Senior Chris Skretkowicz captured the individual title at 197 pounds to lead the Pride of Hofstra to a third place finish at the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the Cashman Center. Skretkowicz defeated Ryan Bader from Arizona State 4-2 in the title match to captured his first tournament title since the 2003 Penn Keystone Classic.
The Pride recorded 108.5 points to place third behind first place Michigan (148) and second place Nebraska (139.5). Arziona State finished fourth (103.5) in the 46-team tournament and Cornell was fifth with 97.5 points.
Three other Hofstra wrestlers dropped championship match decisions Saturday night. Senior Ricky LaForge dropped a 6-3 decision to Pittsburgh's Ron Tarquinio in the 141 pound weight class. Tarquinio was seeded fourth in the tournament while Laforge was sixth. Junior Jon Masa dropped a 6-4 decision to Cornell's Dustin Manotti at 149 pounds. Manotti was the top seed while Masa was number two. Senior Paul Siemon was downed by top-seeded Ben Askren from Missouri by tech fall (20-5) at 174 pounds.
Hofstra returns to action next Saturday, December 11 when the Pride travels to Boston to face Boston University and Harvard.
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