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Hofstra University Athletics

THE PRIDE OF LONG ISLAND
THE PRIDE OF LONG ISLAND
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TOMASETTE AND GRIFFIN ADVANCE TO CLIFF KEEN-LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL QUARTERFINALS

11/30/2007 10:00:00 PM

Seniors Dave Tomasette and Charles Griffin advanced to Friday night's quarterfinals and three other Pride wrestlers remain alive at the 26th annual Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

 

The Pride is in 16th place in the 50-team field with 25.5 points, 19.5 points behind tournament leader Nebraska. Edinboro and Missouri, both Hofstra opponents this season, are tied for second with 42.5 points. Ohio State is fourth with 41.5 points and Illinois is fifth with 41 points. The Pride placed ninth in last year's Las Vegas Invitational, 11th in 2005, and third in 2004.

 

Tomasette, the third-seed at 125 pounds and 6-1 on the year, posted a 2-0 mark in action Friday, defeating Marcos Orozco from Cal Davis, 11-0, in the first round and Joey Boone from Navy,11-1, in the second round. Tomasette will face sixth-seeded Rollie Peterkin from Penn in the quarterfinals that begin at 10 p.m. (EST). The senior will be making his second quarterfinal appearance in the quarterfinals after reaching them in 2005 before losing to eventual tournament champion Troy Nickerson from Cornell.

 

Griffin, the number one seed at 141 pounds, improved to 7-1 on the year with three victories to reach the quarterfinals. Griffin defeated Mark Savino from Brown, 12-3, Wyoming's Cole Dallaserra, 18-5, and Edinboro's Torsten Gillespie 9-6.  Griffin, who will face eighth-seeded Sal Tirico from Columbia in the quarterfinals, is making his first quarterfinal appearance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

 

In addition to the two quarterfinalists, sophomore Lou Ruggirello, the number one seed at 133 pounds, classmate Jonny Bonilla-Bowman and freshman Ryan Patrovich are alive in the consolation bracket after suffering one loss Friday. Ruggirello, the number one ranked wrestler in the country, went 3-1 in the day session, defeating Jeremy Shaw from North Carolina, 11-1, and pinning Kellen Costelow from the Colorado School of Mines in 1:38 before losing for the first time in eight outings this year in a 6-3 decision to Cal Poly's Filip Novachkov. Ruggirello bounced back with a 5-0 decision over Cory VomBaur in the fourth round of the consolations.

 

Bonilla-Bowman posted a 2-1 record during the day session, recording a 24-8 tech fall over Nate Kearsley from Utah Valley State, losing to top-ranked and defending national champion Gregor Gillespie from Edinboro, 17-6 before bouncing back with a 7-3 victory over John Cummings from Buffalo in the consolation fourth round. Bonilla-Bowman improved to 2-3 on the year.

 

Patrovich rallied from a first round 6-5 loss to Justin Fraga from Purdue to post consolation victories over Nick Zumwalt from Dickinson State, by fall in 39 seconds, Jake Donar from Wisconsin, 6-3, and a default win over Oregon State's Jon Brascetta.

 

Freshman Justin Danz was eliminated for the tournament after three matches. The California native was pinned by fifth-seeded Trevor Brandvold from Wisconsin in 1:26, posted an 8-4 decision over Charlie Gibbs from Missouri Valley in the consolations before being knocked out of the tournament by Jared Deaquero from Adams State, 12-0.

 

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