Pennsylvania 19) Edinboro 20) Purdue 21) Navy 22) Arizona State 23) UT-Chattanooga 24) Cal-Bakersfield 25) Rider Other teams receiving votes (alphabetical order): California-Poly, Citadel, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio U., Ohio State and Oregon. TWO PRIDE WRESTLERS HONORED BY CAA: Senior Chris Skretkowicz and freshman Charles Griffin were named the Colonial Athletic Association's Co- Wrestler and Co-Rookie of the Week, respectively last Monday. Skretkowicz was 5-1 in his first weekend of competition while Griffin was 6-0. in St. Louis, Missouri. NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS: Tickets for the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are available by calling (877) The 2005 Championships will be held March at the Saavis Center NWCA/INTERMAT INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS: Five Pride wrestlers are ranked in the Top 20 in their respective weight classes in the NWCA/InterMat Preseason Coaches Rankings. Leading the Hofstra pack is two-time All-American senior Chris Skretkowicz, who is ranked fifth at 197 pounds. Junior Jon Masa, a 2003 All-American who returns after an Olympic red-shirt in 2004, is ranked fifth at 149 pounds. Two Pride wrestlers are ranked 13 th in the preseason poll. Senior Ricky LaForge, a 2003 CAA champion and NCAA qualifier at 133 pounds, is ranked

3 13 th at 141 pounds. Sophomore Mike Patrovich, who was an NCAA qualifier as the CAA finalist in 2003, is ranked 13 th at 165 pounds. Senior Paul Siemon, who was a CAA finalist and a NCAA qualifier in 2002 and 2004 at 157, is ranked 14 th at 157 pounds although he is expected to wrestle at 174 pounds this season. (Note: The first InterMat regular season individual rankings have not been released) HOFSTRA LAST WEEK AT NEBRASKA, November 19, 2004: The 13th ranked Pride of Hofstra gave away six points on a forfeit of a weight class and that proved to be the difference as #3 Nebraska edged the Pride in the season opener Friday night at the Devaney Sports Center. After seven matches, Nebraska was down to Hofstra, but at 149 pounds, No. 4 Travis Shufelt came back from two three-point deficits to defeat No. 5 John Masa Shufelt notched a twopoint near-fall with 10 seconds left to snatch the lead, then added a point for his 1:53 advantage in riding time. That started a three-match winning streak for the Huskers. No. 6 B.J. Wright ran off six points in the third period to clinch an 8-2 decision over James Strouse in the 157-pound match. Then at 165 pounds, No. 5 Jacob Klein defeated Chris Vondruska 4-2 to close out the Pride and give Nebraska the victory. The dual started with Hofstra s 174-pound Paul Siemon, ranked 12th, defeating NU s Kyle Gubbels 9-0. At 184 pounds, No. 7 Travis Pascoe gave the Huskers their first win of the night with a 7-4 win over Joe Rovelli. Pascoe stormed back from a 3-2 deficit with forty seconds to go in the second period with five unanswered points. Rovelli earned one extra point for his 1:11 advantage in riding time. In one of two matchups in the dual featuring a pair of rank ed wrestlers, Hofstra s Chris Stretkowicz, ranked sixth at 197 pounds, defeated No. 8 B.J. Padden, Mitch Manstedt, making his return to varsity action since suffering a knee injury early last season, earned a victory by forfeit in the heavyweight division. No. 7 Matt Keller, making his varsity debut at 125 pounds, defeated Dave Tomasette 6-4. At 133 pounds, Hofstra s Charles Griffin pinned Dominick Moyer with 33 seconds left in the first period. Ricky LaForge earned the Pride their fourth win of the night with an 11-1 major decision victory over Chris Nedens at 141 pounds, before NU won the last three matches of the dual. It was a little closer than we would have liked, but Hofstra is a good, well-coached team, NU Coach Mark Manning said. It was a good, hard-fought match, and we ll get better. No. 3 Nebraska 21, No. 13 Hofstra #12 Paul Siemon (HU) by major decision over Kyle Gubbels (NU), #7 Travis Pascoe (NU) by decision over Joe Rovelli (HU), #6 Chris Stretkowicz (HU) by decision over #8 B.J. Padden (NU), 12-7 HWT-Mitch Manstedt (NU) wins by forfeit 125-#7 Matt Keller (NU) by decision over Dave Tomasette (HU), Charles Griffin (HU) by fall over Dominick Moyer (NU), 2: Ricky LaForge (HU) by major decision over Chris Nedens (NU), #4 Travis Shufelt (NU) by decision over #5 Jon Masa (HU), #6 B.J. Wright (NU) by decision over James Strouse (HU), #5 Jacob Klein (NU) by decision over Chris Vondruska (HU), 4-2 PRIDE WILL ROLL THE DICE AT THE LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL: The Pride will participate in two national regular season tournaments this season beginning with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Invitational on December 3 and 4 at the Cashman Convention Center. More than 40 colleges will compete in the two-day early season tournament that features many of the top programs in the country. Slated to compete in the Las Vegas Invitational are Adams State, Arizona State, Augustana, Boise State, Brown, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, California Davis, Citadel, Clarion, Columbia, Cornell, Dana, Dickinson State, Eastern Michigan, Edinboro, Fresno State, George Mason, Harvard, Hofstra, Iowa Central, Kent State, Michigan, Missouri Valley, Missouri, Montana Northern, Nebraska, North Carolina State, North Idaho, Northern Colorado, Northwest Ohio State, Oregon State, Purdue, San Francisco State, UNC Greensboro, Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Air Force, Utah Valley State, Virginia, VMI, West Virginia, Western State, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. HOFSTRA RANKED 11 TH BY W.I.N. MAGAZINE: The Pride moved up one spot this week in the W.I.N. Magazine Division I Top 25 Poll, as of November 24. The poll is as follows: No. Team (Last week) 1. Oklahoma State (1st) 2. Lehigh (2nd) 3. Illinois (3rd) 4. Iowa Sate (5th) 5. Nebraska (4th) 6. Michigan (7th) 7. Minnesota (6th) 8. Oklahoma (8th) 9. Iowa (9th) 10. Missouri (10th) 11. Hofstra (12th) 12. Cornell (11th) 13. West Virginia (15th) 14. Northern Iowa (14th) 15. Central Michigan (16th) 16. Penn State (18th)

4 17. Wisconsin (17th) 18. Tennessee-Chattanooga (NR) 19. Purdue (19th) 20. Edinboro (20th) 21. Cal State-Bakersfield (21st) 22. Arizona State (22nd) 23. Cal Poly (13th) 24. Pennsylvania (24th) 25. Rider (23rd) HOFSTRA TO COMPETE IN THE NWCA/CLIFF KEEN NATIONAL DUALS AGAIN: The Pride will compete again in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at Cleveland State University (OH) Convocation Center from January The multi-division, multi-affiliation tournament features the following NCAA Division I programs: Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Cornell, Penn State, Michigan. Central Michigan, The Citadel, Northern Iowa, Cal Poly, Lehigh, Illinois, Arizona State, Hofstra, Cleveland State and West Virginia. The Pride placed seventh in the 2004 NWCA National Duals. PRIDE RANKED 16 TH BY AMATEUR WRESTLING NEWS: Hofstra is ranked 16 th in the Amateur Wrestling News NCAA Division I Preseason Poll, as of September 27, The poll is as follows: 1-Oklahoma State 2- Lehigh 3-Nebraska 4-Illinois 5-Iowa State 6-Oklahoma 7-Michigan 8-Iowa 9-Minnesota 10-West Virginia 11-Cornell 12-Northern Iowa 13-Cal Poly 14-Missouri 15-Pennsylvania 16-Hofstra 17-Michigan State 18-Oregon 19-Purdue 20-Central Michigan HOFSTRA CONTINUES CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK: The Pride will continue their 35-match conference dual match undefeated streak in Hofstra, which won its last conference dual match in , was in , in , in , in , and in The last time Hofstra dropped a conference dual match was on February 17, 1999 when the Broncs of Rider beat the Pride in an East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) match. THE WRESTLING MALL RANKS THE PRIDE 16 TH IN PRESEASON POLL: The Wrestling Mall ranks the Hofstra Pride 16 th in its preseason poll. The Wrestling Mall also ranked four Hofstra wrestlers in its top 20 rankings. Sophomore John Manarte is ranked 14 th at 141 pounds, junior Jon Masa is ranked fifth at 149 pounds, senior Paul Siemon is ranked 11 th at 157 pounds and senior Chris Skretkowicz is ranked sixth at 197 pounds by the Wrestling mall. The Wrestling Mall Preseason Poll As of 10/4/04 1-Oklahoma State 2- Lehigh 3-Nebraska 4- Iowa State 5-Iowa 6-Illinois 7-Oklahoma 8-Michigan 9-Minnesota 10-West Virginia 11-Cornell 12-Missouri 13-Central Michigan 14-Pennsylvania 15-Cal Poly 16-HOFSTRA 17-Northern Iowa 18-Boise State 19-Stanford 20-Arizona State 21-Northern Illinois 22-Edinboro 23-Cal. State-Bakersfield 24-Wisconsin 25-Penn State HOFSTRA FAVORED AGAIN IN THE CAA: The Hofstra Pride are the preseason favorite to record their fifth consecutive conference championship in a vote of the Colonial Athletic Association coaches. The Pride, who have all 10 wrestlers ranked in the CAA top six, accumulated 56 points in the preseason poll. Rider (38) and Drexel (34), each with 10 ranked wrestlers, placed second and third, respectively in the poll. Boston and Sacred Heart round out the top half of the CAA preseason poll. Old Dominion, George Mason, Wagner, Campbell and James Madison complete the preseason poll. TWO PRIDE WRESTLERS NAMED TO CAA PRESEASON ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Freshmen Charles Griffin at 133 pounds and Joe Rovelli at 184 pounds have been named to the CAA Preseason

5 All-Freshman Team in a vote by conference coaches. Dusty McKinney from George Mason was picked at 125, Mike Roberts from Boston University was selected at 141, Hunter Davenport from Old Dominion was chosen at 149, Billy Haydt from Drexel was picked at 157, Chris Tripp from B.U. was selected at 165, Randy Oates from George Mason was chosen at 174, Jon Oplinger from Drexel was picked at 197 and Alex Eaton from ODU was selected at heavyweight in the preseason All-Freshman Team. HOFSTRA WRESTLING PRONUNCIATIONS: 125- Tomasette (TOM-a-set-e) Nunziato (NOON-zee-otto) Manarte (ma-nar-dee) Masa (MAH-sa) Patrovich (PAT-tro-vitch) Vondruska (Von-droo-ska) Serie (SA-ree) Simons (SY-mons) Rovelli (RO-vell-ee) Skretkowicz (Strek-ko-witz) Weidman (Wide-men) Hwt - Gian Villante (Jon Vill-ahn-tay) Garay (GA-ray) LAST YEAR S HOFSTRA- NCAA QUALIFIERS: Hofstra sent a school recordtying eight wrestlers to the NCAA championships last year. The list with their academic and weight classes are list below returnees are in bold) Tom Noto, 125 (Sr., 2004 CAA Champion; 2003 redshirt; 2002 CAA Champion & NCAA qualifier; 2001 ECWA Champion & NCAA qualifier) John Manarte, 141 (Fr., 2004 CAA finalist) James Strouse, 149 (Fr., 2004 CAA finalist) Paul Siemon, 157 (Jr., 2004 CAA Finalist; 2003 redshirt; 2002 CAA finalist & NCAA qualifier,) Ralph Everett, 165 (Sr., 2004 Honorable Mention All- American and CAA Champion; 2003 CAA Champion (174) & NCAA qualifier, honorable mention All- American; 2002 NCAA qualifier) Noel Thompson, 174 (Sr., 2004 CAA Champion; 2003 CAA Champion (165) & NCAA qualifier, honorable mention All-American; 2002 red-shirt, 2001 ECWA finalist and NCAA qualifier; 2000 ECWA finalist and NCAA qualifier) Brad Christie, 184 (Sr., 2004 CAA finalist, 2003 CAA Champion & NCAA qualifier) Chris Skretkowicz, 197 (Jr., 2004 NCAA Qualifier, All-American and CAA Champion; 2003 NCAA qualifier & All-American; 2002 CAA finalist and NCAA qualifier ) HOFSTRA WRESTLING SCHEDULE/RESULTS Nov. 23 at Keystone Classic 1 st place Nov. 29 NEBRASKA L Dec. 6 WISCONSIN Canc ld. Dec. 10 at Army 31-9 W Dec. 11 BOSTON U W Dec at Midlands Tourn. 4 th place Jan. 10 at Cornell W Jan. 11 HARVARD W Jan. 17 #18 Central Michigan ** W Jan. 17 #5 Missouri ** L Jan. 17 #16 Cornell ** W Jan. 17 #20 Pennsylvania ** W Jan. 18 #8 Michigan ** L Jan. 18 #13 Oklahoma ** L Jan. 23 Binghamton W Jan. 23 Campbell W Jan. 24 at George Mason W Jan. 24 James Madison W Feb. 1 SACRED HEART W Feb. 6 at #7 Lehigh 9-25 L Feb. 13 #16 PENNSYLVANIA W Feb. 14 at Drexel W Feb. 14 at Wagner W Feb. 17 at Rider + Canc ld. Mar. 5-6 at CAA Championships (Rider) 1 st Place Mar at NCAA Championships (St. Louis) 20 th pl. + - CAA match; ++ - CAA Duals at GMU; ** - NWCA National Duals at Cleveland State CAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONS: Here is the list of CAA Wrestling champions since 1992: 1992 George Mason 1993 Virginia Tech 1994 Old Dominion 1995 George Mason 1996 George Mason 1997 George Mason 1998 Virginia Tech 1999 James Madison 2000 James Madison 2001 George Mason 2002 Hofstra 2003 Hofstra 2004 Hofstra Note: Hofstra joined the CAA in

6 HOFSTRA WRESTLING CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Pride captured their 12 th conference wrestling championship since 1975 last March. Hofstra captured league titles in the East Coast Conference in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983; in the East Coast Wrestling Association in 2001; and in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2002, 2003 and The conference champions since 1975 are as follows: EAST COAST CONFERENCE 1975 Hofstra 1976 Hofstra 1977 Hofstra 1978 Hofstra 1979 Hofstra 1980 Hofstra 1981 West Chester 1982 Hofstra 1983 Hofstra 1984 Rider 1985 Drexel 1986 Rider 1987 Bucknell 1988 Rider 1989 Rider 1990 Rider EAST COAST WRESTLING ASSOCIATION 1991 Rider 1992 Central Connecticut 1993 Rider 1994 Rider 1995 Bucknell 1996 Rider 1997 Rider 1998 Rider 1999 Rider 2000 Rider 2001 Hofstra COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (2002-pres.) 2002 Hofstra 2003 Hofstra 2004 Hofstra CHAMPIONSHIP MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLERS: Since 1968, Hofstra wrestlers have been named the MOW in the conference championships 11 times. They were: Marty Willigan Don Mayorga Lou Dionisio Ed Pidgeon Peter Capone , 1985 Mike Arena , 1988 Eric Schmiesing Jason DeBruin Ricky LaForge