The No. 9 American University wrestling team hosted Hofstra on Thursday night in the home opener in Bender Arena and dropped a 22-18 decision. The Eagles won four of the 10 bouts, which included pins by No. 1 heavyweight Ryan Flores and No. 19 Daniel Mitchell at 197 lbs.

"I am happy with our four wins as each of those guys really battled and took care of what they needed to," Head Coach Teague Moore said. "I'm a little disappointed with our six losses but the good thing is we can learn from those and hopefully improve upon the areas where we came up short tonight."

The dual began at 165 lbs. where No. 19 P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra (5-0) earned an 11-2 major decision over Tanner Shaffer of American (4-5). Gillespie took a 4-1 lead through one period with a pair of takedowns and extended the advantage to 7-1 after two. Shaffer earned an escape to begin the third period, but Gillespie added four late points to set the final margin.

Hofstra continued to apply the pressure at 174 lbs. as Jermaine John recorded a 14-5 major decision over AU's Phillip Barreiro.  Barreiro earned two escapes in the first period to stay within 4-2, but a pair of second-period takedowns for John pushed his lead to 8-4 through two. A takedown in the final seconds combined with riding time gave John the major decision as Hofstra took an 8-0 team lead.

No. 11 Ben Clymer took control early at 184 lbs. against American's Thomas Barreiro with two takedowns in the first period to open up a 4-1 advantage. Clymer recorded an escape and a takedown in the second period and a late escape in the third period along with riding time gave the Pride their third straight major decision to open the match.

Mitchell, the 19th-ranked 197 lbs. wrestler, turned the momentum of the match for American, recording a quick first-period takedown on Hofstra's Tim Murphy to take a 2-0 lead. Mitchell opened the second period with an escape and then tallied another takedown to extend the advantage to 5-0. Just afterwards, Mitchell pinned Murphy, his fourth fall of the season, as the Eagles cut Hofstra's team lead in half, 12-6.

Flores, the top-ranked heavyweight, was next to take the mat for AU and took control of the match early. He registered a takedown and then turned that into a pin at the 43-second mark of the first period, knotting the match at 12 at the midway point. Flores remains undefeated on the season with six of his seven victories coming by pin.

The 125 lbs. weight class was next and Hofstra's Steve Bonanno, the 13th-ranked wrestler, had his way with AU's Thomas Williams. A takedown and a three-point near-fall set the tone in the first period and an escape and takedown in the second period gave Bonanno an 8-0 lead after two. Bonanno extended his lead in the third and earned the major decision to push Hofstra back into the team lead through six bouts.

At 133 lbs., Hofstra's Jamie Franco earned a 6-1 decision over American's Corey Borshoff. A Franco takedown followed by a Borshoff escape was the only scoring in the first period. A second-period takedown for Franco pushed the advantage to 5-1 and a riding-time point set the final margin as the Pride took a 19-12 team lead through seven bouts.

No. 12 Matt Mariacher was next up for American against Hofstra's Luke Vaith in what was arguably the most exciting bout of the night. Vaith began with a first-period takedown, but Mariacher responded with an escape and a takedown to take a 3-2 lead after one. Mariacher continued the run in the second period with an early escape and pushed the advantage to 6-3 following a takedown and subsequent escape by Vaith. Hofstra's Vaith was able to register an escape in the third period, but that proved to be the only scoring as Mariacher held on for the 6-4 decision to cut Hofstra's team lead to 19-15.

At 149 lbs., the Eagles' Kevin Tao faced Hofstra's Justin Accordino and the bout was tied at three through one period. But Accordino took control in the second period with a reversal, a takedown, and a near-fall to open up a 9-4 advantage. Tao was only able to manage an escape in the third as Accordino earned the 9-5 decision to put Hofstra up 22-15 and clinch the match.

No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa was the final Eagle to take the mat and he lived up to his ranking with a 5-1 decision against Tyler Banks. Sanjaa recorded a first-period takedown and added an escape in the second to open up a 3-0 advantage. Banks cut the margin to 3-1 with an early escape in the third, but Sanjaa recorded a late takedown to earn the four-point win, improving his record to 13-1 on the season.

The Eagles will return to the Bender Arena mat tomorrow, January 20 at 8 p.m. as they host North Carolina State. Live video coverage will be available on Eagles Vision TV and in-progress updates can be found on AU wrestling's Twitter page.

Hofstra 22, No. 9 American 18
165 - No. 19 P.J. Gillespie (Hofstra) maj. dec. Tanner Shaffer (American), 11-2; Hofstra leads 4-0
174 - Jermaine John (Hofstra) maj. dec. Phillip Barreiro (American), 14-5; Hofstra leads 8-0
184 - No. 11 Ben Clymer (Hofstra) maj. dec. Thomas Barreiro (American), 11-3; Hofstra leads 12-0
197 - No. 19 Daniel Mitchell (American) pins. Tim Murphy (Hofstra), 4:11; Hofstra leads 12-6
285 - No. 1 Ryan Flores (American) pins Paul Snyder (Hofstra), 0:43; Tied 12-12
125 - No. 13 Steve Bonanno (Hofstra) maj. dec. Thomas Williams (American), 12-0; Hofstra leads 16-12
133 - Jamie Franco (Hofstra) dec. Corey Borshoff (American), 6-1; Hofstra leads 19-12
141 - No. 12 Matt Mariacher (American) dec. Luke Vaith (Hofstra), 6-4; Hofstra leads 19-15
149 - Justin Accordino (Hofstra) dec. Kevin Tao (American), 9-5; Hofstra leads 22-15
157 - No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) dec. Tyler Banks (Hofstra), 5-1; Hofstra wins 22-18