The Hofstra Pride wrestling team ended Thanksgiving weekend by finishing 1-1 at Grapple at the Garden at Madison Square Garden on Sunday morning.
Hofstra wrestled eighth ranked Cornell and George Mason University during the tournament.

Their first match of the day was against a very strong Cornell team and the Pride was shut out 39-0.

Jacob Martin started the day off at 125 pounds by fighting hard against Cornell’s Noah Baughman. Martin kept the match close, but gave up a takedown with 18 seconds left in the third period and lost the match 3-1.

Vinny Vespa wrestled next for the Pride, losing 14-12 to Cornell’s Mark Grey. Vespa was down 9-1 early in the match, but was able to come back by riding tough and earning eight back points late in the match. There was some confusion on the scoring after the match but when the dust settled Grey was awarded the win.

Ryan Burkert was also able to keep his match close at 149 pounds, but was not able to secure the win against the 19th ranked wrestler in the nation, Joey Galasso. Burkert was up 4-3 going into the third period, but a stalling call against Burkert tied the match. Galasso scored the winning takedown at the end of the third period, winning 9-6.

Bobby Fehr showed some strengths in his 165-pound match against the 20th ranked wrestler in the country, Brandon Womack. Fehr used a duck-under to take an early lead in the first period. Fehr also wrestled tough, but could not win the match. Womack earned a fall in three minutes and 50 seconds.

Sage Heller battled last year’s NCAA runner-up at 174 pounds, Brian Realmuto. A questionable six-points that were awarded to Realmuto set the tone for the match early. Heller was unable to come back from the deficit. Heller lost 21-3 by technical fall, but it was a very close technical fall, as Heller was handicapped by the early questionable call.

“That match wasn’t like that score was, it was craziness,” said Hofstra head coach Dennis Papadatos about Heller’s match.

Hofstra had a tough match against Cornell, but Coach Papadatos kept his head up about the result.

“I think we battled as hard as Hofstra has in a long time,” Coach Papadatos said. “I was really happy with the fight of the guys.”

He also commented on the mental aspect of wrestling and how it affected the match.

“During the really tough situations, we were tough but I don’t know if we fully believed, and the Cornell kid believed,” said Coach Papadatos. “I tell [the wrestlers] every day, you deserve to win…We battled and that’s the first step of getting to where we need to be.”

Hofstra’s second match of the day was against George Mason University and it was more to the liking of Hofstra fans. The Pride was victorious, winning by a score of 18-13.

Jacob Martin started the match off with a 7-1 win over Quinton Tucker at 125 pounds. Martin was dominant throughout the entire match.

Vinny Vespa followed suit with his own dominant 6-3 win over Lio Quezada at 133 pounds.

Jake Kaminsky won his bout at 157 pounds over Matthew Raines 11-5. Kaminsky was able to effectively use his single leg takedown throughout the match to keep his offense rolling.

Bobby Fehr used his quickness and his strong duck-under to pull out a 14-10 victory at 165 pounds against Garrett Tingen. Fehr had multiple quick escapes and hit his second duck-under of the match with ten seconds left in the third period to secure his victory.

Coach Papadatos was very pleased with how Fehr’s match went. “That was a match I was concerned about coming in, it was a swing match,” said Coach Papadatos. “So, I’m happy we pulled it out. Bobby hasn’t wrestled on the mat in two weeks, so he came out with a good win against a good kid late and that’s nice to see,” said Coach Papadatos.

Sage Heller won the 174-pound bout against Patrick Davis by a score of 9-8. He had a few great defensive moves throughout the match and finished off the third period with a tilt and two back points to win the match.

“Sage is a true freshman,” said Coach Papadatos, “He’s going to get better and better every day.”

Michael Oxley showed potential at 184 pounds, but could not get the win. He lost by a score of 5-2, but not before putting up a fight. Oxley was able to hold off his opponent by scrambling out of some tough situations. The match was tied going into the third period, but Oxley was unable to hold on for the victory.

Nazar Haddad scraped by for the 5-3 overtime win against Matt Meadows. Haddad got hit for stalling late in the third period, which tied the match at three. Haddad turned it on in overtime, getting the sudden death takedown early in the period.

“We have a goal this year, and that is to make everyone know that [Hofstra] is at least back,” said Coach Papadatos.

And they did just that Sunday, battling hard against a top ten ranked team in Cornell and beating George Mason University behind strong performances by young wrestlers.

The Pride will next wrestle at the Journeyman Tussle Tournament at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Sunday Dec. 4 starting at 9 a.m.