By Mike Rudin and Justin Grant – SPORTS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra Pride wrestling team hosted the Hofstra Duals at the David S. Mack Physical Education Center on Sunday and it was a successful day for Pride Wrestling.
Hofstra recorded their first conference win and won back-to-back dual meets against Sacred Heart (40-8) and Clarion (24-21). But the Pride ended the tripleheader on a sour note, losing 22-14 to EIWA rival Columbia.
“I still think … we’re the best team in this building,” Hofstra head coach Dennis Papadatos after the tripleheader. “Even though Columbia … beat us, I felt like we fought our butts off.”
The Pride improved to 5-9 overall (1-4 EIWA) by the end of the tripleheader.
“By far the best day of the year and not about the results but about … the fight and comradery,” Papadatos said elaborating on his teams performance.
Hofstra’s Bryan Damon had a breakout day, posting a 3-0 record against all his respective opponents at the 125 weight division. His success got Hofstra on the right foot with an early lead in each match on the day.
“He stepped up, he still gets nervous and holding it at the end,” Papadatos said. “[But] he’s looking good, he’s scoring points and he’s been explosive. It’ all about belief and he’s been huge for us.”
Mike Hughes also posted a 3-0 record on the day which entailed a pin within 17 seconds and two major decision wins. Plus, Kyle Krasavage went 3-for-3 in the Hofstra Duals, he pinned two opponents and won the other matchup by a major decision.
On the other hand, Marcus Begay struggled mightily for Hofstra in the 133 weight division. He posted a 0-3 record and was pinned once and lost by technical fall twice.
The first matchup against Sacred Heart displayed a fire waiting to burn by Hofstra all season long. Pride wrestlers won eight weight divisions of the ten total matchups.
Hofstra’s Krasavage (at the 5:36 mark), Cory Goshkagarian (at the 4:02 mark), Cory Damiana (at the 1:18 mark) and Mike Hughes (at the 0:17 mark) all pinned their respective Pioneers opponent.
Hofstra won the last five weight matchups over the Pioneers to secure the 32-point win.
After an approximate 30-minute break, Hofstra prepared for their second match against the Clarion Golden Eagles. Clarion had only ten minutes to rest after their prior dual meet with Columbia went longer, eating up their time to recover.
Hofstra started out behind 10-3 after Marcus Begay and Connor Muli were on the wrong side of back-to-back tech. falls.
Then Hofstra’s Krasavage and Jahlani Callender fought to pin their respective opponents back-to-back and the Pride retook the lead 15-10.
Afterwards, the Golden Eagles won the next three of four weight divisions but Frank Affronti’s pin over Michael Pavasko set the stage for the final round.
With the score tied at 21-21, it came down to Mike Hughes and Zach DeLuca at the 285. Hughes ended it swiftly with a 9-0 major decision win over DeLuca and locked up Hofstra’s second victory on the day.
The Pride was seeking their longest winning streak – this being just three games.
Hofstra’s wrestling team felt poised to takedown this gritty and well-played Lions team – with their fans screaming from the bleachers. One parent yelling, “Come on, Frankie. Take him down.” Well, that sure wasn’t the case at the end.
The Pride took a 3-0 lead on their opponents after 125-pound Bryan Damon defeated Vince Pallone by an excruciating margin, 8-1.
Shortly after, the Lions roared back to take a 6-3 commanding lead. At 133-pounds, Marcus Begay was pinned down at the 4:17 mark to put the Lions on top for the first time.
Eventually, the Lions took charge and buried the Pride at the end by winning the next 5-of-7 matches to clinch victory.
Hofstra ended on a high-note. At 285-pounds, Mike Hughes crushed his opponent, Garrett Ryan, with a major decision of 11-0.
Hofstra (5-9, 1-4 EIWA) will travel up north to face undefeated Edinboro University at home (7-6, 5-0 EWL) in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Feb. 6, for their next matchup.
