Matthew Waddell went a perfect 4-0 at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic on Sunday, Nov. 9, leading the Hofstra University wrestling team in wins.
In the 174-pound blue bracket, Waddell earned one win by fall, one by major decision and two by decision. During the first round of the round-robin style bracket, Waddell beat Lindson Turner of Columbia University 16-3. He followed that with a 6-5 win over Brandon Carr of Franklin and Marshall College (F&M) and a 3-0 victory over Emanuel Psikarakis of Sacred Heart University (SHU). Waddell ended the day with a dominant performance over Harvard University’s Benjamin Smith, winning 17-6 and earning three takedowns in the third period to extend his lead.
Noah Tapia, Gauge Shipp, Gino Manta and Tommy Aiello all earned two wins for the Pride in their respective brackets.
In the more competitive 149-pound white bracket, Tapia went 2-2 wrestling unattached. He lost by technical fall 15-0 to Kelly Dunnigan of the University of Pennsylvania and 8-3 to Devon Magro of Rutgers University. Tapia bounced back, however, narrowly defeating Virginia University’s Jayce Paridon 7-6 and F&M’s Pat Phillips 4-2.
Eleven was Shipp’s magic number since he scored that many points during both of his matches in the 133-pound blue bracket. He beat Ethan Timar from the University of Virginia 11-4 and Kade Kluce of Bloomsburg University 11-5.
Also at 133 pounds, in the tan bracket, Manta bested SHU’s Anthony Samuels 3-0 before falling by major decision to Devin Ryan of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In his fifth-place match, Manta won 7-1 over Spencer VonSavoyge of Duke University after scoring a takedown in the first period and earning four near-fall points in the second.
Manta’s fellow freshman teammate Aiello won two matches in the 125-pound blue bracket. He beat Lock Haven University’s Alex Reed in a narrow match that ended at 6-5. In a second match against Reed, Aiello earned the first takedown but was pinned in the second period. Aiello ended his day with a win by major decision 12-3 over SHU’s Tyler Hildebrandt.
Josh Jorgge was the only freshman who earned a win that day. In the 184-pound green bracket, Jorgge earned three takedowns on his way to an 11-3 victory over Xander Kuokkanen from the University of Pennsylvania.
Four other Hofstra wrestlers earned wins: Adrian Sans in the 285-pound green bracket, Cam Ice in the 149-pound brown bracket, Chase Hontz in the 157-pound tan bracket and Jurius Clark in the 174-pound red bracket.
This week, Hofstra traveled for their first Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association dual of the season against SHU on Thursday, Nov. 13, before returning to Hempstead for their first home dual of the season against Columbia University on Sunday, Nov. 16.
