Hempstead, NY – Voting will commence for a four-hour period this evening as the Hofstra Wrestling program is one of 16 finalists for the Best of Brand "Pure Entertainment" award in the College Division, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) in association with Elite Level Sports Marketing (ELSM) announced.

This Best of Brand award program initiative between the NWCA and ELSM honors wrestling programs for their investment in marketing with a goal of continuing to inspire coaches to engage in branding initiatives.

The finalists were chosen by the committee based on the effectiveness of the school to market their program, while also delivering an entertaining product for the public.

In addition to Hofstra, the committee selected the following schools as finalists: Buena Vista, Buffalo, Coker College, Drexel, George Mason, Lehigh, Minnesota, Muhlenberg College, Old Dominion, Princeton, Sacred Heart, Simpson College, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and West Virginia.

The Hofstra Wrestling social media team is directed by head wrestling coach Dennis Papadatos and coordinated by assistant coaches Jake Patacsil and Dan Vallimont.

The criteria for determining the "Pure Entertainment" award winner will feature two key elements: a panel of judges assessing annual performance (70%) and an online voting competition (30%). The online voting component will include 15% allocated to the actual vote totals and 15% to the creativity of campaign during the Battle Round voting.

The finalists for the "Pure Entertainment" video category were selected by committee and ranked accordingly.  Based on seeding, the following first round matchups will take place:

#1  Drexel vs. #16  Coker College
#2  Sacred Heart vs. #15  Buffalo
#3  Lehigh vs. #14  West Virginia
#4 Old Dominion  vs. #13  George Mason
#5 Muhlenberg College  vs. #12  Simpson College
#6  Princeton vs. #11  Minnesota
#7  SIU-Edwardsville vs. #10  Buena Vista
#8  Hofstra vs. #9 South Dakota State

The Pure Entertainment category voting will feature a "Battle Round" bracket challenge format.  Schools will battle head-to-head each day to advance in the competition.  Each round of voting will be open for one day from 4:00 PM EST to 8:00 PM EST, and the program must win that day's vote to advance to the next round. To vote go to NWCAonline.com.
 

• Day 1: Round 1- Monday, June 1
• Day 2: Quarterfinals - Tuesday, June 2
• Day 3: Semifinals - Wednesday, June 3
• Day 4: Finals - Thursday, June 4
   

The winner will be announced later this summer at the NWCA Convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from July 30 to August 2.

"The videos in this category were really impressive," said ELSM CEO Coyte Cooper. "These programs were really creative in their approach and it showed with the product they were able to turn out."

"We would like to thank all of the programs that took part in this category," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "They did some unique things that really help grow our sport the right way."

Tonight's vote is the first of five Best of Brand Award categories in which the Hofstra Wrestling program is a finalist.