Ready for takedowns

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Hofstra lost five-starters from last year’s 13-8 season and 15th ranking that saw seven grapplers qualify for the NCAA Championships, but despite having a young team has continued to make itself known on the national stage. Hofstra made an early season statement with an 18-15 upset win at then 7th ranked Penn State on Nov. 16, which catapulted them to a top 20 ranking.

Third-year head coach Tom Shifflet returned 13 wrestlers for the 2008/09 season including NCAA qualifiers from last season in All-American senior Alton Lucas, juniors Lou Ruggirello and Jonny Bonilla-Bowman and sophomore Ryan Patrovich, a transfer from Indiana. Hofstra (3-1) entered the final days of 2008 ranked 19th.  Four Hofstra wrestlers were ranked in the top 20 in their respective weight classes including Lucas (7th) at 174 pounds, Ruggirello (10th) at 133 pounds, sophomore Joe Fagiano (15th) at 197 pounds and Patrovich (20th) at 165 pounds.

“We want those guys standing on the podium in March,” said Coach Shifflet of his hopes for his wrestlers making a run at some individual national titles, a feat accomplished at Hofstra only by Nick Gallo in 1976. “They are working hard to make sure we maintain a strong tradition in wrestling.”
One of the Pride’s key grapplers in 2008/09 is red-shirt freshman and Long Beach High School graduate P.J. Gillespie, who was 12-6 overall and 2-2 in dual matches heading into late December. The red-short freshman Gillespie got his college career off to a promising start last year before suffering a season-ending injury.
“[Gillespie] is a tall 149-pounder who will be able to use a lot of leverage and is skilled at all positions,” said Coach Shifflet of the Long Beach High School graduate, who was a New York state champion in 2007. 

“We’re definitely a top 10-caliber team,” said Gillespie of his expectations for the season. “We just have to prove it.”

Hofstra home wrestling matches create an electric atmosphere inside the Mack Sports Complex. The lights are dimmed for each individual match and one lit lamp shines on the center of the floor with rock music in the background. “The university does a nice job not just make it a wrestling match, but an event,” said Coach Shifflet. “It’s a really nice atmosphere for wrestling.”

Hofstra’s remaining home schedule is packed with some of the top wrestling programs in the country including on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. when the Pride battle Ohio State, who is coached by former longtime Hofstra head coach Tom Ryan. “It’s a great homecoming for Tom,” said Coach Shifflet of the former Pride head coach. “He brought the program to where it is today.”
The Ohio State match will also be called Teague Ryan Day, in honor of Coach Ryan’s late son, who tragically died of cardiac arrest at age 5 in 2004. A portion of the ticket sales will help support the Teague Ryan Fund, a scholarship established at Hofstra in his memory. The Jan. 25 match will also honor the late Ray Downey Jr., a New York City firefighter who died in the line of duty during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and who was a loyal supporter of Hofstra wrestling. There will also be a pre-match clinic and post match autograph session.

Hofstra’s next home match is against North Carolina State on Jan. 11 starting at 1 p.m. There will be a pre-match clinic for local youth wrestlers and a post-match autograph session. The Pride’s final home match is on Feb. 8 against Cornell at 5 p.m., with all high school wrestlers receiving free admission for coaches who sign up with the Hofstra athletics office.  

For more information on the Hofstra wrestling schedule, call (516) 463-TIXX or log onto www.hofstra.edu/athletics.