ODU Ends Hofstra's Conference Unbeaten Streak

by Earl Smith

(Fairfax, Virginia)-They say that all good things must come to an end.  Today at the CAA Duals, on the George Mason University Campus, the Hofstra Pride fell to the Old Dominion Monarchs 17-15.  The two point defeat was the first conference dual meet loss for Hofstra since February 17, 1999.  The Hofstra winning streak spanned 63 dual meets and two conferences (the loss was 28-10 to Rider in the now defunct East Coast Wrestling Association). 

125lb All-American James Nicholson got the Monarchs on the board with a hard fought 5-2 decision over Hofstra freshman Steve Bonanno.  The lead was short lived as the 2x CAA Champion Lou Ruggirello put the Pride ahead with a first period pin of Kyle Hutter.  ODU rebounded with back-to-back decision wins by Ryan Williams and Joey Metzler, at 141 and 149lbs respectively. For the second time the dual meet was tied, this time 9-9 after Hofstra's Jon Bonilla-Bowman recorded an 8-4 victory over Kaylen Baxter.  165 featured a rematch of the 2008 CAA Championship finals, a match won by ODU's Chris Brown 12-7.  Again Brown was victorious over Ryan Patrovich, but this time by a slim 3-2 margin.  ODU's three point lead only lasted one match as the Pride tied the score again with a decision win by All-American Alton Lucas.  Lucas won an exciting sudden victory matchup with Eric Decker, in a match that pitted a pair of 2x New York High School State Champions against each other.  Both teams exchanged decision victories at 184 and 197lbs, which set the stage for the heavyweights.  With the team scores tied at 15, the winner of the heavyweight match would give his team the victory.  Hofstra's Jordan Enck got what appeared to be the winning takedown with 40 seconds left in the match and was controlling ODU's Roy Dragon on the mat.  Dragon however, was able to muster enough energy to escape with twelve seconds remaining on the clock.  Enck's last second takedown attempts were defended by Dragon, who won the bout 4-3.  The Old Dominion bench was penalized one team point during the heavyweight match, bringing the final score of the dual to 17-15.

"Five years ago, our kids were scared of Hofstra.  Its a huge win for our program, because those guys have been dominating the conference for so long.  Its huge for recruiting to get a win like that. We have been good all year long, we just haven't proven it against a top twenty-type program, but it was just a matter of time. Now we know we can win those matches, so hopefully we'll do it again and again and again," said ODU head coach Steve Martin.

Prior to the Hofstra dual, Old Dominion lost only one individual match combined in their 46 to -1 rout of Binghamton and a 35-3 defeat of Drexel.  The Pride finished the day win a 40-9 victory over Sacred Heart.  Host George Mason went 1-1-1 defeating Sacred Heart, losing to Rider and tying Boston University.

CAA Dual Results:

Round 1:

Rider 26 George Mason 14

Hofstra 38 Boston 3

Drexel 34 Sacred Heart 9

Old Dominion 46 Binghamton -1

Round 2:

George Mason 34 Sacred Heart 15

Hofstra 23 Rider 12

Old Dominion 35 Drexel 3

Round 3:

George Mason 19 Boston 19

Old Dominion 17 Hofstra 15

Binghamton 26 Drexel 15

Round 4:

Rider 23 Binghamton 13

Hofstra 40 Sacred Heart 9