On Sunday, March 5, the Hofstra Pride wrestling team competed in the second day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships, held at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Pride had just one wrestler qualify for the NCAA championships; that wrestler was senior and team captain Trey Rogers at 197 pounds. The day before, Rogers won his first match and lost his second to move into the consolation bracket before ending the day with a win.
To start the second day, Rogers won his match 7-2 against Sean O’Malley of Drexel University to move into the semi-final round of the consolation bracket. There, Rogers was pinned by No. 3 seed Luke Stout of Princeton University at 3:36. This loss moved Rogers into the fifth-place match, where he needed to win in order to move on to the NCAA tournament, as only five spots were allocated at his weight class.
Rogers faced Jack Wehmeyer of Columbia University. The match was scoreless in the first period, with Rogers stuck on the bottom for most of the second period before earning a point from Wehmeyer’s stalling and finally getting an escape. In the third period, Rogers gave Wehmeyer an escape point to start the match in neutral before earning two takedowns to win 6-3.
The next highest-placed member of the Pride came at 184 pounds with Jacob Ferreira earning sixth. His day started by pinning James Conway of Franklin & Marshall College at the 6:05 mark. In his next match, Ferreira needed to win his match to qualify for the NCAA tournament, as only four spots were allocated at that weight class. Ferreira battled against Brian Bonino of Drexel. The match was tight throughout, with it going into triple overtime. The first three periods ended with a 3-3 tie, with Bonino earning a point for Ferreira’s stalling – a call that was challenged by the Hofstra coaching bench. Ultimately, Bonino won, and Ferreira went on to lose to Nate Dugan of Princeton University 3-2 in the fifth-place match. He had also lost to Dugan the day before by an 8-3 score.
Two other members of the Pride placed, as Justin Hoyle and Ross McFarland both placed seventh at 141 and 174 pounds respectively. Hoyle was pinned by Malyke Hines of Lehigh University at 3:36 to move him into the seventh-place match and end his chances of qualifying for the NCAA tournament. He then faced Julian Sanchez of Army West Point, where he won 6-5.
McFarland lost to Sammy Starr of the United States Naval Academy (NAVY) 4-0, ending his chances of qualifying. In the seventh-place match, McFarland faced Jake Logan of Lehigh, where he won 3-2. At-large bids are still unknown, so it is possible for more members of the Pride to make it to NCAAs. At the end of the tournament, the Pride ended the championships in twelfth place with 34 team points.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
