By Mark Mausner — SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
After dropping its first match 35-9 to third-ranked North Carolina State in their first round match at the Pittsburgh Duals, the Hofstra wrestling team salvaged its trip to Fitzgerald Field House by defeating Davidson 41-10. The Pride moved to 3-6 overall on the season.
Hofstra lost seven of the ten weight classes to undefeated North Carolina State. After dropping the first two matches to the Wolfpack, Hofstra won its first match on the shoulders of redshirt junior Jamel Hudson with his decision victory over Will Clark by a score of 10-8 in the 141-weight class. Hofstra then dropped another three matches, including a tech fall and a fall.
Trailing 25-3 at that point, the Pride got on the board again with consecutive decision victories by redshirt junior Frank Affronti and sophomore Cory Damiana to bring the score to 25-9. Affronti won a 3-0 decision over Lee Davis while Damiana defeated Roderick Davis 8-3.
The Pride then forfeited at the 197-weight class to the 17th-ranked wrestler in that weight class, Michael Boykin, making the score 31-9 in favor of NC State. The number one ranked heavyweight wrestler in the country, Nick Gwiazdowski, sealed it for the Wolfpack with a 12-4 major decision victory over Michael Hughes at the 285-weight class in the final match, bringing the final score to 35-9.
Hofstra excelled in its second match of the Pitt Duals against Davidson, winning eight out of their ten matches. Bryan Damon started things off with a 12-1 major decision win over Zamir Ode at the 125-weight class. Davidson then tied the score at four apiece in the 133-weight class with Dustin Runzo’s major decision victory over Marcus Begay, 8-0. Hofstra never looked back after that loss, winning seven out of the next eight matches, the only loss coming with another forfeit at the 197-weight class.
Jamel Hudson broke the tie with his second victory of the day, this time a 16-0 tech fall over Billy McClelland. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Krasavage and redshirt junior Jahlani Callender both pinned their opponents in consecutive victories for the Pride, increasing their lead to 21-4 with five matches remaining. Krasavage won his match against Aidan Conroy in 1:30 while Callender needed just 2:51 in his win over Tien Hunter. Hofstra’s Bobby Fehr, the redshirt freshman of 155 pounds, won his match due to a Davidson forfeit.
Frank Affronti and Cory Damiana also had double victories. This time around Affronti defeated JC Burton by a 15-0 tech fall while Damiana won a 5-0 decision versus Konner Pritchard, giving Hofstra a 35-4 lead overall. After Davidson forfeited, Michael Hughes finished the match strong for the Pride with a pin of his own over Will Cooley, securing a 41-10 win.
Hofstra’s next match is on Jan. 16 at 3 p.m on the road at Army West Point.
