In the first match of the day in the Palestra at Penn, the Quakers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead behind a win by fall by senior Cesar Grajales in 6:50 over Pride sophomore Jeff Rotella (4-7). But Hofstra came back and captured the next four matches to take a 13-6 lead in the contest. At 157 Pride junior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman (17-6) rolled to a 15-6 major decision over sophomore Gabriel Burak. Sophomore Ryan Patrovich (14-5) gave the Pride a 7-6 lead with a 7-4 decision over senior Andrew Coles at 165. Hofstra's 10th-ranked senior Alton Lucas (18-4) won his eighth straight match with a hard-fought, 6-4 decision over sophomore Scott Giffin at 174 pounds. Pride freshman Ben Clymer (17-7) won his fourth consecutive match with a 4-3 decision over senior Colin Hitschler on a takedown in the final seconds.
But the Quakers, trailing by seven, did not roll over and would capture the next three match-ups to regain the lead, 15-13. At 197, Penn junior Thomas Shovlin posted a 12-6 decision over Pride senior Anthony Tortora (14-13) while senior Trey McLean wore down Hofstra freshman Jordan Enck (14-14), 10-5 at 285 pounds. Then, Penn's 12th-ranked junior Rollie Peterkin gave the Quakers the lead with a 4-2 win over Hofstra newcomer Steve Bonanno (23-10) at 125 pounds.
Hofstra regained the lead, 16-15, at 133 pounds when ninth-ranked Lou Ruggirello (20-3) posted a 4-0 decision over sophomore Bryan Ortenzio on a first period takedown and a third period reversal setting up the deciding match at 141 pounds. In the finale, freshman Mark Rappo jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one period on the way to an 8-2 victory over Pride red-shirt freshman Justin Accordino (15-10) and the match.
In the second match of the day, just several blocks down the street from Penn, the Pride captured seven of the 10 matches, including a victory by fall by Accordino and tech fall wins by Ruggirello, Bonilla-Bowman and Patrovich to take a 30-10 CAA victory over the Drexel Dragons. The Pride improved to 5-1 in the CAA and 8-4 overall.
Hofstra captured the first three matches of the contest to take a 15-0 lead. At 125 pounds, Steve Bonanno (24-9) recorded a 12-3 major decision over sophomore Michael Gomez. Lou Ruggirello (21-3) remained undefeated in the CAA with a tech fall decision over Drexel freshman Frank Cimato. Red-shirt freshman Justin Accordino recorded his seventh fall victory of the season, pinning freshman Matt Dugan in 2:30. Accordino improved to 16-10 on the year.
Drexel captured the next match at 149 pounds as Dragon freshman Robert Robinson downed Jeff Rotella (4-8), 9-5. Rotella was filling in for starter P.J. Gillespie, who is out with a shoulder injury. Jonny Bonilla-Bowman (18-6) started another run of four consecutive wins with a 25-9 tech fall victory over senior Billy Haydt at 157 pounds. Ryan Patrovich boosted the Pride lead to 24-3 in the contest with a tech fall victory over junior Scott Hunter at 165 pounds. It was Patrovich's third tech fall of the season as he improved to 15-5. Alton Lucas (19-4) posted a 10-4 decision over sophomore Dave Woodall at 174 pounds while freshman Ben Clymer captured his second match of the day with a 3-1 decision over sophomore Justin Wieller to boost the Hofstra lead to 30-3.
The Dragons captured the final two matches of the day as 12th-ranked senior Jon Oplinger recorded a 16-8 major decision over Pride senior Anthony Tortora (14-14) at 197 pounds and sophomore Kyle Frey downed freshman Jordan Enck (14-15) at 285 pounds.
The Pride return to action on Sunday, February 8 at 5 p.m. when they host the third-ranked Big Red of Cornell at the David S. Mack Sports Complex. Nick Gallo, who captured the Pride's only national championship in 1977 at 126 pounds, will have his singlet retired and raised to the rafters during halftime ceremonies.
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