Freshman Joe McGinty from Monroe, New York, is one of the numerous members on the wrestling team exceeding expectations this year. 

McGinty began wrestling in fifth grade and has continued ever since. He attended Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, where he wrestled for four years, compiling an overall record of 155-23 while finishing second in the 160-pound weight class at the 2020 NYSPHSAA Intersectional Wrestling Championships. After going 46-4 his senior year, he became a Section IX champion. 

“When I first started wrestling, I hated it,” McGinty said. “It took me a while to get over a little bit of anxiety when I was a kid. It wasn’t until seventh grade that I started getting used to it. After that, it got exponentially better.”

Although McGinty has been wrestling since fifth grade, it hasn’t always been his main focus. He initially played football before dedicating most of his time to wrestling.

 “I played football up until high school, and then I stopped,” he said. “Football was way easier than wrestling ­– it’s more about how plays go, but wrestling is all eyes on you. It’s a lot more physically demanding, and even though your teammates help you out, it is all on you in the end. So it’s a lot more of a mental game and holding yourself accountable.” 

It wasn’t a tough decision for McGinty to make Hofstra his number one choice when touring schools.

“When I came here, it was a mixture of academics and the team atmosphere,” McGinty said. “I felt when I went to a couple of other places that I visited, it didn’t seem they were as focused, but here they seemed more focused. I got to meet the team, see how they were, and I really liked the team chemistry.” 

He describes the atmosphere of Hofstra wrestling as loyal.

“The team always has a good culture. We have each other’s back no matter what, on and off the mat. Everybody works hard. If you see someone slacking, anyone is going to call you out, so it’s a really good environment to build off each other.”

On the mat, McGinty achieved four wins and one loss in his first year, competing at 157 pounds. He was able to end the season strong, on a four-match win streak, with three of those wins being by decision and one by fall. For the 2021-22 season thus far, McGinty has compiled three wins by fall and four by decision. 

Although he’s only been on the team for a short period of time, McGinty mentioned his most significant accomplishment for the Pride. 

 “Since this is my first year really wrestling, starting at 157-pounds was a great accomplishment; otherwise, last year, I had a big win over an NCAA qualifier, and so far, that’s probably my biggest win,” he said.

He was also recognized as the recipient of his team’s Best Newcomer/Freshman Award. 

“It felt really good, a lot of work went in last year, so it felt really rewarding and a nice stepping stone to continue going on,” McGinty said.

He has high goals for the rest of this season. “This year, [I want] to upset the conference and make it to the nationals but moving forward, my main goal is to become an NCAA All-American at the very least,” McGinty said.

Becoming an All-American requires much perseverance and dedication, but McGinty believes he can make it happen. “I’ve just got to be able to keep myself consistent and accountable to what I need to do and always be focused on every practice and making every workout and practice count,” he said. 

As inspiration, McGinty lists Olympic wrestler Jordan Burroughs, one of the world’s best freestyle wrestlers in American history, and his father, who wrestled at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

McGinty has excelled academically and was named a National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-American for the 2020-21 academic year, in addition to making the Hofstra Athletic Director Scholars Academic Honor Roll and the Dean’s List.  

Currently majoring in health science, McGinty potentially plans to go to medical school and work as an anesthesiologist or a pediatrician after his undergraduate career. “Originally, when I was a junior in high school, my physics teacher was telling us what his grandfather did – anesthesiology – the hours, workload, and life balance ,” McGinty said. “My uncle is a pediatrician, and it seems like a great career path seeing how his life is.”

Ultimately, McGinty doesn’t know which career path he will take, but whatever he decides, he knows it will be the best decision for him.  

Despite being in his first official year of collegiate wrestling, McGinty has achieved many accomplishments. He looks forward to the seasons to come and will continue to improve. However, McGinty is also proud of his achievements thus far and knows he has several years left to make his dreams a reality.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes/Hofstra Athletics