Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Wrestling team will take a break from dual matches this week to compete in the 2013 New York State Collegiate Wrestling Championship this Sunday, November 24 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

College wrestling programs from around New York State, including all NCAA divisions and junior colleges, will converge on Cornell's Newman Arena at Bartels Hall for the all-day tournament that begins at 9 a.m. At press time, 24 institutions are expected to send teams or representatives to this year's New York collegiate championship.

Hofstra (2-4), which has opened the season with six dual matches including three against top 25 opponents, is coming off a 36-6 loss at fifth-ranked Oklahoma in Norman last Sunday. Senior Luke Vaith at 141 and graduate-student Joe Booth at 165 posted the Pride victories in Oklahoma.

Hofstra has four wrestlers ranked in the four weekly college wrestling polls this week. Heading the foursome is Vaith (5-1), who is ranked seventh by both Amateur Wrestling News (AWN) and The Wrestling Report (TWR), eighth by Wrestling International Newsweekly (WIN) and 10th by InterMat. Booth, who is also 5-1 on the season, is ranked 12th by InterMat, 17th by AWN and 19th by WIN and TWR. Freshman Jamel Hudson, who is 4-2 at 133 pounds this season, is ranked 19th by AWN and 24th by TWR. Senior Jamie Franco (3-3) is ranked 17th at 125 by TWR.

Hofstra Head Wrestling Coach Rob Anspach has indicated that he may shuffle the Pride's 10-man “A” tournament line-up, possibly in the upper weight classes, to see some of his younger wrestlers. Teams are allowed a maximum of 10 wrestlers but there are no limits on weight class entries.

Last year, Hofstra senior Paul Snyder won the 285 pound title and seven other Pride wrestlers were place-winners at the 44th annual New York State Collegiate Championship at Cornell University.

Hofstra finished third in the 19-team Championship that was won by Cornell University. The Big Red finished with 183.5 points while Columbia University was second with 152.5. The Pride finished with 135.5 points. Buffalo (130.5) was fourth while defending champion Army (125.5) was fifth.

Snyder, the number one seed, swept through the heavyweight class, posting a 4-0 mark and defeating Buffalo's Justin Heiserman in the championship match, 3-1. Two Pride wrestlers placed second as senior Steve Bonanno and sophomore Jermaine John (Brooklyn, NY) were finalists at 125 and 174 pounds, respectively. Bonanno, the number one seed at 125, was 2-1 with a tech fall in the Championship and lost to Cornell's Nahshon Garrett, 13-9 in the title match. John posted a 4-1 record with a win by fall, a major decision and two decisions in the tournament before dropping a 6-0 decision to Columbia's Stephen West in the title match.

Two Hofstra grapplers, juniors Jamie Franco (Monroe, NY) and Luke Vaith (Hastings, MN), placed third at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively. Franco, the number one seed at 133, recorded a 4-1 record with a tech fall and a major decision in the Championship. He defeated Columbia's Joe Moita in the consolation final, 3-2 for third place. Vaith, the number two seed at 141, also recorded a 4-1 record with two tech falls and two major decisions. He recorded a 12-4 major decision over Cornell's Joseph Stanzione in the consolation final for third place.

Sophomore Nick Terdick (East Northport, NY) placed fourth at 165 pounds. He recorded a 4-2 record with a tech fall and a major decision. He dropped a 11-4 decision to Columbia's Josh Houldsworth in the consolation final. Senior Matt Spataro (Garfield, NJ) placed fifth at 149 pounds. He posted a 3-2 mark in the Championship with two wins by fall and defeated Ryan Guynup from Jamestown Community College in the fifth-place match. Senior Tim Murphy (Nazareth, PA) was seventh at 197 pounds. He was 3-2 in the tournament with a tech fall and a major decision. Murphy defeated NYU's Sam Galassi, 3-1 in sudden victory in the seventh-place match.