Lawrenceville, NJ - The Pride won five matches, but Rider captured the final two matches of the night to post a 21-16 CAA victory over Hofstra at Alumni Gymnasium Wednesday night. Rider improved to 12-6 on the season and 4-1 in the CAA while Hofstra fell to 5-12-2 overall and 3-3 in conference action.

Senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman recorded a major decision, sophomores P.J. Gillespie and Ben Clymer, and freshmen Jamie Franco and Luke Vaith tallied decisions for the Pride.

Starting at 125 pounds, Pride freshman Jamie Franco (5-13) posted an escape and a takedown in the second period and fought off a takedown attempt in the waning seconds of the match to post a 5-2 victory over Rider's fourth-ranked Ilyass Elmsaouri. The 133-pound match featured Rider's Jimmy Kirchner, ranked second in the CAA, and Hofstra freshman Luke Vaith (15-16), ranked fourth in the league. Vaith, the newcomer from Minnesota, took it to Kirchner, jumping out to a 4-2 lead after one period and added four points in the third on the way to an 8-2 victory.

In a fiercely contested match at 141 pounds, Rider's Matt Bradley posted a late escape and amassed 1:39 in riding time to post a 5-3 victory over Hofstra freshman Tyler Banks (9-17). At 149 pounds, Rider's Mike Kessler, ranked number one in the CAA, jumped out to a 7-1 lead after one period and rolled to a 19-5 major decision over Pride junior Jeff Rotella (3-18) to give the Broncs their first lead of the match at 7-6.

At 157 pounds, Hofstra senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, ranked second in the CAA, got some of the points back with a 24-11 major decision over Zac Cibula to put the Pride back ahead, 10-7. Bonilla-Bowman won for the ninth time in his last 10 matches to improve to 15-4. In a battle between the number two and three ranked wrestlers in the CAA at 165 pounds, Hofstra sophomore P.J. Gillespie took a 5-4 lead into the third period over Rider's Rob Morrison. Morrison escaped to tie the match but Gillespie posted 1:16 in riding time to post the 6-5 victory. Gillespie improved to 27-12 and boosted the Pride lead in the match to 13-7.

At 174 pounds, Rider's Jim Resnick, ranked fourth in the CAA, cruised to a 16-1 tech fall in 4:39 over Hofstra senior Jonathan Rothman (2-16) to bring the Broncs within one at 13-12. At 184 pounds, Hofstra sophomore Ben Clymer, ranked second in the CAA, gave the Pride a 16-12 advantage with a 7-2 win over Mike Ward, ranked fifth in the CAA. Clymer improved to a career best 22-6 on the season.

Rider's Tyler Smith, ranked first in the CAA at 197 pounds, gave the Broncs an 18-16 lead in the match after a takedown at the 2:43 mark of the match injured Pride senior Anthony Tortora (8-18). In the final match of the night, Rider's Ed Bordas, ranked number one in the CAA at 285 pounds, posted an escape in the third period and added a takedown with 17 seconds remaining for a 3-0 victory over Pride red-shirt freshman Paul Snyder (9-14). The Broncs snapped a 10-match losing streak to the Pride, dating back exactly 11 years.

The Pride close out the regular season this Saturday, February 20 when they host Drexel University at the Hofstra Physical Fitness Center at 1 p.m. Hofstra will honor its three graduating seniors, Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, Jonathan Rothman and Anthony Tortora in pre-match ceremonies.

Rider 21 , Hofstra 16
125- Jamie Franco (HU) dec. Ilyass Elmsaouri (RU), 5-2
133- Luke Vaith (HU) dec. Jimmy Kirchner (RU), 8-2
141- Matt Bradley (RU) dec. Tyler Banks (HU), 5-3
149- Mike Kessler (RU) tech fall Jeff Rotella (HU), 20-5
157- Jonny Bonilla-Bowman (HU) maj. dec. Zac Cibula (RU), 24-11
165- P.J. Gillespie (HU) dec. Rob Morrison (RU), 6-5
174-Jim Resnick (RU) tech fall Jonathan Rothman (HU), 16-1
184- Ben Clymer (HU) dec. Mike Ward (RU), 7-2
197- Tyler Smith (RU) inj. def. Anthony Tortora (HU), 2:43
285- Ed Bordas (RU) dec. Paul Snyder (HU), 3-0

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