Princeton, NJ – Junior Michael Hughes and graduate-student Jamel Hudson will represent Hofstra University in the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden, hosted by Hofstra University, from March 17-19 following their performances at the 112th Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium Sunday.

Hughes placed third at 285 pounds while Hudson finished fourth at 141 pounds for the Pride. With Hughes and Hudson qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Hofstra has now extended its streak of consecutive national championship tournaments with two or more wrestlers competing to 20 years. Last year, Hudson at 141 and Cody Ruggirello at 149 earned NCAA Championship bids.

Hughes, who was seeded third at 285 pounds, advanced to Sunday's semifinals with two wins on Saturday. In Sunday's semifinal, Hughes fell to Lehigh's second-seed and eventual conference champion Max Wessell, 7-3 sending him to the consolation bracket. Hughes then pinned Franklin and Marshall's Antonio Pelusi in 1:07 to also advance to the third-place match. He would then defeat Princeton's sixth-seed Ray O'Donnell, 10-1 in the third-place match to record the third-best finish by a Hofstra wrestler in the Pride's short history in the EIWA Championships. Hofstra's Joe Booth was an EIWA champion at 165 in 2013 while Luke Vaith placed second at 141 that same year.

Hudson, who entered the EIWA Championship unseeded, posted a 2-1 record on Saturday and then qualified for the NCAA Championships with a 6-3 decision over American's Tyler Scotton in the third round of the consolations. Hudson then defeated Princeton's fifth-seeded Jordan Laster, 3-1 in sudden victory to advance to the third place match. He would be defeated in that match by the third-seed Randy Cruz from Lehigh. Hudson is 20-8 on the season.

The 112th EIWA Team Championship was captured by Cornell, for the 10th consecutive season and 24th time overall, with 170.5 points. Lehigh finished second with 160 points and Bucknell was third with 84. Hofstra finished in 13th-place with 31 points in the 16-team EIWA.

The EIWA received seven bids at 174 and 184, six at 141, 157 and 285, five at 149, four at 165 and 197, and three at 125 and 133. The 51 EIWA bids are an increase of eight spots over last year's Championships. On March 9, 46 national at-large bids will be announced to round out the NCAA Championship field of 33 in each weight class and 330 total.

A limited number of single session tickets are still available for the 2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden. In addition, wrestling fans can buy and sell official tickets through the NCAA Ticket Exchange™. This gives ticket holders who are unable to attend a session a place to safely sell their tickets. Buyers can also get their tickets knowing the tickets are authentic and guaranteed. Visit http://www.ncaa.com/tickets/wrestling/d1 for more information.