By Alex Hyman, Staff Writer
The Hofstra Pride wrestling team began its season on Saturday, Nov. 6 with a tournament held in Edinboro, PA. The Pride faced off against Purdue and Edinboro. Both opponents were ranked in the preseason Top-25.
In the first match against Purdue, the Pride came out sluggish and suffered its first loss of the season. The final score of the match was 28-6 in favor of Purdue, with Hofstra only winning two of the matches. Juniors P.J. Gillespie (165 pounds) and Vince Varela (141 pounds) were the only members of the Pride to successfully win their match against Purdue wrestlers.
Hofstra head coach Tom Shifflet was disappointed with the way his team came out of the gates against Purdue.
"We were caught off guard and they were just more aggressive," Shifflet said. "It was a great lesson for our program, especially for the guys that didn't prepare properly."
In between matches, after making the necessary changes, the Pride came out with a much more aggressive approach and it showed on the scoreboard. The Pride went on to beat Edinboro 26-8. Once again, Gillespie and Varela were among the Pride wrestlers to defeat Edinboro. Red-shirt sophomore Justin Acordino (149 pounds) defeated a returning All-American and sixth-ranked rank junior from Edinboro. After a 2-1 loss to Purdue, senior Lou Ruggirello (133 pounds) bounced back and won his second match of the night against Edinboro.
The Pride is taking its 1-1 record on the road to Missouri on November 21. Hofstra will be facing off against Oregon State and the University of Missouri who are both ranked in the top 25.
"If we don't wrestle consistently and the way we can, a win is not going to happen," Shifflet said.
Shifflet wants his team to come through with a win. "The guys work so hard and it needs to pay off for them," he said.
The Pride does not have its first home match until Dec. 11 against the University of Maryland.
Then senior Jonathan Rothman wrestles against Pennsylvania in 2009 (Sean M. Gates/The Chronicle)