The Hofstra wrestling team saw two wrestlers place second in the first annual Journeymen Tussle at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Sunday.

Seven teams wrestled in the individual round-robin style tournament, including two teams that are currently ranked in the NCAA. Rutgers University is ranked No. 12 and North Carolina State University is ranked No. 9 in the nation.

“Overall, it was the deepest and strongest competition we wrestled all year,” said Hofstra head coach Dennis Papadatos.

Even with the tough competition, the Pride wrestlers had a successful day, with four wrestlers placing in the top three in their respective weight class brackets.

Some highlights for the Pride include Jake Kaminsky placing second at 157 pounds and Sage Heller placing second in the 174-pound bracket.

Kaminsky went 2-1 on the day, winning his first two matches, but losing in the championship bout.

He won his first match by a score of 6-5 against Matt Lattanze from Brown University. Kaminsky was down early, but had the determination to come back and win a close match.

Kaminsky dominated his second match against William McDonald, also from Brown, winning 12-4.

In his final match, wrestling for first place, Kaminsky spent a lot of time on his back, and lost the match 15-3 to Campbell University.

This loss gave Kaminsky the second-place finish.

Another wrestler who stood out in Sunday’s tournament was Heller. He went 3-1 and earned second place at 174 pounds.

Heller started off in the best way possible, with a pin against Brown’s Galloway Thurston.

Unfortunately, his second match did not end as well, as he lost by a technical fall against Nick Reenan from NC State.

Heller bounced back from the loss by winning his final two matches, 9-3 and 11-2, respectively.

His last win gave him a second-place finish.

“It felt good, had one tough match, but overall I think I wrestled really well,” Heller said.

Another standout wrestler was Michael Oxley at 184 pounds.

He went 2-1, finishing in 5th place, but had two dominant wins, finishing the day by winning 12-0 and 12-3, respectively.

“[Oxley] is in the right weight, he’s believing. Oxley is coming along,” Papadatos said.

There is a lot to look forward to with this young Hofstra team, some of which showed at Sunday’s tournament.

“We’ve had some highs, some good wins, we had some lows and it’s kind of been roller coastering. Overall, I think today was a success,” Papadatos said.

The Pride will next wrestle Binghamton University in Binghamton on Dec. 9.