By Adam Engel — SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Hofstra wrestling team ended its season on a sour note, falling to Brown University 37-6 in the Pride’s season finale on Saturday afternoon.
Starting off the match at the 125-pound weight class, Hofstra sophomore Bryan Damon lost a close one, 3-1 in the first round of overtime. Hofstra forfeited at the 133-pound class, and at the 141-pound class, the Bears’ Charlie Banaszak won by tech fall over the Pride’s Marcus Begay, 16-1.
Going into the fourth match of the afternoon, Brown picked up another huge win by a 17-5 decision at the 149-pound class, giving them an 18-0 lead over the Pride. Brown junior Justin Staudenmayer then won a 10-1 decision, giving the Bears a commanding 22-0 lead.
Heading into the sixth match of the day at 165 Brown`s sophomore Christian LaBrie won by tech fall over Bobby Fehr of Hofstra, 15-0.
Next at 174, Brown`s Andrew LaBrie kept the intensity up, notching a big win over the Pride’s Frank Affronti, 7-2, which gave the Bears a 30-0 lead.
Next up, at the 197-pound class, Brown senior Augustus Marker won by an 8-0 decision over Omar Haddad, putting Hofstra behind 37-0.
Hofstra finally got on the board via forfeit at the 285-pound weight class, picking up six points. The Pride still finished well short of the Bears, and ended its season with a 37-6 defeat.
Although the Hofstra wrestling team ended off on the wrong foot, the team still has plenty to look forward to. The Pride will now look to prepare for the EIWA Championships at Princeton University on Mar. 5-6.
