For Immediate Release
December 29, 2007
Contact: Jim Sheehan
(516) 523-6692
PRIDE IN 10TH PLACE AFTER DAY ONE OF THE 2007 UNCG SOUTHERN SCUFFLE
HEMPSTEAD, NY - With six wrestlers advancing to the championship
quarterfinals and four more alive in the consolation fourth round, the
Hofstra Pride wrestling team is in 10th place in the 28-team, 2007 UNCG
Southern Scuffle at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Quarterfinals will
be held Sunday morning at 9 a.m., followed by consolations, semifinals
at noon, and the finals at 5 p.m.
The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gophers lead the team
standings with 53.5 points and have eight wrestlers alive in the
championship round heading into the quarterfinals. Edinboro is in second
with 42.5 points while Boise State is third with 39.5 points. Old
Dominion is fourth with 38.5 points while Cornell and Maryland are tied
for fifth with 37.5 points. ODU has seven wrestlers alive in the
quarterfinals, Edinboro and Cornell have six, Boise State has five, and
Maryland has four. The Pride has 33 points.
The Pride’s three number seeds advanced to the championship
quarterfinals along with two other seeded wrestlers and one unseeded
surprise. Top seeds sophomore Lou Ruggirello at 133, and seniors Charles
Griffin at 141 and Joe Rovelli at 197, are joined by second-seeded
senior Dave Tomasette and fifth-seeded junior Alton Lucas at 174, and
unseeded sophomore Mitch Smith at 149 in the quarterfinals. All six
wrestlers posted 2-0 records Saturday. Ruggirello (15-2) had a win by
fall in 3:54 over Navy’s Matt Pagan and a 9-3 decision over North
Carolina State’s Darrius Little to advance to the quarterfinals against
Edinboro’s eighth-seed Ricky Deubel. Griffin (13-2), after leading 6-0
in the match used the riding time point to post a 7-6 decision over
Liberty’s Scott Clymer, and a 15-2 major decision over VMI’s David
Metzler to advance to the quarterfinals against Virginia Tech’s Chris
Diaz Sunday.
Rovelli (6-1), returning for the first time since November 24, tallied a
win by fall in 4:40 over UNCG’s Peter Sturgeon, and a 9-4 decision over
North Carolina State’s Mark Jahad to advance to face Bloomsburg’s Eric
Shaw in the quarterfinals. Tomasette (12-3) recorded an 8-0 major
decision over Cal-Bakersfield’s Brandon Zoetewey, and a 4-2 decision
over Virginia’s Ross Gitmore to advance to the quarterfinals against
North Carolina’s seventh-seed Drew Forshey.
Lucas (8-0) tallied a 7-1 decision over George Mason’s Zach Ulm and won
on an injury default by Maryland’s Brad Nielson to advance to the
quarterfinals against Minnesota’s fourth-seed Gabe Dretsch. The two
wrestlers met in Hofstra’s dual match upset of the top-ranked Golden
Gophers during the 206-07 season with Lucas posting a 5-3 decision. The
big surprise was sophomore Mitch Smith, who entered the Scuffle with a
0-6 record on the year and posted an 11-0 major decision over Edinboro’s
Joel Bockmore and a 7-2 tie-breaker decision over Appalachian State’s
fourth-seed Scott Ervin. Smith will face Boise State’s fifth-seed Adam
Hall in Sunday’s quarterfinals.
In addition to the six quarterfinalists, four more Pride grapplers
advanced in the consolation bracket. Both sophomore Johnny
Bonilla-Bowman at 157 and freshman Ryan Patrovich at 165 posted 2-1
records while freshman Lawrence Beckman at 174 and junior heavyweight
James Guerin were 1-1 to all advance to the consolation fourth round.
Six other Hofstra wrestlers were eliminated Saturday evening. Freshman
Justin Accordino, who was 2-2 at 141 in the Scuffle, along with juniors
Rich Vitale 0-2 at 197 and Jon Rothman 0-2 at 184, sophomore Rich
Muzikar 0-2 at 157, and freshmen Jeff Rotella 0-2 at 133 and Justin Danz
0-2 at 184 saw their tournaments end early.
