Bethlehem, Pa. - Hofstra senior Steve Bonanno earned a major
decision but nationally ranked Lehigh won the overall match as the Pride fell,
34-7, at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall Friday night.
The Pride fell to 0-7 on the season as the Mountain Hawks
won eight bouts. Senior 285-pounder Paul Snyder won the other match for the Pride. Lehigh, which entered ranked 21st by USA Today and
14th by InterMat, improved to 3-1.
Bonanno, ranked 17th by InterMat this week, won the opening match, registering a 13-2
major decision over Alex Abreu at 125 pounds.
Bonanno improved to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in duals.
But Lehigh won the next eight matches, starting with Laike
Gardner's 7-4 victory over Hofstra junior Jamie Franco at 133. Franco built a
2-1 lead after two periods before Gardner put Franco on his back for a
three-point nearfall.
At 141, Anthony Salupo upset 10th-ranked Pride junior Luke Vaith, 8-5, by
registering take-downs in each period. Shane Walsh won at 149, posting a 20-3 tech fall victory over senior
Matt Spataro..
Lehigh's Joey Napoli, at 157, gave Lehigh a 17-4 lead at
the intermission when he pinned red-shirt sophomore Cody Ruggirello at 4:27. Out of the break, Eric
Hess notched a pin for his second straight home dual with a combination move to
bring down freshman Jay Lysne, who was wrestling up a weight class, in the opening period.
Nathaniel Brown won at 174 for Lehigh with a major decision over sophomore Jermaine John. Robert Hamlin
followed suit with another major decision against senior Taras Luzhnyy. John
Bolich logged Lehigh's final victory of the night with a 7-2 decision over junior
Tim Murphy at 197.
Senior Paul Snyder allowed Hofstra to end the match on a
positive note with a 5-3 win over Jack Delia in the heavyweight class. Delia
sent the match into overtime with a late take down, though Snyder used a
spin-behind takedown of Delia 14 seconds into the sudden victory session for
the win, upping his overall record to 8-3.
Hofstra will next be in action on Sunday with two matches in Philadelphia, at 1 p.m. against the University of Pennsylvania and at 4 p.m. at CAA-foe Drexel University.
Lehigh 34 Hofstra 7
125 - Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) major dec. Alex Abreu (Lehigh) 13-2
133 - Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. Jaime Franco (Hofstra) 7-4
141 - Anthony Salupo (Lehigh) dec. Luke Vaith (Hofstra) 8-5
149 - Shane Welsh (Lehigh) tech fall Matt Spataro (Hofstra) 20-3, 7:00
157 - Joey Napoli (Lehigh) pinned Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) 4:27
165 - Eric Hess (Lehigh) pinned Jay Lysne (Hofstra) 1:39
174 - Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) major dec. Jermaine John (Hofstra) 10-1
184 - Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) major dec. Taras Luzhnyy (Hofstra) 14-3
197 - John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Tim Murphy (Hofstra) 7-2
285 - Paul Snyder (Hofstra) dec. Jack Delia (Lehigh) 5-3, s.v.
Attendance - 1,305
Referee - Gary Kessel