Injury bug continues to bite Hofstra wrestling in loss to Ohio State

The injury bug that has bitten the Hofstra wrestling team so far in the 2009/10 season continued to wreak havoc during Sunday afternoon’s match against third ranked Ohio State. Three weeks after 125-pound sophomore Steve Bonanno suffered a season-ending arm injury against Lock Haven’s Nick Hyatt, freshman Jamie Franco injured his shoulder during Hofstra’s second match of the day at 133-pounds against the Buckeye’s Ian Paddock.

With Franco losing by a medical default and the Pride forced to forfeit its first match at 125 pound match because of Bonanno’s hampered arm, Ohio State (6-0) jumped out to an early 12-0 lead and rolled from there for a 32-6 win. The loss drops Hofstra to 2-2-3 as it prepares for a busy January that features nine more dual matches.

Even though Sunday’s loss comes to the third ranked team in the nation, Hofstra head wrestling coach Tom Shifflet was not satisfied with the way most of his grapplers competed. “We were outmatched today,” said Shifflet.

Hofstra picked up two wins on the day with first coming from 19th ranked Jonny Bonilla-Bowman at 157 pounds, who defeated Sean Nemoc 18-11 to cut Ohio State’s lead to 20-3 heading into a five-minute intermission. Twentieth-ranked Ben Clymer also earned Hofstra some points at 184 pounds with a 9-3 triumph over Tommy Carl Pendleton that made it 26-6 Ohio State.

Franco’s shoulder injury could prove very costly for Hofstra since Shifflet indicated after the match that he may miss a few weeks of action during a busy stretch of the schedule, where the Pride will now need to forfeit the 125 and 133 pound weight classes. After a trip to Army on Jan. the Pride return home the next day for a doubleheader against Ivy League opponents Brown and Harvard and a week later have four Colonial Athletic Association dual matches in Fairfax, Va. against Sacred Heart, George Mason, Boston University and Old Dominion.

This [injury] could cost us five matches,” said Shifflet of the long-term affects of Franco injuring his shoulder Sunday.

The Ohio State match was a homecoming for former Hofstra head wrestling coach Tom Ryan, who made his second appearance back to the Mack Sports Complex with the other being a 19-13 Ohio State win over Hofstra on Jan. 25, 2009. The Jan. 3 match was designated Teague Ryan Day, in memory of Coach Ryan's son who passed away suddenly at age five in 2004. The night before at the 2010 Hofstra Wrestling Banquet, the new Teague Ryan Wrestling Complex, located inside the Physical Fitness Center, was formally dedicated.