After the eight Pride wrestlers posted a combined 8-2 record in the preliminary and first rounds Thursday, Hofstra finds itself in second place, one point behind the leader, after the first session of the 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Ford Center.

The Pride accumulated 16 points with their eight victories and trail just three-time defending national champions Oklahoma State. Both teams have six wrestlers alive in the championship round. Oklahoma State has three more wrestlers in the consolation round while Hofstra has two. Oklahoma (13.5), Arizona State (13.0) and Iowa (13.0) round out the top five.

Seven of the eight Hofstra wrestlers posted victories Thursday afternoon. Sophomores Charles Griffin and Joe Rovelli opened the day's activities with preliminary round victories. Griffin   posted a 16-5 major decision over 11th-seeded Josh Wooten of Northern Illinois in a 141-pound preliminary round match but suffered an 8-1 loss to Max Meltzer from Harvard in  the first round. Griffin (26-7) will face the winner of the consolation match between Rutgers' Steve Adamzsik and Nebraska's Dominick Moyer Thursday night. Rovelli posted a 16-1 tech fall victory over Jesse Taylor from Cal State Fullerton at 184 pounds in the preliminary round and came back with a 10-6 victory over 12th-seeded Mike Tamillow from Northwestern in the first round. Rovelli (27-11) will face fifth-seeded Shane Webster from Oregon Thursday night.

Sophomore Dave Tomasette recorded a tech fall over Collin Cudd from Wisconsin in the first round at 125 pounds, 16-0. Tomasette (14-6) will square off against third-seeded Joe Dubuque from Indiana Thursday night in the second round. Senior Jon Masa boosted his season record to 31-5 with a 7-5 victory over Patrick Simpson from Army in the first round. Masa, seeded sixth at 149 pounds and a two-time All-American, will face 11th-seeded Troy Tirapelle from Illinois in the second round.

Junior Chris Vondruska made his first match at the NCAA Championships a successful one with a 9-3 first round victory over Daniel Bedoy from Purdue. Vondruska (24-9) will face the 165-pound top-seed Ryan Churella from Michigan Thursday night. Senior Mike Patrovich posted his 10th consecutive win with a 12-3 major decision over Nicholas Hernandez from Cal Poly at 174 pounds. Patrovich, seeded fifth in the weight class, will meet 12th-seeded Matt Herrington from Penn later Thursday.

Junior Chris Weidman (16-11), who also made his NCAA Championship debut on Thursday, posted a 10-4 victory over Daren Burns from UNC-Greensboro at 197 pounds. Weidman's reward is to meet top-seeded Wynn Michalak from Central Michigan Thursday night. Junior James Strouse dropped a 7-4 decision to 11th-seeded Derek Zinck from Lehigh at 157 pounds.  Strouse (28-11) will face Ryan Hluschak from Drexel in a consolation round match Thursday night.

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