The Hofstra Pride wrestling team fell to conference opponent Binghamton University on Friday night in Binghamton, NY, 21-11.
This loss dropped the Pride to 1-2 overall on the season, with both losses at the hands of EIWA opponents.
Binghamton got on the board first when Steven Bulzomi defeated Hofstra’s Jacob Martin at 125 pounds. This early victory gave the Bearcats a 3-0 lead in the match.
Vinny Vespa was dominant at 133 pounds, winning his bout against Binghamton’s Carlos Aucancela by tech fall with a score of 15-0. This brought Vespa’s record to 6-6 on the season and put the Pride up in the team score 5-3.
Redshirt freshman Connor Burkert was up next for the Pride at 141 pounds. He brought home a 7-5 win over Binghamton’s Dylan Caruana for the Pride, holding on after a late run from Caruana.
From there, things went downhill for the Pride. Hofstra lost the next five bouts, putting the Pride down in the team score 18-8 going into the 197-pound bout.
At 149 pounds, the Pride’s Ryan Burkert lost by a score of 11-5 to Binghamton’s Parker Kropman.
In the 157-pound bout, Jake Kaminsky lost 7-3 to Tristan Rifanburg of the Bearcats.
Hofstra’s Bobby Fehr lost his bout at 165 pounds by a score of 8-2.
Sage Heller was shut out at 174 pounds, losing by a score of 7-0 against Binghamton’s Anthony DePrez.
The Pride’s Michael Oxley had a tough opponent at 184 pounds in Steve Schneider, the 13th ranked wrester in the nation. Oxley lost the bout 10-3.
Nezar Haddad was able to add some points to Hofstra’s team score by winning the 197-pound bout 3-2 against Mark Tracy. Haddad was down going into the third period but came away victorious.
Omar Haddad ended the night for the Pride with a 5-3 loss to Connor Calkins of the Bearcats.
The final team score was 21-11 in favor of the Binghamton Bearcats.
The Pride will get some rest going into the holidays and will hope to bounce back at the Lock Haven Classic on Dec. 29, at Lock Haven University.