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2004 CAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW
HOFSTRA WINS 2004 CAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey – The Hofstra
University wrestling team had four champions
and four runners-up to capture its fourth
consecutive conference championship at the
2004 Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling
Championships at Rider University.
The Pride, who placed eight of nine wrestlers in
the CAA Championships finals, recorded 111
points to easily win their third consecutive CAA
title. Hofstra also captured the 2001 conference
championship as a member of the East Coast
Wrestling Association. Finishing second in the
CAA Championship was Rider University with
69.5 points; Boston University was third with
67.0; George Mason was fourth at 59.5; Sacred
Heart was fifth at 56.5; and Drexel was sixth with
46.5 to round out the top of the field. Old
Dominion with 29.0; Binghamton with 27.5;
Campbell University with 12.5; James Madison
with 8.0; and Wagner with 4.5 closed out the
standings.
The four Hofstra champions were senior Tom
Noto at 125; senior Ralph Everett at 165; Noel
Thompson at 174; and Chris Skretkowicz. Two
freshmen, John Manarte at 141 and James
Strouse at 149, a junior Paul Siemon at 157 and
senior Brad Christie at 184 all made it to their
respective championship matches.
At 125 pounds, senior Tom Noto became the
eighth wrestler in Hofstra history to capture
three conference championships with a 6-2
victory over Jose Leon of Boston University.
Noto had a takedown with just 15 seconds
remaining in the first period to go up 2-0. His
escape in the second period boosted the lead to
3-0. Leon posted an escape early in the third
period but Noto posted a takedown with 1:01 to
go for a 5-1 lead. Leon did get an escape in the
waning seconds and Noto took the riding time
point to close out the scoring. Noto advanced to
the finals with an 11-3 victory over Rob
Rebmann of Drexel in the semifinals.
At 141, freshman John Manarte advanced to his
first conference title match with a 3-2 victory
over top-seeded Rob Becker of George Mason in
the semifinals. But Manarte couldn’t escape from
third-seeded Josh Ruff in the title match as Ruff
posted a 5-3 victory. Ruff posted a takedown in
the first period for the only scoring but picked up
55 seconds of riding time in the period. Ruff
sandwiched two escapes around a Manarte
takedown in the second period for a 4-2 lead.
Manarte could only get an escape with eight
seconds remaining in the final period as Ruff got
the riding time point
and the victory.
Third-seeded
freshman James
Strouse also made
his first appearance
in the CAA
Championship
match at 149
pounds by way of a
4-2 victory over
second-seeded
Rayes Gonzales of Boston University in the
semifinals. In the finals Strouse had to face topseeded
Adrian Austin of George Mason. The two
faced each other at the CAA Duals in January
with Austin posting a 6-5 victory. After a
scoreless first period Saturday, Austin posted
two takedowns and Strouse had two escapes in
the second period for a 4-2 score. In the third,
Austin opened with an escaped and then took
down Strouse with 32 seconds remaining on the
way to an 8-4 victory.
The 157-pound match may have been the most
controversial match of the championship as topseeded
junior Paul Siemon faced second-seeded
Dave Miller of Rider. In the final 30 seconds of
the first period, Siemon, who advanced to the
finals with an 8-2 victory over Robert Belville of
Sacred Heart, recorded an apparent takedown
and appeared to be ready to get additional back
points. But the referee stopped the action with
18 seconds remaining and, initially, took the
points off the scoreboard. After a “discussion”
with both coaching staffs and the officials that
lasted several minutes, action resumed with just
two points for Siemon and an additional nine
seconds put back on the clock. Siemon came
out of the delay and tried to flip Miller, who
quickly flipped the top-seed and pinned him with
just 13 seconds left in the first period.
At 165, Ralph Everett became the sixth Hofstra
wrestler to capture conference titles at two
different weight classes with a 7-2 victory over
second-seeded Leighton Brady of Boston
University. All the scoring was done in the first
two periods and Everett recorded 4:17 of riding
time to win easily. Everett, the top-seed in the
weight class, got to the finals with an 11-5
victory over Ryan Cunningham of Rider. Everett
captured the CAA title last year at 174 pounds.
Noel Thompson followed Everett on the schedule
and in the record book by becoming the seventh
Hofstra wrestler to capture two different weight
class titles. Thompson, who won the 165-pound
title last year, captured the 174-pound title with a
pin of second-seeded Nick Kozar at 1:52 of the
first period. Thompson, the top-seed, got to the
finals with an 8-0 victory over #4 Ben Schilens
of Boston University in the semifinals.
Senior Brad Christie, who was seeded second
and was the defending champion at 184 pounds,
advanced to the finals this year with a 3-2 victory
over Adam Wright of Old Dominion in the
semifinals. In the finals, Christie faced topseeded
Nick Catone of Rider. The two met at the
Keystone Classic in November with Christie
posting a medical forfeit victory. This time the
result was different. After a scoreless first
period, Catone recorded an escape to open the
second period. With 50 seconds to go in the
period, Christie was hit with a stalling penalty
giving Catone a 2-0 lead. That point would be the
difference as Christie was able to muster only an
escape in the third as Catone took the title, 2-1.
Top-seeded junior Chris Skretkowicz advanced to
the 197-pound final with a 5-0 victory over John
DaCruz of Boston University in the semifinals. In
the title match, Skretkowicz recorded his second
conference title with a 4-0 decision over secondseeded
Chris Jones of Drexel. Skretkowicz
improved to 36-2 on the season.
Hofstra’s ninth entry in the CAA Championships,
junior heavyweight Dan Garay was eliminated
from title contention in the semifinals by
eventual champion Payam Zarrinpour of Sacred
Heart, 2-1. Garay, who finished fourth, dropped a
3-1 decision in sudden-victory to Carmelo
Marrero of Rider in the third place match.
In addition to Zarrinpour, top-seed Mike Messina
of Sacred Heart captured the 133-pound title
with a 6-4 victory over #2 Don Fisch of Rider.
Zarrinpour defeated Derrel Lorthridge of Old
Dominion, 4-2, in the second sudden victory
period to capture the heavyweight title.
HOFSTRA PRIDE WRESTLING
WRESTLING
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