Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Wrestling team closes out its 2009-10 regular season this Saturday, February 20 when the Pride host the Drexel Dragons in a Colonial Athletic Association match at the Hofstra Physical Fitness Center. Match time is 1 p.m.

The Pride and the Dragons will be meeting for the 29th time since the 1980-81 season. Hofstra, which has won 11 straight encounters including a 30-10 decision in Philadelphia last year, holds a 15-13 series advantage over the past 29 seasons.

Despite winning five of the 10 matches last Wednesday, the Pride is coming off a 21-16 loss at CAA-rival Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, sophomores P.J. Gillespie and Ben Clymer and freshman Luke Vaith and Jamie Franco posted victories for Hofstra which fell to 5-12-2 overall and 3-3 in the CAA.

Hofstra will honor its three graduating seniors on the wrestling team, Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, Jon Rothman and Anthony Tortora in pre-match ceremonies. The Pride, who added Tortora to their long injury list on Wednesday, will be looking to snap a seven-match losing skid dating back to mid-January. Tortora, who will miss the Drexel match, suffered a shoulder injury and took an injury default in his 197-pound match against Rider's Tyler Smith.

The Pride continue to be led by Bonilla-Bowman Gillespie and Clymer. Bonilla-Bowman, ranked second in the CAA and 19th in the country by InterMat at 157 pounds, has won 13 of his last 15 matches to boost his record to 15-4 overall and 5-1 in CAA matches. Gillespie, who is also ranked second in the CAA and ranked 17th by InterMat at 165 pounds, leads the Pride with a 27-12 record. The Long Beach, New York native, who captured the conference's 149-pound title last year, is also 5-1 in the CAA. Clymer, also ranked second in the CAA, has topped his freshman season victory total of 21, with a 22-6 mark this season.

The Pride find themselves ranked fifth in the current CAA wrestling team rankings with five ranked grapplers, Hofstra has 21 points in the poll trailing number one Old Dominion with 42 points and 10 ranked wrestlers. Rider is second with 41 points and 10 ranked wrestlers while Binghamton is third with 36 points and nine ranked grapplers. Drexel is fourth with nine-ranked wrestlers and 29 points. George Mason (18, 6) is sixth, Boston University (13, 6) is seventh and Sacred Heart (10, 5) round out the team standings.

The Dragons of Drexel are just ahead of the Pride in the CAA rankings with a 9-12 overall mark including a 3-3 record in the CAA. The Dragons are led by 15th-ranked senior Steve Mytych, who is also ranked first in the CAA at 133 pounds with a 29-6 record. Junior Kyle Frey is ranked second in the CAA at 285 pounds with a 27-8 record while red-shirt freshman Joe Booth is ranked third in the CAA with a 19-5 record.

Following Saturday's match, the Pride will start preparing to defend their conference championship streak at the CAA Championships that will be hosted by Rider University on Friday and Saturday, March 5-6. Hofstra has captured nine consecutive conference titles including eight in the CAA.

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