By Mark Walters
This winter break was hardly a “break” for the Hofstra wrestling team. It was an up-and-down stretch for the Pride, who finished the month of December ranked No. 19 in the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA Poll, and began the month of January ranked No. 17 by WIN Magazine for the sixth consecutive week. This ranking came after placing eighth at the Southern Scuffle, held in Greensboro, North Carolina.
In addition to an easy win over North Carolina State at home, mid-January saw a historic loss by the Pride as it fell to Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia, at the CAA Duals.
Hofstra downed Boston University 38-3, Rider 23-12, and Sacred Heart 40-9, but the host Monarchs defeated the Pride 17-15. A team penalty point was assessed against ODU in Jordan Enck’s 285-pound match against Roy Dragon, but it wasn’t enough for Enck, the Pride or their now-snapped Hofstra’s 63-match conference undefeated streak.
Over that span Hofstra was 62-0-1. Hofstra last dropped a conference match to Rider on Febraury 17, 1999. At that time, the Pride was competing in the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA). Hofstra did not join the CAA until the 2001-02 season.
Hofstra found itself ranked No. 20 heading into a pivotal meeting against fifth-ranked Ohio State at the Mack on January 25.
The Buckeyes beat Hofstra 19-13 in a close match before the Pride headed to Philadelphia, where it split a pair of matches, beating CAA-foe Drexel 30-10 and losing to Pennsylvania 18-16.
Several accolades were handed out over the past month-and-a-half as Lou Ruggirello was name CAA Wrestler of the Week for all competition from December 10 to January 4. Freshman Steve Bonanno was named the CAA Wrestling Rookie of the Week for all competition from January 6-12, and Ruggirello additionally was named CAA Wrestler of the Week from January 12-18. Also for that week, freshman Justin Accordino was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week. For the week of January 20-26 junior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman was named CAA Wrestler of the Week.
Six wrestlers were placed in the first NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings which will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships held in St. Louis, Missouri.
At 174 pounds, senior Alton Lucas is ranked ninth with a record of 17-4. Lou Ruggirello (19-3) at 133 and Jonny Bonilla-Bowman (16-6) at 157 are ranked no. 12 and no. 19, respectively. Sophomore Ryan Patrovich is ranked No. 21 at 165 pounds, Steve Bonanno is No. 23 at 125 pounds, and sophomore Joe Fagiano is No. 24 at 197 pounds. Patrovich is 13-5, Bonanno is 23-9, and Fagiano is 13-4 this season. The rankings are the first of three that will come out this season.
The currently No. 21 Pride returns to action Sunday at 5 p.m. as it hosts third-ranked Cornell at the Mack. During halftime of the match Hofstra will honor its only national wrestling champion Nick Gallo ’78. Gallo won the national title at 126 pounds in 1977.