Greensboro, NC - Pride junior Ryan Patrovich and sophomore P.J. Gillespie have advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinals at the 2009 Southern Scuffle at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center Tuesday. Hofstra, which brought just five wrestlers to the seventh annual holiday tournament, are in 26th place with 11 points. Minnesota (50.0), Cornell (49.0) and Indiana (42.0) lead the 32-team field entering the second and final day of the Scuffle Wednesday.
Patrovich, ranked 10th in the nation at 174 pounds, improved to 14-4 on the season with two wins in the championship bracket Tuesday. The Bohemia, New York native, who placed sixth in the 2007 Southern Scuffle at 165 pounds, opened with a convincing 12-3 major decision over Daniel Montanez from Cal State Bakersfield. Patrovich, who did not compete in last year's Scuffle due to an injury, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-1 decision over Cornell's Colin McDonald on an escape and a takedown in the third period. Patrovich will face Indiana's Trevor Perry in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Gillespie, ranked 16th at 165 pounds, improved to 17-4 on the year with two victories in the championship bracket Tuesday. The Long Beach (NY) High School product, who posted a 3-2 mark at the last year's Scuffle, tallied a solid 4-1 victory over North Carolina State's Ray Ward in the first round before posting a hard-fought 6-2 win over Pennsylvania's Tom Timothy in the round of 16. Gillespie held a 3-2 lead in the third before securing the victory with a late takedown and the riding time point. Gillespie will face defending CAA champion Chris Brown from Old Dominion in one of the quarterfinal matches on Wednesday.
Three other Hofstra wrestlers, Tyler Banks, Luke Vaith and Ben Clymer, were eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday.
Red-shirt freshman Tyler Banks recorded a 2-2 record at 149 pounds Tuesday. The Griswold, Connecticut native opened with a 3-2 nail-biting win over North Carolina's Daniel Helena on a third period escape after Helena reversed him earlier in the period. Banks was sent into the consolation bracket with a 9-1 major decision to Edinboro's Torsten Gillespie. He rebounded with a 16-0 tech fall over North Carolina State's Brett Farina before being knocked out of the Scuffle with a 9-2 loss to Cornell's Hicks Manson. Banks is now 6-8 on the season.
Freshman Luke Vaith posted a 1-2 record at 141 pounds Tuesday. The Hastings (MN) High School product opened the tournament with an easy 9-5 victory over Princeton's Luis Ramos. But Cal State Bakersfield's Elijah Nacita dished out a 9-3 decision over Vaith before North Carolina's State's Dale Shull knocked him out of the tourney with a pin at the 4:08 mark of the match. Vaith is 6-6 on the season.
Sophomore Ben Clymer was 0-2 at 184 pounds Tuesday. The Germansville, Pennsylvania native, who posted a 3-2 record in last year's Scuffle, took a 13-3 major decision loss to Michigan's Hunter Montoyo in his first match before suffering a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to CAA-foe Brock Mantella in the consolation round. After a scoreless first period, Mantella rode out Clymer in the second period. The Hofstra wrestler was repaying the favor in the third period when Mantella reversed Clymer with 10 seconds remaining for the victory. Clymer is 11-4 on the season.
Wednesday's action begins with the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. Championship semifinals are scheduled for 11:30 a.m. with the finals slated for 5 p.m.
Hofstra Results from Day One of the Southern Scuffle
141 Lbs Luke Vaith, Hofstra Univ DEC Luis Ramos, Princeton Univ 9-5
141 Lbs Elijah Nacita, Cal State Bakersfield DEC Luke Vaith, Hofstra Univ 9-3
141 Lbs Dale Shull, North Carolina State Univ FALL Luke Vaith, Hofstra Univ F 4:08
149 Lbs Tyler Banks, Hofstra Univ DEC Daniel Helena, Univ of North Carolina 3-2
149 Lbs Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro Univ MAJOR Tyler Banks, Hofstra Univ 9-1
149 Lbs Tyler Banks, Hofstra Univ TF Brett Farina, North Carolina State Univ 16-0;6:46
149 Lbs Hicks Manson, Cornell Univ MAJOR Tyler Banks, Hofstra Univ 10-2
165 Lbs Paul Gillespie, Hofstra Univ DEC Ray Ward, North Carolina State Univ 4-1
165 Lbs Paul Gillespie, Hofstra Univ DEC Tom Timothy, Univ. of Pennsylvania 6-2
174 Lbs Ryan Patrovich, Hofstra Univ MAJOR Daniel Montanez, Cal State Bakersfield 12-3
174 Lbs Ryan Patrovich, Hofstra Univ DEC Colin McDonald, Cornell Univ 4-1
184 Lbs Hunter Montoyo, Michigan Univ MAJOR Ben Clymer, Hofstra Univ 13-3
184 Lbs Brock Mantella, Boston Univ DEC Ben Clymer, Hofstra Univ 2-0
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