By Kevin Carroll – Staff Writer
It was a valiant effort, but the Hofstra wrestling team was simply outmatched by the nationally ranked Cornell Big Red, dropping Saturday’s meet by a score of 41-7.
Coming into the meet, the Pride were not expected to make much noise against a Cornell squad that currently sits at #6 in the NCAA wrestling rankings. “We were expected to win two matches, on paper, and we won those two matches,” remarked Hofstra head coach Dennis Papadatos after the match.
The Pride’s struggles showed almost immediately, as junior Jermaine John was the first Pride wrestler to take the mat, in the 134 weight class. He fell to the Big Red’s Gabriel Dean at the 2:42 mark, giving Cornell a 6-0 advantage. Mike Oxley fared no better for the Pride, as the 197 pound junior lost a major decision to Cornell’s Jace Bennett, putting the Pride in an early 10-0 hole.
Next up on the mat was Pride heavyweight Mike Hughes, who gutted out an impressive 3-2 decision victory over Jacob Aiken-Phillips to pick up the Pride’s first three points. Unfortunately, the Pride failed to capitalize on the momentum generated from Hughes’ victory, as the Big Red rattled off twelve straight points, by virtue of a Nahshon Garrett pinfall victory at the 125 class over the Pride’s Bryan Damon, and a forfeit victory at the 133, to take a commanding 22-3 lead.
Hofstra standout Jamel Hudson squared off against Cornell’s Nick Arujau in the next bout, and after finding himself in an early hole, Hudson put on a wrestling clinic, rattling off eighteen unanswered points to win an 18-8 major decision over Arujau, and bring the score to 22-7. “That was the gutsiest win Jamel’s ever had,” said Papadatos. “He was down 8-0, and won 18-8. That’s pretty impressive.”
Hudson’s victory would ultimately be the Pride’s last, as Cornell claimed wins in the final four weight classes. Cody Ruggirello’s absence due to injury continued to be a huge setback for the Pride, as Alex Mirante took his place at the 149 division on Saturday, and fell, by pinfall, to the Big Red’s Taylor Simaz. 157-pounder Jahlani Callender fared no better, as he ended up on the wrong end of a 12-2 major decision, bringing Cornell’s lead to 32-7.
It was more of the same as redshirt senior Nick Terdick fell to Cornell’s Dylan Palacio by pin at the 165 class. In the meet’s final match, Frank Affronti of the Pride put up an incredible fight against George “Duke” Pickett at the 174 class, but was unable to pull out a last-ditch victory, as he lost a 3-0 decision, bringing the final score to 41-7, in favor of the Big Red of Cornell.
After the match, Coach Papadatos spoke about the expectations faced when going up against a dominant team like Cornell. “The second it becomes okay because they’re so much better than us, you’ve lost even more than the actual match. You have to get to your line in the sand.”
With the loss, the Pride falls to 5-10, with a 3-4 record in the EIWA. Sixth-ranked Cornell improves to 13-1 on the year, and remains undefeated in the EIWA, with a 6-0 conference mark.
The Hofstra wrestling team heads to the City of Brotherly Love for their next match, as they look to slay the Drexel Dragons, and look to avoid black cats and broken mirrors, as they head to Philly on Friday the 13th, for a 7:00 meet at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
