In Saturday's opener against the Dukes of James Madison, the Pride captured eight of the 10 matches, including tech falls by junior Dave Tomasette (10-5) at 125, senior John Manarte (2-3) at 149, and senior James Strouse (27-2) at 157, to cruise to a 34-12 victory. Hofstra won the first five matches in the contest, building a 21-0 lead, before James Madison came back with a forfeit win and a win by fall by Ivan Lagares to close the deficit to 21-12. But Pride junior Joe Rovelli (22-4) won by forfeit at 184, senior Chris Weidman (19-5) posted a major decision at 197, and graduate-student Matt Pollock (10-17) tallied a 1-0 victory over Zack Winfrey to close out the match.
The Pride's second match on Saturday against host George Mason was more of the same as Hofstra won eight of the 10 matches, including wins by fall by freshman Lou Ruggirello and senior Chris Weidman, to record a 34-9 victory over the Patriots. The Pride captured the first five matches to take a 20-0 lead before George Mason put some points on the scoreboard by way of a Hofstra forfeit at 165. Ruggirello (24-5) recorded his second pin of the CAA Duals and his sixth of the year with a fall in 1:30 over Will Powars in the second match at 133. Pride freshman Ryan Brown (6-3) tallied his second win of the Duals at 141 while senior John Manarte (3-3) posted his second win with a decision at 149. After Dan Cook's forfeit win for the Patriots, sophomore Alton Lucas (16-7) and junior Joe Rovelli (23-4) scored major decision wins at 174 and 184, respectively. Senior Chris Weidman (20-5) tallied his 20th win of the year with a pin of Harry Zander in 2:50. GMU's Ryan Kittrick edged Matt Pollock (10-18) in the match finale.
The Pride's final match of the CAA Duals proved to be their toughest as the Drexel Dragons proved to be a challenging foe in a 26-15 Hofstra victory. Pride junior Dave Tomasette (12-5) posted his fifth victory of the CAA Duals with a 10-3 decision over Steve Mytech at 125. Freshman Lou Ruggirello (25-5) also posted his fifth win of the Duals with a pin of William Martin in 1:15 at 133 to boost the Pride lead to 9-0. Junior Charles Griffin (21-4) then tallied a tech fall (16-1) over Morgan Remillard. Drexel senior Mark Cartella cut the deficit to 14-3 with a 6-1 decision over John Manarte (3-4). But Pride senior James Strouse (29-2) took the points right back with a 7-5 decision over Ryan Hluschak at 157. Billy Haydt took a forfeit win at 165 and Nick Kozar recorded a 5-3 upset victory over Alton Lucas (16-8) in sudden victory to close the deficit to 17-12. But Hofstra junior Joe Rovelli (24-4) at 184, and senior Chris Weidman (21-5) at 197 tallied a tech fall and a major decision, respectively, to put the match out of reach. Both Rovelli and Weidman were members of Hofstra's five victory club this weekend along with Tomasette, Ruggirello and Strouse. Drexel's Chris Cowen defeated Matt Pollock to close out the contest.
The Pride return to action this Friday, January 26 when they travel to Philadelphia to face #13 Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. Hofstra will then host #25 Lehigh, who upset #11 Cornell Friday night, on Sunday at the New York Athletic Club (59th Street and Central Park South in Manhattan) at 5 p.m.
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