VESTAL, N.Y.- The Binghamton wrestling team will compete in three duals this weekend. The Bearcats will host Hofstra Friday night, December 9th at 7 p.m. in the West Gym before traveling to #19 Princeton on Saturday at 1 p.m. and #3 Penn State on Sunday at 2 p.m. Two of the three match-ups will be Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) matches. 

In its last outing, BU placed 22nd out of the 34-team Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational. 184 pound junior Steve Schneider posted a 7-2 record to earn fourth place at the CKLV. Schneider is ranked 13th by Intermat this week.

Hofstra, 0-1 in the EIWA and 1-1 on the season, is coming off a solid performance from last weekend, where two of their wrestlers placed second in their respective weight classes. 11 out of their 12 wrestlers placed in the top five in their weight class. 

BU last met Hofstra on January 17, 2016 in an away dual where Binghamton won their second consecutive dual match over the Pride, 31-10. The Bearcats also topped Hofstra in 2014-15, 19-16. The Pride defeated Binghamton in 2013-14, 28-8 and in 2012-13, 23-19.

Princeton, currently 3-3 for their season, is coming off a 27-6 loss to #7 Nebraska. Two nationally ranked wrestlers for the Tigers, #4 Matthew Kolodzik (141 pounds) and #19 Jonathan Schleifer (174 pounds) completed perfect days Saturday with victories over ranked opponents from Nebraska, but their wins combined weren't enough to lift Princeton to victory. Other ranked players on their squad include #17 Jordan Laster at 149, #17 Ian Baker at 184, #9 Brett Harner at 197, and #19 Ray O'Donnell as a heavyweight.

The last time the Bearcats met Princeton, ranked #27 last season, was in a home dual on January 8th, 2016. Binghamton defeated the Tigers 18-15 in a tightly-contested dual match where Vincent DePrez, Jack McKeever, Steve Schneider, Thierno Diallo, and Jacob Nicholson each won for the Bearcats. In the 2014-15 season, BU also beat Princeton in an away dual, 20-16. 

Penn State, currently ranked second behind Oklahoma State, are coming off a 30-10 win over Lehigh in the 2016-17 BJC Dual last Sunday which improved them to 3-0 so far on their season. The Nittany Lions lineup features ten ranked wrestlers, including Nick Suriano ranked No. 4 at 125, Jered Cortez ranked No. 15 at 133, Jimmy Gulibon ranked No. 13 at 141, Zain Retherford ranked No. 1 at 149, Jason Nolf ranked No. 1 at 157, Vincenzo Joseph ranked No. 9 at 165, Shakur Rasheed ranked No. 14 at 174, Bo Nickal ranked No. 2 at 184, Matt McCutcheon ranked No. 13 at 197 and Nick Nevills ranked No. 8 at 285.

Binghamton and Penn State have only met once in a dual meet, where the Bearcats fell 36-8 to the Nittany Lions in a home match-up. This will be the Bearcats' first-ever dual at Penn State. 

After the busy weekend, BU will return home on Sunday, January 8th for an EIWA dual against Columbia University with a start time of 1 p.m. in the West Gym.