Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra wrestling team will return to the mat this Saturday and Sunday with a pair of home dual matches. The Pride will begin the weekend with a 1 p.m. non-conference dual against Buffalo on Saturday, followed by a Sunday clash with Navy at 4 p.m. in EIWA action. Both matches will be held inside the David S. Mack Physical Education Center.

Both matches will be streamed live on the Hofstra Pride YouTube channel, and live results for the weekend's action will be on TrackWrestling. These links can be found on this page and on the wrestling schedule page on GoHofstra.com.

The Pride enters the weekend at 2-7 overall and sporting a 1-2 record against EIWA competition following a 21-15 defeat to Bucknell on Saturday in the first home match of the 2021-22 season. Justin Hoyle (141), Ricky Stamm (165), Charles Small (184), Trey Rogers (197) and Zachary Knighton-Ward (285) all earned decision wins for the hosts against the Bison.

Hofstra's tentative line-up against Buffalo and Navy will be Jacob Moon (1-8) or Dylan Acevedo-Switzer (1-9) at 125; Ty Cymmerman (2-7) or Matthew Templeton (0-0) at 133; Hoyle (7-7) or Mario Biancamano (0-3) at 141; sophomore Michael Leandrou (5-11) at 149; Joe McGinty (7-8) at 157; Stamm (8-6) at 165; Ericson Velasquez (0-3) at 174; Small (9-5) at 184; Rogers (9-4) at 197; and Knighton-Ward (10-4) or Ben Somerville (0-5) at 285. Small and Knighton-Ward continue to represent the Pride in the national media rankings, with Small ranking #27 by InterMat and Knighton-Ward ranked #19 by InterMat and The Open Mat.

Buffalo enters the weekend following a pair of dual wins over Cleveland State (19-17) and SIU-Edwardsville (24-12) to improve to 7-5 overall and 4-1 in the MAC on the year. John Aceri (149) and Noah Grover (165) lead the Bulls with 14 and 13 wins, respectively, while returning national qualifier Michael Petite holds a 4-3 record at 157 pounds. Buffalo will first take on LIU on Friday before making the trip to Hempstead for Saturday's clash.

Navy is 0-1 in duals on the year with an 18-16 defeat to Maryland on December 11. Val Park leads the Midshipmen with 17 wins at 165 pounds, while returning national qualifier Andrew Cerniglia has won 16 matches this season and is currently ranked #20 in the country at 157 pounds by InterMat. Prior to Sunday's dual, Navy will travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for a Saturday match against #17 Lehigh.

Saturday will be the 12th all-time meeting between Hofstra and Buffalo in a dual meet, and the series is even at 5-5-1. Meanwhile, Navy holds an all-time record of 6-0 over Hofstra dating back to the 1960s, but this will be only the second meeting between these two programs since 1974 and the first since 2019.

Following this weekend's duals, Hofstra's run of consecutive home matches will conclude on January 22 against Binghamton in EIWA competition. The match is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.