After 25 matches, only Keaton Kluever and Jurius Clark remained from the Hofstra University wrestling team for day one of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championship on Friday, March 8.
Kluever started his day at the 285-pound weight class as the No. 4 seed with a win over Vincent Mueller of Columbia University. A challenge was made by Hofstra after action on the edge of the mat early in the match that could have earned Kluever an early 7-0 lead, but no points were awarded. Nevertheless, Kluever won 11-5 to move on to the quarterfinals. There, he faced Lewis Fernandes of Cornell University, whom Kluever had beaten by pin earlier in the season at the Journeymen Colligate Classic. Fernandes was not caught by Kluever this time, instead getting a single-leg takedown and near-fall points multiple times to win 13-0. Now in the consolation bracket, Kluever needed one more win to move on to day two and to automatically qualify for the NCAA championships, with 285 pounds earning eight automatic qualifying spots for the EIWA. After an early takedown and back points to put himself ahead against Will Jarrell of American University, Kluever scored two takedowns in the third period to win 14-3.
Entering the tournament as the No. 6 seed at 157 pounds, Clark had a rematch against Drexel University’s Tyler Williams. Clark lost to Williams 1-5 in his last match of the regular season and fell once again, this time 8-3. Against his next opponent, Devon Capato of American University, Clark earned a takedown in the first period and two in the second to solidify his 11-4 win. To end the night, Clark had a tough matchup against Jonathan Ley of the United States Naval Academy. Clark earned an escape and takedown in the second period before Ley earned a reversal. At the start of the third period, Ley got an escape to narrow the score to 4-3, but Clark earned a takedown to move on to day two with an 8-4 win.
Noah Tapia and Jake Slotnick each earned wins but did not move on to the second day of the tournament. At 149 pounds, Tapia entered as the No. 8 seed and, like Clark, had a rematch of his last match of the regular season against Drexel’s Dom Findora. Tapia lost to Findora by the same score as his dual meet loss, 5-4. Entering the third period of his next match down 4-3 against Bucknell University’s Braden Bower, Tapia fought for a takedown to help him win 6-5. However, Tapia’s day came to an end after being pinned by No. 3 seed Kelvin Griffin of Lehigh University.
Coming in as the No. 8 seed at 165 pounds, Slotnick had a hard-fought loss in the first round against Cael Berg of Harvard University, falling just 6-5 after Berg earned a riding time point. Slotnick then earned a firm 14-4 win over American’s Breon Phifer to stay alive. The No. 6 seed Cody Walsh of Drexel proved to be too much for Slotnick, however, pinning him in just over 4 minutes.
As for the rest of the Pride, Will Conlon earned a win by medical forfeit over Connor Bourne of American but lost in the next round. Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (125), Dylan Ryder (133), Alex Turley (141), Ross McFarland (174) and Nikolas Miller (197) all went 0-2 on the day.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Matteo Bracco
