By Joe Pantorno, Assistant Sports Editor
After a fifth place finish at the CAA's, Hofstra University wrestling was fortunate enough to send two members of the squad, sophomores P.J. Gillespie and Ben Clymer, to Omaha, Nebraska for the 2010 NCAA Championships. There was a possibility of a third member making the trip to Omaha on March 18-20, but senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman was sidelined with an injury that kept him out of the tournament.
Clymer, who was making his nationals debu,t did not fare too well on the first day, as Michigan State's Nick Palmieri and Cornell's Steve Bosak knocked him out in the first round of the 184-pound class. "You have to look at this as a positive, gaining experience out there," said head coach Tom Shifflet.
Gillespie was making his second appearance at nationals after a 31-14 season. In the first round, he split two decisions with a loss to 11 seeded Rick Schmelyun of Bloomsburg University and a victory over Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly in the consolations. Gillespie advanced to the third round of the consolations on Friday March 19, where he fell to Cornell's Justin Kerber as Hofstra's run at the NCAA's came to a close.
To Shifflet, this experience was just a stepping-stone to better things. "I think it was disappointing for both of them," he said. "We scored one team point. One guy not winning a match and the other winning one. Hopefully they will use this as motivation for next year saying ‘I don't want the same outcome as last year."
After the disappointing end to the year and the injury bug ravaging the team, Shifflet is looking forward to next season and the endless opportunities that await the Pride. " We're already motivated and setting our goals for next year. We have P.J. Gillespie coming back and Ben Clymer getting some experience and being out there in the national tournament," Shifflet said. "We have six or seven guys with national tournament experience coming back next year and that is a positive and that is what we can take from the season. Next year the national tournament is in Philadelphia, which is basically like a home match. We want to bring ten guys; we want to bring the whole team."
It is clear that team chemistry is not an issue as many members of the squad made the trip down to Omaha. "These guys have the right attitude," Shifflet said. "They could have been here [at Hofstra], taken the week off, but they took the 15-20 hour drive. It is good to see them out there supporting their teammates."
If health is not an issue and everything goes as Shifflet plans, the Hofstra Pride wrestling squad can be going very far, or the 120 miles to Philadelphia, next year.