Hofstra came into this weekend having won 10 of the last 11 CAA championships. The Pride did it again on Saturday in Boston, led by titlewinners Steve Bonanno at 125 and Jamie Franco at 133. Franco was the #4 seed, but he upended returning gold medalist Scott Festejo of Old Dominion in the semis before topping Binghamton’s Derek Steeley in the final bout.
Also picking up significant team points for Hofstra were runner up Jermaine John at 174 and bronze winners Luke Vaith (141), Cody Ruggirello (149), Tyler Banks (157) and Taras Luzhnyy (184).
With their showings, Bonanno, Franco and Vaith all picked up automatic bids to the NCAA tournament.
Binghamton captured a pair of titles on Saturday, as Donnie Vinson won for the second straight year at 149 while Cody Reed defeated Ryan Wolfe of Rider in overtime at 184. For his efforts, Vinson was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Taking second were Nate Schiedel at 197 and the previously mentioned Steeley at 133.
All four of those Bearcat grapplers will be making the trip to Des Moines for the Nationals in a few weeks.
For results and brackets from the event, see here.