The Hofstra University wrestling team wrapped up their regular season on Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Patriot Last Chance Open. Every member of the Pride placed at the tournament, with Noah Tapia placing first at 149 pounds and No. 23 Ross McFarland, No. 29 Kyle Mosher, Matthew Waddell and Gauge Shipp all placing second in their respective weight classes.
Tapia cruised his way into the championship bout with a pair of technical falls. He beat Santhosh Bonda, who wrestled unaffiliated 15-0. Tapia followed it up with a 19-3 win over Nathan Perry of the University of Maryland. In his final match, he wrestled another opponent from Maryland, beating Michael Pizzuto by major decision 7-1.
At 184 pounds, McFarland also made light work of his first two opponents: he upset No. 20 Thomas Stewart Jr. of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Mikey Squires of Princeton University both by major decision 13-1. McFarland’s only loss was to Ohio State University’s No. 18 Ryder Rogotzke, with the final score being just 3-1.
Mosher defaulted out of his championship match but earned a pair of wins earlier in the day at 165 pounds. Jacob Zearfoss of Rider University was no match for Mosher, who won by technical fall 15-1. Against Northwestern University’s Jacob Bostelman, Mosher earned an escape and executed a takedown to win by decision 4-0.
At 174 pounds, Waddell started his day with a pin over Anthony Zona of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He followed it up with a 4-1 win by decision over Sean Coughlin of George Mason University. In his final match, Waddell kept it close but ultimately fell 5-3 to American University’s Caleb Campos.
Shipp also earned a win by fall in his first match at 133 pounds, pinning George Mason’s Geoffrey Whelan. He had another strong match with a win by technical fall 16-0 over Dean Houser of Lock Haven University, before falling to No. 19 Tyler Wells of the University of Minnesota by decision 8-2.
In the same bracket, Chase Liardi placed third at 133 pounds, losing to No. 13 Connor McGonagle of Virginia Tech at just 4-0 before pinning Connor Demcher of Pitt-Johnstown in his second match.
At 125 pounds, Dylan Acevedo lost by decision 7-1 against Northwestern’s Dedrick Navarro and beat Austin Zimmerman of Edinboro University by decision 5-2.
For the rest of the Pride, Danny Church placed fourth at 285 pounds, Justin Hoyle ended at fifth place at 141 pounds, Eric Shindel earned sixth at 174 pounds, Jurius Clark placed sixth at 157 pounds and Nikolas Miller earned sixth at 197 pounds.
The Pride is taking some time off to prepare for the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships on March 7 and March 8. Placement at the tournament will decide qualification for the NCAA Championships.
