Hofstra University Athletics

WREST: No. 25 Pride Travel to American and CAA Duals This Week

1/18/2012 12:00:00 PM

Hempstead, NY - The 25th-ranked Hofstra Pride wrestling team, 4-0 in dual matches this season. hit the road for four more dual matches this week when they face the Eagles of American University on Thursday, January 19 at 8 p.m. and then take on Old Dominion (noon), George Mason (2 p.m.) and Boston University (4 p.m.) in the CAA Duals on Saturday, January 21 at George Mason University.

The Pride are coming off a 35-3 victory over Kutztown University at the Mack Sports Complex last Sunday, Sophomore Luke Vaith recorded his first collegiate pin with a fall over Leonard Drummond at 141 pounds in 1:28, junior Steve Bonanno posted a tech fall over Desmond Moore at 125 and senior Ben Clymer at 184 and junior Paul Snyder each posted major decision wins to lead Hofstra to victory. The Pride also received wins from sophomore Jamie Franco at 133, junior Justin Accordino at 149, junior Tyler Banks, senior P.J. Gillespie and freshman Jermaine John at 174.

For the fourth consecutive poll, Hofstra is ranked 25th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA Today Division I Coaches Poll.Hofstra is led by senior Ben Clymer, who is 16-5 on the year and now ranked 11th by InterMat at 184 pounds. Junior Steve Bonanno, who is 15-5, is ranked 13th in the country at 125 pounds. Senior 165-pounder P.J. Gillespie, who is 16-4 on the season, remains ranked 19th in the nation by InterMat. Red-shirt junior Justin Accordino is 12-8 on the season at 149 pounds and ranked 25th by Division I College Wrestling. Sophomore Jamie Franco is 11-7 and ranked 23rd at 133 pounds by Division I College Wrestling this season. Sophomores Luke Vaith (10-6) at 141 and Tim Murphy (9-11) at 197, juniors Tyler Banks (6-6) at 157 and Paul Snyder (11-6) at 285, and freshman Jermaine John (5-8) at 174 are all unranked in this week's polls.

The Eagles of American University are 4-4 on the season with wins over George Mason (27-15), Cal State-Bakersfield (26-16), Cal Poly (25-13) and Stanford (18-17). Their losses have come against Maryland (23-14), Penn (24-18), Central Michigan (21-20) and Purdue (24-22).

American, which is ranked ninth by InterMat and WIN Magazine, 11th by the Wrestling Report and 19th by Division I College Wrestling, has four wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of the respective weight classes by InterMat. Leading the group is senior Ryan Flores (6-0), who is the top-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds. Classmate Ganbayar Sanjaa (12-1) is ranked fourth at 157 pounds. Fellow senior Matt Mariacher (15-5) is ranked 12th at 141 pounds while junior Daniel Mitchell (11-6) is ranked 19th at 197 pounds.

Following the American match, Hofstra moves south to Fairfax, Virginia for the CAA Duals on Saturday. The Pride are 33-3 in the CAA Duals since 2003. Last year, Hofstra was 3-1 in the Duals. Overall, Hofstra is 74-5-1 in its last 80 conference dual matches.

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