One day after being ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/NWCA Division I wrestling poll, the Quakers walked into the den of the No. 21 Hofstra Pride.
But Penn could not muster a win as the grapplers lost 25-15, losing seven of ten bouts. In fact, the Quakers won just one bout that they actually wrestled. Penn sophomore Lior Zamir beat No. 19 Chris Vondruska 4-3 in the 165 pound bout. Hofstra forfeited at both 125 and 133 pounds, giving Mike Silengo and No. 9 Matt Valenti, respectively, automatic wins.
The Pride did not weigh in anyone to compete against Valenti, but the 125-pound competitor was withdrawn once Hofstra coach Tom Ryan thought he had the meet in hand. At that point, Hofstra had won four of five bouts.
"They were in command at that point and forfeited," Penn coach Zeke Jones said.
The match against Hofstra was Penn's last opportunity for a competitive tune-up before league play -- the Quakers take on Brown in Providence, R.I. next Friday.
Zamir was concerned that this match against the Pride would be an indicator of how Penn will compete against league rivals.
"It is a good measure of how we'll match up against Cornell and Lehigh, for example," Zamir said.
Lehigh is currently ranked 14th in the country and Cornell holds the No. 13 rank.
The meet featured several bouts in which top-20 wrestlers faced off. Penn junior wrestler No.12 Matt Herrington faced No.4 Mike Patrovich at 174 pounds, Quakers' freshman No. 13 Matt Dragon lost to No.4 Jon Masa at 149 pounds and Penn senior No.19 Gene Zannetti could not conquer No.13 James Strouse at 157 pounds. The meeting also featured No.19 and No.13 wrestlers at 184 and 141 pounds, respectively.
Coach Jones recognized the challenge in taking on Hofstra, but was uncomfortable with what he saw taking place on the mat.
"It was a difficult loss to swallow," he said.
Jones emphasized that the team needs to cut down on errors and must focus on the details if they are to beat good squads and realize their potential.
"When you wrestle a team of equal caliber you have to take care of small things," Jones said.
Those small things include being careful at the edge of the mat and adding points when ahead.
"As a team, we strategically did things that did not help us widen the score," Jones said.
Jones has especially little tolerance for losing bouts in which Penn grapplers hold leads.
He believes his team is capable of competing at a top-10 or top-5 level, but it will depend on their effort and attention to minutae. The team can expect several days of grueling practice to prepare them to take their competition to that next level.
