Tough day for Hofsra wrestlers in Grapple at the Garden
Iowa's Derek St. John keeps Hofstra's Cody Ruggirello on the mat during the Grapple at the Garden college wrestling tournament at Madison Square Garden. (Dec. 16, 2012) Credit: AP
The Hofstra wrestling team dropped two matches in Sunday's Grapple at the Garden. Organizers said the event was the first time Madison Square Garden has hosted a college wrestling program.
Fourteen wrestling programs, including second-ranked Oklahoma State and Rutgers, competed in the event.
Hofstra's 42-0 loss to fifth-ranked Iowa was followed by a 38-3 loss to fourth-ranked Ohio State.
Sophomore Jermaine John notched Hofstra's lone win of the afternoon, defeating Ohio State's Craig Thomas, 10-8, in a sudden victory in the 174-pound weight class.
Eighteenth-ranked Steve Bonanno of Wantagh was defeated in both his matches at 125, losing to top-ranked Matt McDonough in the Iowa match and 14th-ranked Nikko Triggas in the Ohio State match.
East Northport's Nick Terdick also fell twice, losing to Iowa's Nick Moore and Ohio State's Mark Martin at 165.
Luke Vaith, ranked 10th at 141, also went down twice for Hofstra.
The Pride is 0-11 this season.
