The Hofstra wrestling team swept back-to-back dual meets on Sunday, Feb. 16, defeating Harvard University 20-17 and Brown University 29-6 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
The Pride moved to 6-0 in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) play, setting a new program record for conference wins in a season since joining in 2013. Head coach Dennis Papadatos tied his career-high for dual meet wins in a season, grabbing win number 10 against Brown.
Both meets began with the 174-pound weight class, which meant Sage Heller set the tone. The redshirt junior needed just one period to tech fall Harvard’s Michael Bausano 16-1 but required a full-match effort to defeat Brown’s Bryce Rogers 8-7.
In his second match, Sage Heller fought back from an early 4-0 deficit, getting the winning takedown with 14 seconds to go in the final period.
“[Sage Heller] is, we feel, much better than that kid,” Papadatos said, “Things went awry and he believed and he stayed confident and he got a nice win.”
Despite losing a four-match pin streak, Sage Heller has won 10 of his last 11 matches.
At 185 pounds, Charles Small continued his recent surge, winning both of his bouts. He began with a 10-2 major decision over Michael Doggett of Harvard and finished with an 11-5 decision over Aaron Wolk of Brown. After losing 10 of his first 11 matches overall, Small has gone 6-4 over his last 10, including a forfeit win against Franklin and Marshall in a match that he was winning before his opponent was injured.
“He’s always said he’s a late-season wrestler,” Papadatos said, “Here we are in the late season, and he’s put it together.”
Trey Rogers continued his winning streak at 197 pounds, going 2-0 on the day. He was credited with a 24-9 tech fall on Harvard’s Evan Callahan and a much closer 3-1 win over Brown’s Nino Bastianelli. Rogers’ seven-match win streak includes two tech falls and three major decisions.
The heavyweight, Zachary Knighton-Ward, saw his six-match win streak come to an end at the hands of the No. 10 wrestler in the country, Harvard’s 285-pound Yaraslau Slavikouski. The hard-fought match ended in a close 3-2 decision. The Pride wrestler bounced back against James Valentino, however, picking up the Brown wrestler and slamming him to the mat en route to a pin.
At 125 pounds, the Pride’s best pound-for-pound wrestler, Dylan Rider, kept on winning, giving up just one point all day. He shut out the Crimson’s Beau Bayless 7-0 before defeating Brown’s Trey Keeley 6-1.
These were just the second and third of Rider’s 12 wins on the season to come by way of regular decision. At the halfway points of each match, Hofstra led Harvard and Brown 17-3 and 18-0, respectively.
Garrett Lambert and Justin Hoyle split duties at 133 pounds. In his first action since January 5th, Lambert dropped an 8-4 decision to Michael Jaffe of Harvard. In one of the best matches of the afternoon, Hoyle made a furious comeback from a 5-2 second-period lead to defeat Brown’s Charlie Faber 7-5 in overtime.
The struggles continued for the 141-pound Vinny Vespa as he lost both of his matches. He began with a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Crimson wrestler Lukus Stricker and ended with a closer 5-3 loss to Brown wrestler James Pawleski. Vespa’s losing streak is up to a season-high five matches.
The youngest of the three Heller brothers, Reece, went 1-1 on the day at 149 pounds. His win was critical in the Harvard meet, as his 4-0 shutout of Zeth Dean pushed the Hofstra lead to 11 points at 20-9. Brown’s Ricky Cabanillas got a late takedown to secure an 11-9 win in Reece Heller’s second match of the day, but that one didn’t affect that dual meet’s outcome too much as the Pride led 19-6 with two matches remaining.
Holden Heller also went 1-1 to move his dual meet record to 8-7. He was shut out 6-0 by The Open Mat’s 30th ranked wrestler, the 157-pound Hunter Ladnier of Harvard. Holden Heller bounced back against Brown, posting a 15-5 major decision over Jack Bokina.
Rounding out the meets was the 165-pound weight class, where Ricky Stamm split duties with redshirt sophomore Charlie Kane. In his first dual meet action of the season, Kane dropped a 19-2 tech fall to the 19th ranked wrestler in the country, Harvard’s Philip Conigliaro. Stamm won a 14-2 major decision over Matthew Lattanze to wrap up the Brown meet. Stamm also extended his streak of victories to five.
The Pride will wrap up regular season play and try to clinch an impressive undefeated regular season when they host Sacred Heart University on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
