HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - This pre-holiday road trip will be one to remember for American University wrestling, as the Eagles (4-4) took down an EIWA opponent for the second day in a row in beating Hofstra by a score of 21-16. American earned five victories, including two pins, and avenged yet another home loss from a year ago after also beating Sacred Heart.
Notable
- Both of AU's pins came in dramatic fashion, and provided the cushion needed to earn the team victory despite the bouts splitting evenly overall.
- Sophomore Maximilian Leete (125) wrestled in the third bout of the night with AU down 6-0 after two decisions at 197 and heavyweight.
- Leete, who had beaten Jacob Moon 4-1 a year ago, upped his game in a big way and took Moon down in just 20 seconds. The win improves Leete's season record to 10-4, with six of those wins coming by fall.
- In his career, Leete now has 12 career pins to rank in a tie for 13th all-time at AU.Â
- One day after a 2-1 win in a tiebreaker, sophomore Jack Maida got the job done with just two points yet again. With an escape and riding time, Maida shut out Chase Liardi for the 2-0 victory and a 9-6 AU lead.
- Down 10-9 after a loss at 141, sophomore Antonio Segura put AU back on top for good with a 6-3 defeat of former AU student-athlete Michael Leandrou.
- Late heroics were needed and achieved by redshirt sophomore Jack Nies at 157 pounds. He was tied 1-1 with Joe McGinty before coming on strong in the final seconds, and finally getting the two-point takedown with just three seconds left for the 3-1 victory.
- Heroics were displayed yet again in an amazing comeback victory for freshman Caleb Campos at 165. Campos trailed Matt Rogers 8-1 after a tough first period, but caught all the way up in the second to tie it at 9-9. With less than a minute elapsed in the third period, Campos completed the job with AU's second pin of the day and his second of the season.
- The bonus-point win by Campos gave AU an 11-point cushion. While the Eagles lost both of their final bouts, there were no bonus points to be had for Hofstra.
Thoughts from Head Coach Jason Borrelli
- "I keep saying it over and over, but we want to be the most improved team in the country this season. It's not always about wins and losses, but that's one tangible way you can see it, and to get these two wins on the road and beat two EIWA opponents who beat us last year is huge. I felt like we really had that team camaraderie again today, and the biggest thing I saw was our composure. Those three matches in a row with Tony getting injured but staying composed to get back out there and win, Jack closing it out right at the end and Caleb fighting back—that maturity is something we're starting to see and that's a good thing. The faster you get to that level, the more quickly good things can happen. I think Hofstra thought by starting at 197 they were going to go out and get big wins, and we weathered that storm with close losses in those opening two matches by our upperclassmen. The rest of our guys see that, and then Max gets out there and puts the kid in headlock. So it was a great start for us, and then the composure we had to figure out how to get some of those wins is something I don't think we'd have seen three weeks ago or even one week ago at Mason, but it happened on this trip, and that's big."
Results vs. Hofstra
- 197 - #26 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) dec. Connor Bourne (AU), 3-1 (Hofstra 3-0)
- HWT - #28 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) dec. Will Jarrell (AU), 7-3 (Hofstra 6-0)
- 125 - Maximilian Leete (AU) pinned Jacob Moon (Hofstra), 0:20 (Tied 6-6)
- 133 - Jack Maida (AU) dec. Chase Liardi (Hofstra), 2-0 (AU 9-6)
- 141 - Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) major dec. Raymond Lopez (AU), 15-2 (Hofstra 10-9)
- 149 - Antonio Segura (AU) dec. Michael Leandrou (Hofstra), 6-3 (AU 12-10)
- 157 - Jack Nies (AU) dec. Joe McGinty (Hofstra), 3-1 (AU 15-10)
- 165 - Caleb Campos (AU) pinned Matt Rogers (Hofstra), 5:42 (AU 21-10)
- 174 - Ross McFarland (Hofstra) dec. Lucas White (AU), 5-0 (AU 21-13)
- 184 - #24 Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) dec. Colin Shannon (AU), 7-3 (AU 21-16)
Extra Countable Matches
Next Up
- The Eagles will take a full two weeks off of competition before heading to the Franklin & Marshall Open in Lancaster, Pa., on Friday, Jan. 6.
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