Seven-teams and 70 wrestlers competed for the CAA team crown and the 19 individual berths to the 2013 NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA on March 21-23.
Pride senior Steve Bonanno at 125 and junior Jamie Franco at 133 captured CAA individual titles. It was Bonanno’s second consecutive conference title after winning in 2012. It was Franco’s first CAA title. Bonanno will be making his fourth NCAA Championship appearance. Franco will be making his second NCAA Championship appearance after placing second in the CAA in 2012.
Those two individuals plus junior Luke Vaith, who placed third at 141 pounds, have all qualified for the NCAA Championships. Vaith will also be making his second NCAA Championship appearance after winning the conference title in 2012.
Bonanno, the number one seed at 125, defeated the second-seed Rob Deutsch from ODU, 3-2 in the title match. Bonanno, who recorded his 100th career victory in the semifinals, is now 17-10 on the season.
Franco, the number four-seed, defeated the third seed Derek Steeley from Binghamton, 8-3 in the 133-pound title match after downing top-seed Scott Festejo from ODU in the semifinals, 3-2. Franco is 17-13 this season.
Vaith (21-12), who is a beneficiary of the three CAA bids to the NCAA Championships at 141 pounds, defeated Rider’s Vinny Fava, 8-0 in the third-place match to become NCAA-bound.
Sophomore Jermaine John (19-13), the number one seed at 174, fell to #2 seed Billy Curling from ODU in the title match in a weight-class with only one NCAA bid. John placed second.
In addition to Vaith, sophomore Cody Ruggirello (6-16) placed 3rd at 149 pounds as did seniors Tyler Banks (9-5) at 157 and Taras Luzhnyy (5-16) at 184 pounds. Sophomore Nick Terdick (7-23) placed fourth at 165 pounds. Senior Tim Murphy at 197 and sophomore Zeal McGrew at 285 did not place.
In the final team standings, the Pride topped the Bearcats of Binghamton and the Broncs of Rider, 67.5-54.0. It was Hofstra's second consecutive CAA championship since Binghamton broke the Pride's streak of eight straight CAA conference titles from 2002 through 2009. Hofstra also won the final conference title in the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in 2001.
The CAA Championship is Hofstra mentor Rob Anspach's second as head wrestling coach of the Pride after taking over the program for the 2011-12 season.
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