The two-day CAA Championship begins at 1 p.m. Friday, March 7 with first round competition, quarterfinals at 3 p.m. and first round consolations at 8 p.m. Day two begins on Saturday, March 8 at 10 a.m. with second round consolation matches, followed by semifinals at noon, third round consolations at 2 p.m. and finals at 5 p.m.
The CAA will send its champion and runner-up in each of the 10 weight classes to the NCAA Championships, along with four at-large selections, formerly called "wild cards". In last year's national championship in Auburn Hills, Michigan, four CAA schools, Hofstra (7th), Rider (30th), Drexel and Sacred Heart (tied for 40th) finished in the top 40 of the final standings.
At last year's CAA Championship, the Pride of Hofstra captured their sixth consecutive CAA title and their seventh straight league crown (Hofstra won the 2001 ECWA title). Hofstra, which joined the CAA during the 2001-02 year, has captured every conference title since, including last year's crown which topped the host Patriots of George Mason for the most wrestling titles in league history.
Six champions from the 2007 tournament return for the 2008 CAA Championship, although two have moved up a weight class. Hofstra seniors Dave Tomasette at 125, All-American Charles Griffin at 141 and Joe Rovelli at 184 and sophomore Lou Ruggirello at 133, Boston University sophomore Mike Roberts at 149, and Rider senior Doug Umbehauer at 174 return looking for titles again. Umbehauer moved up to 184 pounds and Rovelli moved up to 197 this year.
While Hofstra, with all 10 wrestlers ranked in the top six in the CAA, is the favorite to win the 2008 tournament, this year's championship could be the closest since the Pride joined the CAA. The Pride has captured CAA titles by 41 or more points in each of the last five tournaments.
In this week's CAA Rankings, Hofstra, which was ranked 17th in the final Intermat regular season poll, is the top ranked team in the CAA earning 48 points. The Pride has five number one-ranked wrestlers in Ruggirello (31-5), Griffin (30-3), sophomore Jonny Bonilla Bowman (15-11) at 157 pounds, junior Alton Lucas (22-4) at 174 pounds and Rovelli (23-4). Old Dominion, which has finished second in the CAA Championships the past two years, also has 10-ranked wrestlers and tallied 41 points. ODU has two top-ranked conference wrestlers in freshman James Nicholson (29-7) at 125 and sophomore Chris Brown (31-9) at 165 pounds. Rider, which placed second in the 2004 and 2005 CAA Championships, is third in this week's CAA Rankings with 33 points. The Broncs have two number one ranked wrestlers in senior All-American Don Fisch at 149, and Umbehauer at 184. George Mason senior heavyweight Harry Zander (15-3) is the final top-ranked conference wrestler. The Patriots are ranked fourth in the CAA Rankings. Binghamton, Drexel, Boston University, Campbell and Sacred Heart round out the CAA Ranking and tournament field.
Brackets, results and other information and directions for the 2008 CAA Wrestling Championships can be found at http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/ath_wrest_08CAATourn.cfm. Links to this page can also be found on the Hofstra Athletics homepage (www.hofstra.edu/athletics ) and the Hofstra Wrestling homepage (http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/index_Wrestling.cfm ).
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