Tom RyanThe Pride will face the Top 4 teams from last year's NCAA Championships, and will have five Top 40 teams visiting Hofstra Arena including national runners-up Michigan, #18 West Virginia and #30 Pennsylvania. The Pride will also battle defending national champions Oklahoma State, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Cornell and #8 Lehigh on the road and will face numerous other Top 40 teams at the 24th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, and at the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in mid-January.
Hofstra's six-match home schedule at Hofstra Arena begins on Thursday, November 17 when the Pride will host Oregon State University at 7 p.m. Hofstra will host two Ivy League programs on December 11 as Harvard University and Columbia University will provide the competition beginning at 5 p.m. The Pride will open 2006 in fine fashion by hosting the Wolverines of the University of Michigan, who placed second at last year's NCAA Championships, on Monday, January 2 at 7 p.m. The always tough Mountaineers of West Virginia, who placed 18th at last year's Championships, will come into Hofstra Arena on January 6th at 7 p.m. The Pride will wrap up its home schedule on January 25 at 7 p.m. against the Quakers of Pennsylvania. Penn finished 30th at the NCAA Championships and are led by 2004 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Coach and former West Virginia Assistant Coach Zeke Jones.
Coming off their fifth consecutive conference championship and a school-best 17th place finish at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Ryan will be looking to move into the elite air this season with, quite possibly, the deepest roster in school history. Hofstra, which sent nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships last year after capturing its fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association crown, return 12 letterwinners including seven starters, seven NCAA qualifiers and five conference champions.
Leading the Pride is two-time All-American Jon Masa. The senior from Long Beach, New York, captured his third CAA championship and placed third at the NCAA Championships at 149 pounds. Senior Mike Patrovich also returns after winning the CAA title at 165 pounds and just missing All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Senior Ricky LaForge was a CAA finalist at 141 pounds and made his second NCAA Championship appearance last year.
The underclassmen are talented and experienced. Junior James Strouse won his first CAA title at 157 and made his second nationals appearance last season. Sophomores Charles Griffin, Joe Rovelli and Dave Tomasette are also coming off outstanding seasons. Griffin, the CAA Rookie of the Year, captured the conference title at 133 pounds and finished the year at 27-6. Rovelli, who challenged Griffin for top CAA newcomer honors, captured the conference title at 184 pounds and finished the year at 23-9. Tomasette was a conference finalist at 125 pounds and posted a 19-14 mark while making his first national championship appearance. Junior John Manarte, a CAA finalist and a NCAA qualifier in 2004, is also expected to challenge for a starting role in 2005-06.
The Pride newcomers are also expected to create some excitement this season. Junior college transfer Chris Weidman, who red-shirted last season, was a two-time All-American at Nassau Community College and is expected to fill the shoes of graduated All-American Chris Skretkowicz at 197 pounds. Another Nassau CC All-American Jon Andriac, the top-ranked heavyweight on the junior college circuit last season, is expected to fill the spot that was vacant most of last season for the Pride. Senior Mike Parziale, a three-time Most Valuable Wrestler at Franklin and Marshall College and a three-time New England scholastic champion at Woburn (MA) High School, is expected to challenge at 157 pounds.
Freshman Alton Lucas, who was a high school All-American at West Babylon (NY) High School and the top-ranked senior wrestler in the country in his weight class, will battle junior Chris Vondruska for the starting role at 165 pounds. Six-time Junior National All-American Mitch Smith, from Ripley High School in West Virginia, and Senior Nationals champion Mike Pucillo, from Walsh Jesuit High School in Ohio, will make Hofstra a more formidable power in 2005-06.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now