On Saturday, March 8, No. 28 Kyle Mosher and No. 32 Ross McFarland both became Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Champions and qualified for the NCAA Championships. They are Hofstra University’s third and fourth EIWA Champions since joining the conference this is the first time two have won in the same season.
Mosher won his championship bout at 165 pounds after Noah Mulvaney of Bucknell University medically forfeited. Mulvaney was carried off the mat on crutches after his semifinal match on Friday, March 7. Mosher’s semifinal match was also determined by a medical forfeit, with the win automatically qualifying him for the NCAA Championships. In total, Mosher wrestled just 97 seconds on his path to the championships.
In his final match at 184 pounds, McFarland took on Caden Rogers of Lehigh University. As the host school, the Lehigh crowd was ruckus, but that didn’t stop McFarland from earning the first takedown. After starting the second period on bottom, Rogers escaped and fought for a takedown of his own to make the score 4-3 in his favor. McFarland didn’t stay down for long; he was awarded one point after Rogers locked hands on top before quickly earning a reversal to bring the score to 6-4. In the third period, McFarland started on bottom and earned an escape. Another takedown moved his lead to 10-4. After a riding time point, McFarland won by decision 11-4. As an EIWA Champion, McFarland automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships.
For the rest of the Pride, Noah Tapia placed fourth at 149 pounds, Justin Hoyle placed sixth at 141 pounds, and Jurius Clark and Nikolas Miller both placed seventh at 157 and 197 pounds, respectively.
Tapia started his day with a gritty 4-1 sudden victory win over Ivan Garcia of Binghamton in the consolation semifinals. In a match to place third, Tapia once again found himself in sudden victory overtime against Kaemen Smith of the United States Naval Academy. Tapia was in on a shot, but Smith reattacked to earn the final takedown and win the match.
In his consolation semifinal match, Hoyle lost by a pin to a familiar foe, Drexel University’s Jordan Soriano. Wrestling for fifth place against Richard Treanor of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Hoyle was down 9-1 with less than a minute left. He fought for an escape and a takedown, but it was ultimately not enough as he lost by decision 10-5.
Clark won his seventh-place match over Sacred Heart University’s Felix Lettini by decision 7-6. Miller dominated his seventh-place match with a 17-2 win by technical fall over RJ Moore of Franklin & Marshall College.
After the second day of the tournament, Hofstra placed seventh as a team with 79.5 points.
The NCAA Championships take place on Thursday, March 20, through Saturday, March 22, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mosher and McFarland both look to become Hofstra’s first All-Americans since 2018 and the program’s second and third NCAA Champions in Hofstra history.
