Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra Wrestling team returns to dual match action and kicks of its Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) schedule this Sunday, November 29 when the Pride compete in the fourth annual Grapple at the Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Hofstra will face EIWA-foe Princeton (0-0) at 10 a.m. before taking on the Terrapins of Maryland (1-3) at noon in the fourth edition of the Grapple at the Garden. In addition to the two Hofstra matches, 13 more college matches will be wrestled in the Grapple at the Garden
 
Trackwrestling.com will provide live stats on all mats of the Grapple. Pride Productions will provide live audio of both matches which can be accessed on GoHofstra.com.
 
Hofstra will be appearing in the Grapple at the Garden for the fourth consecutive year after splitting its two matches last December. The Pride defeated Maryland, 29-12 before falling to EIWA-opponent Bucknell, 25-15. Hofstra is 3-3 all-time in the Grapple. The Pride lost both matches to top five opponents Ohio State and Iowa in 2012, defeated Boston University and Army in 2013 and split the two last year.
 
Hofstra is coming off a seventh-place finish at the New York State Championships at Cornell last Sunday. Junior Michael Hughes captured his second consecutive state title at 285-pounds and four other Pride wrestlers placed as Hofstra finished seventh in the Championship. The Pride finished seventh with 75.5 points while entering 10 of the allotted 12 wrestlers. Cornell won the team title with 202 points

In addition to Hughes, who also captured the 285-lb. title at the Binghamton Open two weeks ago, Pride junior Frank Affronti placed fifth at 174 pounds, classmate Jahlani Callender finished sixth at 157 while sophomores Bryan Damon and Cory Damiana each placed seventh at 125 and 184 pounds, respectively.

Hofstra is led by a trio of juniors headed by heavyweight Michael Hughes. Hughes, who has two tournament titles this season, is 11-2 and ranked 24th by the Wrestling Report. 174-pounder Frank Affronti is 11-4 on the season while 141-pounder Jamel Hudson, who is the only Pride wrestler ranked (16th) by InterMat, is 2-1 on the season.

The Princeton Tigers will be competing in their first dual matches of the season at the Grapple at the Garden after competing in the Binghamton Open and the Navy Classic this month. The Tigers are led by senior Abram Ayala, who is ranked 10th at 184, junior Brett Harner, who is ranked 10th at 197 and sophomore Jonathan Schleifer, who is ranked 11th at 174. The Pride and the Tigers last met on January 9 in Princeton with Hofstra recording a 22-20 victory. The Tigers defeated the Pride, 22-19 in Hempstead in 2013-14.

The Maryland Terrapins are 1-3 on the year with a win over Davidson (40-3) and losses to Pittsburgh (16-15), Buffalo (19-13) and third-ranked Iowa (36-9). Red-shirt sophomore Tyler Goodwin is the Terps only ranked wrestler by InterMat, coming in at 18th with a 3-0 mark. Senior Lou Mascola is 4-0 at 157, red-shirt freshman Alfred Bannisteris 5-1 at 141 while senior Mark Colabucci is 5-2 at 184 pounds. The Pride and the Terps met last year at the Grapple at the Garden with Hofstra recording a 29-12 victory. Hofstra also defeated Maryland in Hempstead, 22-17 during the 2010-11 season.