DATE: 12/1/2007 11:00:00 PM

Las Vegas, NV

Seniors Charles Griffin and Dave Tomasette placed third and fourth, respectively, and sophomore Lou Ruggirello was fifth to lead the Hofstra Pride to a 10th place finish at the 26th annual Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center Saturday night. The Pride finished with 61 points in the 50-team field. Michigan captured the team title with 127.5 points followed by Missouri with 125 and Ohio State with 121.

Griffin, the number three-ranked wrestler in the country and the top-seed in the Invitational, dropped a 6-2 decision to 13th-seed Kellen Russell from Michigan in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. He then defeated conference foe Ryan Williams from Old Dominion, 3-1 in sudden victory to advance to the third-place match against North Carolina State’s Joe Caramanica. In that match, Griffin posted a 6-4 victory to post his highest-ever finish at the CKLV Invitational. Griffin was 6-1 in the tournament to improve to 10-2 on the year.

Tomasette posted a 3-1 record on Saturday to place fourth in the Invitational. After losing in the quarterfinals Friday night, Tomasette recorded a 9-2 victory over Tony Mustari from Northern Colorado, defeated Brandon Kinney from Columbia, 6-5, and won by default over top-seed Paul Donahoe from Nebraska to reach the third place match. In that match, Tomasette faced sixth-seed Rollie Peterkin from Penn for the second time in the tournament after a 9-5 loss in the quarterfinals. The score was closer but the result was the same as Peterkin notched a 4-3 victory on the riding time point. Tomasette was 5-2 in the tournament to improve to 9-3 on the year.

In action during the afternoon session, sophomore Lou Ruggirello placed fifth at 133 pounds. The top-ranked wrestler in the country opened the day with a victory by default over Raymond Dunning from Adams State. He then posted a 4-2 victory over the third-seeded Zach Tanelli from Wisconsin before being pinned, in overtime, at 7:53. Ruggirello then edged Jeff Hedges from UNC-Greensboro, 5-4, in the third place match. Ruggirello is now 12-2 on the year.

Sophomore Jonny Bonilla-Bowman fell one round short of placing in the top eight with a 12-8 loss to seventh-seeded Zac Fryling from West Virginia. The transfer from Virginia Tech posted a 3-2 record at the Invitational to improve to 3-4 on the season. Freshman Ryan Patrovich also fell one round short of placing Saturday afternoon with a 6-5 loss to Kurt Swatz from Boise State. Patrovich recorded a 4-2 mark at the Invitational to improve to 6-5 on the year.

The Pride will host the Crimson of Harvard next Sunday, December 9 at the David S. Mack Sports Complex. Match time is 1 p.m. Tickets for the Harvard match as well as all remaining Pride home matches are still available. To purchase tickets click on the online tickets link on the homepage or call the Hofstra Athletic Ticket Office at (516) HOF-TIXX.