No. 17 Big Red Upsets No. 11 Hofstra, 20-12
Cornell claims wins in seven bouts, faces Columbia tonight at 7 p.m.
Feb. 5, 2005
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Behind wins in six bouts, including a pair of major decisions, the 17th-ranked Cornell wrestling team pulled off a 20-12 road victory over No. 11 Hofstra on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra Arena. After leading 14-12 through eight matches, Cornell sealed the victory with wins from seniors Joe Mazzurco and Tyler Baier to improve to 7-4 on the season. The Pride falls to 9-4 with the loss.
Hofstra’s top grappler, second-ranked Chris Skretkowicz, opened the match with a 5-0 shutout at 197 over Cornell sophomore Jerry Rinaldi. Cornell, however, would win the next three bouts to take control of the match. Senior Matt Bogumil claimed a 5-2 victory at heavyweight before classmate Mike Mormile came through with a 3-1 decision at 125. Lee followed with an 18-7 major decision against 20th-ranked Charles Griffin to give the visitors a 10-3 advantage.
After Hofstra got back on the board with a 3-1 victory at 141 from Ricky LaForge, one of the day’s featured matches ended up being one-sided, as top-ranked Manotti easily handled ninth-ranked Jon Masa with a 16-3 major decision.
Down 14-6, the Pride got back into the match with wins at 157 and 165 to close the deficit to 14-12 entering the 174-pound bout featuring 11th-ranked Paul Siemon of Hofstra and 12th-ranked Mazzurco. The Big Red senior would pull off the minor upset with a huge 5-2 triumph, pushing the team’s lead to 17-12.
Senior captain Tyler Baier, ranked seventh in the country closed out the dual with a 5-0 shutout against Joe Rovelli at 184 to help the Big Red close out its best win of the season.
Cornell will return to its Ivy schedule later tonight when it travels to New York City to face Columbia for a 7 p.m. match.
No. 17 Cornell 20, No. 11 Hofstra 12
125- Mike Mormile (C) dec. Dave Tomasette (H), 3-1
133- No. 2 Travis Lee (C) major dec. No. 20 Charles Griffin (H), 18-7
141- Ricky LaForge (H) dec. Jordan Leen (C), 3-1
149- No. 1 Dustin Manotti (C) major dec. No. 9 Jon Masa (H), 16-3
157- James Strouse (H) dec. John Cholish (C), 3-0
165- No. 14 Mike Patrovich (H) dec. Joey Hooker (C), 11-5
174- No. 12 Joe Mazzurco (C) dec. No. 11 Paul Siemon (H), 5-2
184- No. 7 Tyler Baier (C) dec. Joe Rovelli (H), 5-0
*197- No. 2 Chris Skretkowicz (H) dec. No. 12 Jerry Rinaldi (C), 5-0
HWT- Matt Bogumil (C) dec. Gian Villante (H), 5-2
All rankings are from NWCA/InterMat (2/1)
*-indicates start of match
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