In a match-up of New York's top two teams, the Hofstra Pride won five straight bouts in the latter stages of the match to earn an 18-15 victory over Cornell University in wrestling action on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Pride improved to 3-1 in dual matches on the season while the Big Red of Cornell fell to 2-3.
Hofstra rallied from an early nine-point deficit to post the victory. Cornell was ahead 12-3 margin after early wins by Keith Dickey at 141 pounds, and Dustin Manotti at 149 pounds along with a forfeit at 133, but the Pride dominated the bottom half of the draw to claim the victory.
The opening 125-pound match proved to best the most exciting, as Hofstra senior Tom Noto, ranked fifth in the country, earned a 7-5 decision over Mike Mormile with a takedown in the final second of the second overtime period. Mormile trailed 3-1 heading into the third period, but recorded an escape and then earned a point for 1:27 of riding time at the end of regulation to send the match into overtime. Neither wrestler earned a point in the first minute of either extra session, but both earned two escapes before Noto's deciding takedown to give the Pride an early 3-0 lead.
Pride junior Ricky LaForge, ranked 11th this week by Intermat, failed to make weight for the 133 match allowing Cornell's Travis Lee, who is ranked second in the country, to win by forfeit and put Cornell up 6-3.
The 141 featured a pair of freshman, with the Big Red's Keith Dickey pulling out a 2-0 decision over John Manarte. With the bout scoreless heading into the third period, Dickey got a quick escape and held on before adding a riding-time point, boosting the Cornell lead to 9-3.
At 141 pounds, Cornell's Dustin Manotti used a pair of two-point takedowns to get an early 4-1 lead before cruising to an 8-2 decision over Hofstra freshman Chris Vondruska.
Down 12-3, Hofstra took control of the match by winning five straight classes, beginning with senior Paul Siemon's 2-1 win over Scott Roth at 157. In that bout, Roth had an escape with 1:10 left in the third period to make it 1-1 and was later whistled for fleeing the mat with 29 seconds remaining, helping Siemon, the 12th ranked wrestler in the
country, earn the win. Simon improved to 15-5 this season.
In the afternoon's only major decision, the Pride got a 14-4 win from eighth-ranked senior Ralph Everett (pictured) against Cornell freshman Dave Post in the 165-pound match. Everett improved to 16-2 on the year.
In a match-up of two ranked wrestlers at 174, Hofstra's 10th-ranked senior Noel Thompson jumped out to a 4-1 lead against Cornell's 17th-ranked Tyler Baier after the first period. Down 5-1 in the third period, Baier tried to get back into the match, but was only able to record two escapes and fell, 5-3, allowing the Pride to take its first
lead of the day at 13-12. Thompson improved to 15-2.
Brad Christie improved to 10-5 on the season and gave Hofstra a four-point cushion with a 7-4 decision over Cornell's Randy Stout in the 184-pound bout. With the match tied at 3-3 in the third period, Christie recorded a pair of two-point takedowns in the final 1:21 to seal the win.
Needing a win to stay in the match, Cornell sent eighth-ranked Matt Greenberg to the mat against fifth-ranked Chris Skretkowicz for the 197-pound matchup. Skretkowicz earned a takedown in the closing seconds of the opening period and added an escape in the second period. Greenberg was unable to get on the scoreboard in the final period and Skretkowicz posted a 3-0 win. Skretkowicz improved to 17-2 with his 12th
shutout of the year.
In the afternoon's final match, Cornell's Matt Bogumil and Hofstra's Dan Garay each recorded one point in regulation before heading into overtime, where Garay was hit with a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 31.5 second left in the extra session, giving Bogumil a 2-1 victory. After the match, Garay was charged with a flagrant penalty,
which took a point off Hofstra's total, making the final match score 18-15.
The Pride will continue with their "Ivy weekend" on Sunday when they host the Crimson of Harvard University at Hofstra Arena at 1 p.m.
No. 13 Hofstra 18, No. 16 Cornell 15
125 pounds - No. 5 Tom Noto (H) dec. Mike Mormile (C), 7-5 (2 ot)
133 pounds - No. 2 Travis Lee (C) won by forfeit
141 pounds - Keith Dickey (C) dec. John Manarte (H), 2-0
149 pounds - No. 3 Dustin Manotti(C) dec. Chris Vondruska (H), 8-2
157 pounds - No. 12 Paul Siemon (H) dec. Scott Roth (C), 2-1
165 pounds - No. 8 Ralph Everett (H) maj. dec. Dave Post (C), 14-4
174 pounds - No. 10 Noel Thompson (H) dec. No. 17 Tyler Baier (C), 5-3
184 pounds - Brad Christie (H) dec. Randy Stout (C),7-4
197 pounds - No. 5 Chris Skretkowicz (H) dec. No. 8 Matt Greenberg (C) 3-0
275 pounds - Matt Bogumil (C) dec. Dan Garay (H), 2-1 (ot) **
**Hofstra's Dan Garay was charged with a flagrant penalty after the
match, resulting in a one-point deduction in the team total.
