Hempstead, NY — The Hofstra wrestling team went 2-0 in two matches on Saturday, Feb. 1 during the Hofstra Tri at the David S. Mack Physical Education Building. Sage Heller finished with two falls and was one of five Pride wrestlers to win both of his matches on the day. Hofstra trounced the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats 45-3 in their first dual meet before coming back to take down the Columbia University Lions 24-14.
With the victories, the Pride (7-5) moved to 4-0 in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) play for the first time since joining the conference in 2013. “The guys fought their butts off for their team, for the logo,” coach Dennis Papadatos said, “That inspires other guys.”
Dylan Rider had a huge day with a major decision and a tech fall in the 125-weight class and finishing with a combined match-point score of 30-2. He grabbed two points as time expired in the third period against Jose Diaz to turn a 15-2 major decision into a 17-2 tech fall. He followed that up with a 13-0 shutout of Columbia’s Joe Manchio, the 25th ranked 125-pound wrestler in the country according to FloWrestling. Ryder has won eight of his last nine matches, all in duel meet play.
In the 133-pound weight class, freshman Justin Hoyle bounced back from a loss in Friday’s dual meet against Davidson. He pinned Diplomat Jack Bruce 1:37 into the first period before coming out on top of a high-scoring, 15-8 match with Lion Angelo Rini. “That wasn’t Justin Hoyle [against Davidson]” Papadatos joked, “That’s Justin Hoyle [today].”
Vinny Vespa had a rough day in the 141-pound weight class, dropping both of his matches. Wilfredo Gil scored Franklin & Marshall’s only team points of the dual meet with a 3-2 victory while Matt Kazimir got Columbia’s first points of that dual meet with a 10-0 major decision.
The youngest Heller brother, Reece, wrestled at 149 pounds and went 1-1 on the day. Against the Diplomats, he pinned Christiaan Dailey 26 seconds into the second period, however, he dropped a major decision to Andrew Garr, 11-3, to give Columbia an 8-7 lead at the time. “[His] effort was there,” coach Papadatos said of his loss, “[He] made a bunch of true freshman mistakes, we’re gonna go fix it.”
At 157 pounds against Franklin & Marshall, Holden Heller took 21 more seconds than his brother but got a pin of his own. He also dropped his match with Columbia, a close 2-0 decision to push the Lions’ lead to 11-7.
The other half of the dual meets began with Ricky Stamm at 165 pounds for the Pride. He began the day with an 8-6 decision over WrestleStat’s 32nd ranked wrestler in the nation, Emmett LiCastri of Franklin & Marshall. Stamm finished strong as well, scoring a takedown with 12 seconds to go in his match with Columbia’s Riley Jacops to steal a 3-1 victory. That win stopped a three-match win streak for the Lions at the time and cut their lead to 11-10.
Perhaps the most impressive wrestler of the day was the eldest Heller brother, Sage. He scored a pin over the Diplomats’ Crew Fullerton with two seconds to go before delivering a devastating blow to Columbia in his next match. Trailing Lennox Wolak 13-4 after one period, Heller put him on his back for the pin, giving Hofstra back the lead at 16-11. It was the last of a season-high four falls on the dual meet for the Pride.
Charles Small went 1-1 for the Pride at 184 pounds, defeating Franklin & Marshall’s Reid Robilotto by way of injury forfeit before being shut out by Columbia’s Joe Franzese 3-0. Despite the forfeit win, Small was leading in points at the time of Robilotto’s injury.
After a forfeit win where he didn’t even get to wrestle on Friday against Davidson, 197-pound wrestler Trey Rogers dominated in two major decisions. He scored eight takedowns against Diplomat Ethan Seeley en route to an 18-6 win before scoring three in the final 30 seconds against Sam Wustefeld to grab a 14-6 victory. “He’s tough [and] he put it together,” Papadatos said, “He’s Captain America.” His second victory pushed the Pride advantage over Columbia to 20-14.
The Pride’s heavyweight, Zachary Knighton-Ward pushed his personal win-streak to five matches, going 2-0 on Saturday and giving up just one point in the process. Three takedowns led him to an 8-1 decision over Franklin & Marshall’s Vincenzo Pelusi before he sealed Hofstra’s win over Columbia with a 9-0 major decision over Dan Conley.
The Pride have gone 6-2 over their eight-meet homestand and will take a four-meet winning streak to Fairfax, VA when they visit George Mason University on Feb. 9.
Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
