Hofstra University Athletics

WREST: Pride Host American and Columbia This Weekend

1/24/2013 10:50:00 PM

Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Wrestling team will have a busy weekend with two home matches at the Mack Sports Complex as the Pride will host American University on Friday, January 25 at 7 p.m. and Columbia University on Sunday, January 27 at 1 p.m.

Hofstra, which has wrestled one of the toughest schedules in the country facing eight top 25 teams this season, is coming off a 2-1 weekend at the CAA Duals last Saturday. The Pride defeated Boston University (20-19) and George Mason (32-8) and lost to Old Dominion (19-12) in between as seniors Steve Bonanno and Paul Snyder and sophomore Jermaine John all went 3-0 in the CAA Duals and 4-0 for the week. Hofstra improved to 3-2 in the CAA and 3-12 overall. The Pride have won three of their last four matches.

John was named the CAA Co-Wrestler of the Week this week after winning all four of his matches last week, posting a win by fall, a major decision and two decisions.

Hofstra continues to have four wrestlers ranked in the latest national polls. Bonanno is ranked 16th by InterMat, 17th by WIN, 18th by the Wrestling Report and 20th by AWN at 125 pounds. Bonanno is the top-ranked wrestler in the CAA with a 5-0 slate and is 11-7 on the season. Junior Luke Vaith is ranked 17th by Amateur Wrestling News, InterMat and the Wrestling Report, and 18th by WIN Magazine at 141 pounds. Vaith, who dropped to third in the CAA at 141 pounds this week, is 14-10 on the season including 3-2 in conference action.

Snyder, who is ranked 24th by the Wrestling Report, is the Pride starting grappler with the best record at 16-7 overall and 5-0 in the CAA at 285 pounds. He climbed into the number one spot in the conference this week after defeating previous number one Kevin Innis from Boston University last Saturday. John, who is 32nd by the Wrestling Report, is 14-9 overall and 5-0 in the CAA at 174 pounds. He is now ranked second in the conference in that weight class.

The Eagles of American University enter the week with a 4-3 record with wins over George Mason (23-9), Harvard (21-19), Stanford (24-14) and North Carolina State (24-16). Their losses have come against Maryland (23-21), Old Dominion (23-9) and Lehigh (30-12).

The Eagles are led by red-shirt junior Blake Herrin, who is 18-5 at 285 pounds. Senior Kevin Tao is 17-8 at 149 and red-shirt freshman David Terao is19-10 at 125 pounds. The Pride and the Eagles last met on January 19, 2012 in Washington, D.C. with Hofstra posting a 22-18 victory.

The Lions of Columbia enter the week with a 3-4 record with victories over Drexel (26-9), Cal Poly (28-13) and San Francisco State (28-8) and losses to Maryland (27-10), Rutgers (30-6), Cal State Bakersfield (22-12) and Bucknell (24-14).

The Lions are led by a trio of ranked wrestlers headed by senior Steve Santos (16-2), who is ranked eighth by InterMat at 149 pounds. Senior Stephen West (16-4) is ranked 16th by Amateur Wrestling News at 174 pounds while classmate Jake O'Hara (14-3) is ranked 18th by InterMat at 157 pounds. Hofstra and Columbia last met on February 19, 2012 in Manhattan with the Pride posting a 28-9 victory.

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