By Marco Meglio - STAFF WRITERThe Hofstra men’s wrestling team suffered its first loss of the season, losing 27-9 to Lehigh University.
Jamel Hudson and Cody Ruggirello gave the Pride an early 9-0 lead by completing takedowns on Randy Cruz and Drew Longo. Both Ruggirello and Hudson now are 2-0 on the 2014 season. Despite the 9-0 lead, Lehigh dominated the rest of the meet, winning the next eight matchups in a row.
Jahlani Callender, Nick Terdick, and Frank Affronti each fell to defeat in their matchups to tie the score at 9-9 in the meet. Callender lost his match in a 5-4 decision to Lehigh wrestler Dylan Millonas in the 157 weight class, tallying the first three points in the meet for Lehigh. Terdick came up short in a 5-2 decision against Santiago Martinez in the 165 weight division. Lehigh inched closer to Hofstra’s lead, 9-6. Lehigh’s wrestler Marshall Peppelman took down Hofstra wrestler Frank Affronti by the score of 3-2 and tallying another three points and tying the meet, then the rest was history for Lehigh.
The Pride’s luck would not get any better as the match moved along. Jermaine John was disqualified from his match after he committed a technical fall. John has not performed well this season, starting off with two losses in two consecutive games. Freshman Michael Oxley also lost his match against John Bolich. Oxley has not had much success as well with the start to this season, opening up with a 0-2 record in his first two matches with the Pride.
The Passaro brothers did not help out the final scoring either. They posted 3-1 and 6-3 losing decisions in the final two matches of the day. Sophomore Maverick Passaro continues to struggle on the season, now losing his first two matches to open it up.
Lehigh retained it’s 15th overall ranking for wrestling. Once again they show that they are one of the true tests that Hofstra will have to deal with when it comes to tournament time. Hofstra’s loss puts them at 1-1 for the season as they look to pull ahead in the win column next Sunday against Rutgers.