Sunday, February 16, 2025
Hofstra wrestling alum Jamie Franco is now leading the program where he thrived on the mats as a student-athlete looking to raise it to new heights.
Franco, a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier at Hofstra in the early 2010s, was named the Pride’s 13th- head coach on July 1, 2024 replacing Dennis Papadatos after he took an administrative role in the university’s athletic department. It marks another return home for Franco, who served as an assistant coach under Papadatos from 2016 to 2023 before spending a season on the wrestling staff at Columbia University last year.
“I always wanted to be a head coach and to be able to get this opportunity was a dream come true for me,” said Franco, who won 75 matches at Hofstra including a conference title at 133 pounds in 2013. “To come back to my alma mater and get my first head coaching gig at Hofstra was really special.”
After graduating Hofstra in 2014 with a business degree, Franco was operations manager of the famed Longo and Weidman MMA Training Center in Garden City where Hofstra wrestling legend Chris Weidman trained when he held a UFC middleweight title from 2013 to 2015. Franco maintains a close relationship with Weidman and recently brought his longtime trainer Ray Longo in a cross training session with the wrestlers.
“I think it's always good to get these guys training outside of just wrestling to make them physically and mentally tougher,” Franco said.
Franco inherited a roster with plenty of former Long Island high school wrestling standouts including 133-pound Ryan Arbeit, who won a county title for Wantagh in 2022. The redshirt freshman was voted a team captain in October along with Massapequa High School product Chase Liardi, Justin Hoyle of Maple Valley, Wash and Ross McFarland of Pennellville, N.Y.
Two of Arbeit’s former Wantagh teammates are also on the Hofstra roster including red-shirt junior Mat Rogers, who won a New York State Championship in 2020 and Joe Russo, who was sidelined last season after joining the Pride from Nassau Community College. Russo was sidelined at the beginning of the season with an injury, but Franco is hoping he can make a contribution as the dual meet schedule heats up.
The Nassau County South Shore presence on the Hofstra mats also includes 165-pound redshirt junior Eric Shindel, who was an All-County wrestler at JFK High School in Bellmore in 2020 and 2021.
Fellow 165-pounder Kyle Mosher, who won a New York State title with South Side High School in Rockville Centre, joined the Pride this season as a graduate student after competing as an undergraduate student at Columbia under Franco.
“He is looking really good early in the season so we're looking to keep building on it,” said Franco of Mosher, who placed eighth in the 30-team Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 7. “He's on everyone's radar now.
Franco recorded his first dual meet win as Hofstra head coach with a 21-12 victory against Duke at home on Nov. 16. The Pride entered the new year at 4-3 and will next be in action on Jan. 9 with an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) road match at Binghamton. The Pride then has home matches in the Mack Sports Complex scheduled Jan. 26 against Penn starting at noon and Feb. 2 versus Franklin & Marshall at 4 p.m.
The Pride will look to make some noise at the EIWA Championships at Lehigh on March 7-8 and qualify at least three of four wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia from March 20-22.
“The guys are growing every week,” Franco said. “I think we're going to see a more gritty team for us in the EIWAs so I feel like we're going to get a bunch of placers there this year.”
