The Hofstra Pride wrestling team lost a tight contest to #23 Rider University by a score of 22-21 on Wednesday night in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Rider came out strong, winning the first four bouts of the dual meet and taking an early 13-0 lead. This match marked the fourth contest in a row where Hofstra lost the first three bouts.

At 157 pounds, redshirt-freshman Chris Mauriello got Hofstra on the board with a comeback 10-9 victory over All-American B.J. Clagon.

Redshirt-freshman Ricky Stamm was up next at 164 pounds but ran into the fifth-ranked wrestler at that weight class in Rider’s Chad Walsh. Walsh proved that he deserves to be in the top five with a dominant 22-4 tech fall over Stamm, bringing the team score to 18-3 in favor of the Broncs.

 Sophomore Sage Heller recorded his eighth fall of the season, and third in a row, with a pin at the 3:34 mark of the 174-pound bout. Heller is now 11-10 on the year but holds a 3-1 record since bumping up to 174 pounds from the 164-pound weight class.

 At 184 pounds, redshirt-freshman Anthony Oliveri lost by major decision, putting the Pride out of reach of a victory in the match.

To round out the night, redshirt-junior Nezar Haddad won by forfeit and senior Mike Hughes won by injury default merely 12 seconds into the bout. Those final 12 team points for Hofstra were not quite enough as the Broncs held on for the 22-21 victory.

After the loss, the Pride hold an 8-9 record with three more regular season matches remaining. All three of the final matches will be against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association opponents and will be held on the campus of Hofstra University.

Next up for the Pride will be Sacred Heart on Sunday Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.