Bethlehem, PA - Zachary Knighton-Ward went 2-0 on the day and advanced to Saturday's semifinals at 285 pounds while four other Pride grapplers – Dylan Ryder, Ricky Stamm, Sage Heller, and Charles Small – remain alive in the consolation bracket after the first day of the 2020 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships at Lehigh University. The Pride is in 11th place in the team standings with 33 points. Two-time defending champion Lehigh leads with 87.5 points after one round.

The Pride started strong as Dylan Ryder, seeded ninth at 125 pounds, scored an 11-0 major decision against the eighth seed, Nolan Hellickson of Harvard to advance to the quarterfinals. The Pride would the lose each of the next five weight classes before No. 6 Sage Heller posted a 22-7 tech fall against No. 11 Peter Ferraro (Harvard) to advance. Charles Small, the No. 10 seed at 184 pounds, upset No. 7 Kyle Davis of Sacred Heart, 5-3, in sudden victory to stay in the winner's bracket. Small gave up a point late that enabled Davis to tie the score but scored a quick take down in the overtime to earn the win. Zachary Knighton-Ward (285) was the fourth Hofstra wrestler to advance to the quarterfinals after a dominating 8-0 major decision victory over 13th-seeded Brandon Stokes of Bucknell.

In the quarterfinal round, Ryder was matched up with top-seeded and No. 3 nationally ranked Patrick Glory. Ryder fell behind early and could not recover in a 16-2 loss. Sage Heller faced No. 3 seed and No 12 nationally ranked Ben Harvey of Army West Point in the 174-pound quarters. Harvey jumped out to a big first period lead and then recorded a fall at the 3:42 mark. Small took on the No. 3 seed at 184 pounds, Chris Weiler of Lehigh, and was on the wrong side of a 9-0 major decision. Knighton-Ward would defeat Binghamton's Joe Doyle, the No. 5 seed, 6-4 at 285 to reach the EIWA semifinals in his first championship appearance.  

No. 14 Vinny Vespa, who lost his first round match at 141 pounds, suffered a tough 1-0 loss to No. 6 Wilfredo Gil of Franklin & Marshall in the consolation bracket to see his season come to an end. Gil escaped from a down position start in the second period for the only point of the match. No. 14 Andrew Garr of Columbia picked up a 4-3 win over No. 11 Reece Heller in a consolation match at 149 pounds. No. 10 Holden Heller survived and advanced in the wrestle back with a 10-0 major decision on #15 TJ Calas of Sacred Heart at 157. Ricky Stamm also advanced in the consolation bracket with a 4-2 win over Penn's Jake Stefanovich. Stamm, the seven seed, snapped a 1-1 tie in the latter stages of the third period to move on. Trey Rogers advanced as well with a win by fall over the No. 16 seed from American, William Jarrell.

In the second round of consolations, Ryder advanced with an upset of the No. 3 seed, Michael Colaiocco of Penn, 9-8. Stamm edged No. 5 Ebed Jarrell, 3-1, to move on while Heller picked up a 7-1 decision over No. 9 Joe Accousti of Sacred Heart. Small got past No. 13 Andrew Buckley of Navy, 3-2. Justin Hoyle, Holden Heller, and Rogers were not as fortunate and saw their seasons end with losses in the round.

Knighton-Ward will have a tall task in front of him in the semis in the form of No. 1 seed and No. 10 nationally ranked Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard. The two met on Feb. 16 with the Crimson heavyweight pulling out a 3-2 win.

The semifinal and third round of consolations gets underway Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

NOTES:
-Small's victory over Davis was his second in 13 days with both coming in sudden victory.
-Knighton-Ward has won four straight matches.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
125: #9 Dylan Ryder (Hofstra) maj. dec. #8 Nolan Hellickson (Harvard), 11-0
133: #8 Angelo Rini (Columbia) wbf. #9 Justin Hoyle (Hofstra), 6:55
141: #3 Matt Kazimir (Columbia) wbf. #14 Vinny Vespa (Hofstra), 1:35
149: #6 Matthew Kolonia (Bucknell) dec. #11 Reece Heller (Hofstra), 10-3
157: #7 Jaden Fisher (Bucknell) dec. #10 Holden Heller (Hofstra), 6-5
165: #10 Brandon Levesque (Sacred Heart) dec. #7 Ricky Stamm (Hofstra), 12-5
174: #6 Sage Heller (Hofstra) tech fall #11 Peter Ferraro (Harvard), 22-7 (4:38)
184: #10 Charles Small (Hofstra) dec. #7 Kyle Davis (Sacred Heart), 5-3 SV
197: #8 Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) wbf. #9 Trey Rogers (Hofstra), 3:59
285: #4 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) maj. dec. #13 Brandon Stokes (Bucknell), 8-0
 
QUARTERFINALS RESULTS
125: #1 Patrick Glory (Princeton) maj. dec. #9 Dylan Ryder (Hofstra), 16-2
174: #3 Ben Harvey (Army West Point) wbf. #6 Sage Heller (Hofstra), 3:42
184: #2 Christopher Weiler (Lehigh) maj. dec. #10 Charles Small (Hofstra), 9-0
285: #4 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec. #5 Joe Doyle (Binghamton), 6-4
 
CONSOLATION ROUND RESULTS
141: #6 Wilfredo Gil (Franklin & Marshall) dec. #14 Vinny Vespa (Hofstra), 1-0
149: #14 Andrew Garr (Columbia) dec. #11 Reece Heller (Hofstra), 4-3
157: #10 Holden Heller (Hofstra) maj. dec. #15 TJ Calas (Sacred Heart), 10-0
165: #7 Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec. #17 Jake Stefanovich (Penn), 4-2
197: #9 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) wbf. #16 William Jarrell (American), 4:48
125: #9 Dylan Ryder (Hofstra) dec. #3 Michael Colaiocco (Penn), 9-8
133: #6 Andrew Wert (Army) dec. #9 Justin Hoyle (Hofstra), 11-6
157: #12 Adam Santoro (Cornell) dec. #10 Holden Heller (Hofstra), 9-7
165: #7 Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) dec. #5 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), 3-1
174: #6 Sage Heller (Hofstra) dec. #9 Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart), 7-1
184: #10 Charles Small (Hofstra) dec. #13 Andrew Buckley (Navy), 3-2
197: #3 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) wbf. #9 Trey Rogers (Hofstra), 4:59