By Frank Aimetti Staff Writer
I received the opportunity to interview one of Hofstra’s most successful athletes, senior Luke Vaith of the wrestling team. This is an exciting time for both the wrestling team and specifically Luke, as he was one of four Pride wrestling members to qualify for the NCAA Tournament while also placing second in his weight class during the EIWA Championships.
Frank Aimetti: To start off, how satisfied are you with how your season has progressed so far?
Luke Vaith: So far, I think the season has gone well. It’s been very exciting, being my last year. I think that, it being my fifth year, I feel like I’m more calm during my matches. I feel like I’m better prepared and stuff like that, you know, just being older.
F: How would you contrast how your season has gone with how the team’s season has gone?
L: Well I would say my season has been more consistent whereas, as far as the team goes, we haven’t been as consistent. Towards the end of the season, I think the team has kind of turned things around and we’ve had some very exciting matches.
F: I saw that you beat Mike Nevinger [of Cornell] in the EIWA Championships, I know that you have past history against him. You were 1-2 against him last season, did it make it any sweeter to beat someone you had trouble with before?
L: Yeah, it’s always good to beat someone who’s been a past All-American and stuff like that. We’ve gone back and forth the last couple of years and it’s kind of a little bit of a rivalry between me and him, and so it’s always good to win those matches, you know?
F: You went 1-2 in both of your previous NCAA appearances. Why are you better prepared to do better this year?
L: Just the experience, you know, it being my fifth year and making it there before, I feel like that gives me a definite advantage over some of my opponents who obviously have never been there and I can kind of be calm going into the tournament, knowing what to expect and just knowing that I’m as prepared as I possibly can be. I can’t really do much from here until the NCAAs, it’s all just mental.
F: This is your last year here, you’ve obviously seen guys come in and out, who do you feel has the best chance to carry on the tradition of Hofstra wrestling?
L: We have a really tough, young class honestly. Right now, I think there’s four freshmen on the team, and just that is promising. Me and Jamie [Franco], at one point, were the only freshmen on the team our true freshman year. Having four freshmen in the lineup is promising. As far as individuals go, I expect Nick Terdick, next year, to step up — Jamel Hudson, Mike Hughes and Jahlani Callender. Frank Affronti had a really good end-of-the-season run and I think that will only help him next year.
F: I saw that you were double-majoring in Marketing and Management, have you had any problems balancing that and wrestling? That seems like a pretty heavy workload.
L: Just good time management. I mean, when it comes down to it, I’m really focusing on just two things in my life right now: wrestling and school. So all other things have to be on the backburner during the season, so just being able to manage my time well and focus on those two things, it isn’t as difficult as you’d think when you’re just focusing on that.
F: This being your last year, how do you feel you’ve improved the most during your time here?
L: I’ve become more of a consistent wrestler. Like I said, the past couple years, I’ve had wins over All-Americans and stuff like that but I had some bad losses too. I mean, this year has just been different because I’ve been able to consistently win matches against tough kids. That’s probably the biggest thing in my wrestling career here.
F: Going into your last appearance for the Pride wrestling team, are there any regrets you have in your career so far?
L: Nope. No regrets. Not a thing.