Hofstra wrestling splits California duals

The Hofstra University wrestling team had a busy day in California on Saturday, Feb.17. They participated in two dual meets at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center on the campus of California Baptist University.

The Pride started the day off with a 29-9 victory over the California State University (CSU) Bakersfield Road Runners, before falling by a score of 29-10 to the California Baptist University Lancers. Hofstra had three wrestlers win two matches: Dylan Ryder won both of his 133-pound bouts, Ross McFarland took both of his matches in the 174-pound weight class and Nikolas Miller won both of his 197-pound matches in particularly dominant fashion, with a fall over Ryan Arrington of CSU. Following that up with a 14-5 major decision over Eli Sheeren of California Baptist, Miller’s season record now sits at 9-13.

In the win against CSU Bakersfield, Hofstra was in control following a loss in the first match. They took the next four bouts, highlighted by a technical fall from Ryder to jump out to a 15-3 lead. Alex Turley, Noah Tapia and Jurius Clark got the other four wins during this stretch. Tapia got his team the 21st win of the season, making his record 21-12 following a loss to Dayne Morton of California Baptist.

Rounding out Hofstra’s performance against the Road Runners, No. 21 Keaton Kluever won his 285-pound bout over CSU’s Jake Andrews, 4-2.

Against the Lancers, the Pride were not as fortunate. The match followed a similar trajectory to the first one but in favor of California Baptist. No. 28 Elijah Griffin set the tone for the Lancers with an 18-2 win in the 125-pound weight class over Dylan Acevedo-Switzer. After Ryder won the 133-pound match over Hunter Leake to give him 10 wins on the season, the Lancers won four consecutive bouts, turning a 5-3 lead into a 17-3 lead. The Pride only mustered two more wins on the day with McFarland beating Justin Phillips 7-1 to give him 11 wins this season, as well as Miller’s win over Sheeren.

Hofstra now sits at 8-5 this season after splitting the two duals. The Pride will return to the East Coast for a road meet at Drexel University Dragons to wrap up their regular season. They will then participate in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships. The Drexel dual meet will be at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hofstra will take on the Dragons starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 24.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman