New York, NY – Sophomore Sage Heller recorded his third pin of the season and senior Michael Hughes tallied a tech fall as the Hofstra Pride defeated the Patriots of George Mason, 26-9 in the sixth annual Grapple at the Garden in the Theater at Madison Square Garden Sunday night.

The Pride snapped a two-match losing skid to improve to 3-4 on the season. The Patriots of George Mason slip to 2-5 on the year.

Starting at 197 pounds, Hofstra won four of the first five weight classes to take a 14-3 lead. Junior Nezar Haddad (8-7) opened with a 2-1 decision at 197 before Hughes tallied his 15th win of the year without a loss with a 15-0 tech fall at 285 for an 8-0 lead. After a loss at 125, sophomore Vinny Vespa (3-6) posted a 6-0 win at 133 and red-shirt freshman Charlie Kane (5-7) tallied a 5-3 decision at 141.

The Pride dropped a 5-3 decision in sudden victory at 149 and a major decision at 157 to see the lead shrink to 14-10. But Heller (5-5) pinned Justin Yorkdale at the 3:59 mark at 165 to bump the lead to 20-10. Red-shirt freshman Anthony Olivieri (2-2) added a 6-4 decision at 174 and Cory Damiana (3-6) added a 9-3 decision at 184 to close out the victory.

Hofstra now breaks for final exams and the holidays before returning to compete in the Southern Scuffle on January 1-2 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Notes
- Hofstra defeated the Patriots for the second straight year at the Grapple at the Garden. In 2016, the Pride topped George Mason, 18-13.
- Michael Hughes' tech fall win was his second of the season
- Heller has recorded bonus point wins in four of his five victories.
- The Southern Scuffle ranks among the top three regular season tournaments in the country

Hofstra 26, George Mason 9
197 – Nezar Haddad (HU) dec. Eli Spencer (GMU), 2-1
285 – Michael Hughes (HU) tech falls Matt Voss (GMU), 15-0
125 – Ibrahim Bunduka (GMU) dec. Jacob Martin (HU), 5-2
133 – Vinny Vespa (HU) dec. Victor Echeverria (GMU), 6-0
141 – Charlie Kane (HU) dec. Trevor Mello (GMU), 5-3
149 – Matt Reines (GMU) dec. Connor Burkert (HU), 5-3 in sv1
157 – Creed Lumpp (GMU) maj. dec. Ricky Stamm (HU), 12-2
165  - Sage Heller (HU) WBF Justin Yorkdale (GMU), 3:59
174 – Anthony Olivieri (HU) dec. Phil Stolfi (GMU), 6-4 (GMU deducted 1 team point)
184 – Cory Damiana (HU) dec. Austin Harrison (GMU), 9-34