Rutgers wrestling defeated Hofstra 45-3 on Feb. 18 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Center, closing out its regular season with a strong performance. The No. 11 Scarlet Knights won nine of ten matches against the Pride, including three pins by Joseph Olivieri (141 pounds), Hunter Catka (heavyweight), and Jordan Chapman (184 pounds).
The victory marks Rutgers’ sixth consecutive win and brings their season record to 14-5. Under head coach Scott Goodale, the program has achieved at least 14 dual wins in a season for the ninth time, and has posted double-digit dual wins in 17 of Goodale’s 19 seasons leading the team.
Rutgers secured seven bonus-point victories during the match. Lenny Pinto (174 pounds), Andrew Clark (149 pounds), and Devon Magro (157 pounds) each earned technical falls, while PJ Casale (197 pounds) won by injury default. Hofstra’s only points came from Teague Strobel’s tiebreaker win over Ayden Smith at 125 pounds.
Olivieri began a streak of three consecutive bonus-point wins for Rutgers with his pin over Chase Liardi in the second period. Clark followed with an 18-0 technical fall against Jackson Slotnick, and Magro added a dominant tech fall in his first dual start since December.
Looking ahead, Rutgers will have several weeks off before competing at the Big Ten Championships scheduled for March 7-8 in State College, Pennsylvania.