Hofstra freshmen shine at Franklin & Marshall Open

On Friday, Jan. 5, the Hofstra University wrestling team traveled to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to participate in the David H. Lehman Franklin & Marshall Open, hosted by Franklin & Marshall College. The Pride sent 17 wrestlers to the mat on Friday and had 11 of them win at least one match. The Pride collectively went 20-33 at this event, including the results achieved by Hofstra wrestlers who competed unattached.

Seven of the 11 Pride wrestlers took home at least one victory, all of them underclassmen. The most successful Hofstra wrestler on the day was freshman Jake Slotnick, who wrestled unattached. Slotnick made it to the quarterfinals of the 165-pound bracket, winning two matches – first over Kent State University’s Hunter Andel and next over AJ Rodrigues of the University of Maryland, who also wrestled unattached. Slotnick fell in the quarterfinals to #4 Dalton Harkins of the United States Military Academy at West Point and then lost to Binghamton University’s Brevin Cassella. Slotnick finished the day 2-2.

Fellow freshman Noah Tapia only made the round of 32 but won five of his six matches on the day. After a 1-1 start and an elimination from the main bracket, Tapia got red hot, winning his final four matches of the day before he reached the NCAA-mandated maximum number of matches in a day, which is six. Tapia dominated Rider University’s Matt Hoelke, winning on a 19-3 tech fall. Tapia defeated Cale Roggie, who was wrestling unattached for George Mason University; the University of Pittsburgh’s Ty Cymmerman; and Lock Haven University’s DaShawn Farber.

Freshman Danny Church wrestled unattached and had the second most victories out of Hofstra’s wrestlers with three. Church first defeated unattached Drexel University wrestler Shane Whitney. After his loss in the next round to #22 Cory Day of Binghamton, Church won two of his three consolation bouts, beating Matthew Cruise and Tristen Hitchcock, from University of Pennsylvania and Army West Point, respectively, before losing to Hitchcock’s teammate, Austin Kohlhofer, to finish the day with a 3-2 record.

Freshmen Frank Volpe, Ryan Arbeit and Matthew Waddell and sophomore Adrian Sans also took home victories, with Arbeit and Waddell wrestling unattached.

Junior Dylan Acevedo also recorded multiple wins, with two on the day. He first defeated Matthew Ricci of the United States Naval Academy 9-3 in the round of 32 and then beat Franklin & Marshall’s Eric Howe 4-2 in a consolation bout. Acevedo finished 2-2 on the day, with losses to North Carolina State University’s Vincent Robinson and United States Military Academy Preparatory School’s Tommy Link.

Juniors Matt Rogers, Eric Shindel and Joe Russo also were victorious against Jonathan Parrilla of Millersville University, Long Island University’s Tommy LaScala, and Drexel’s Connor Trowbridge respectively. Russo wrestled unattached.

The Pride will return home for a tough test on Sunday, Jan. 7, as they host the No. 4 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Pete Coco