Hey All,
It’s been a while since I last had the chance to sit at the old laptop and pound out an article for my loyal readers. Therefore, with graduate school set to resume next Tuesday, I knew that it might be long and far between before I had the opportunity to write. Hence, I decided [...]

Hey everyone…It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to sit down and write one of these Matt’s Corner journal entries. However, now that my first semester of graduate school has officially been wrapped up (my last official class was thus past Monday, but all assignments had to be submitted by the previous Wednesday), [...]

Hi Everyone.
After a much lengthier absence than anticipated I am back to officially put a cap on what proved to be a great 2008-2009 season by awarding the first set of what I hope will be a long tradition of Diano Awards….Awards will be given in the following categories: Long Island Scholastic Wrestler of the [...]

Hi Everyone.
I am back after taking a few weeks off to get some personal ducks in a row (mostly graduate school and family obligations). Anyhow, with the start of the 2009 NCAA DI National Wrestling tournament less than four hours away, I thought that now was as good a time as any to sit down [...]

Hi Everyone.
Sorry, no cool foreign language greetings this week.  I am sick in bed, so the enthusiasm to be quirky simply is not there today.  I will return next week after the NYS tournament with a little “language 101″ for you all.  I know the silly greetings are not the reason that you read this [...]

Hola Everyone.
It’s been an interesting week for LHW.  As you may have already noticed, Cornell Coach, Rob Koll, has decided to contribute to the content published on the site.  Unbeknownst to us, Coach Koll has been a big fan of ours for a long time and was very receptive when approached about getting involved.  He does [...]

Guten Abend Everyone.
Postseason is finally here, and is already off to a great start with last weekend’s Suffolk League finals, as well as the Nassau/Suffolk, NYC, and Buffalo CHSAA League tournaments.  If the intensity shown last week is any indication, the next few weeks of wrestling are sure to be action packed and full of excitement.  [...]

Buona Sera Everyone.
The calendar has officially  hit February, which means that my favorite part of the wrestling season, the postseason, is imminent… Every year, at all of the tournaments that I attend regularly, I am amazed at all of the upsets, clutch performances, and/or amazing comebacks that I am privileged enough to be witness to.  Now, while it [...]

 Konnichiwa Everyone.
Before I get started, I admit that “hello” (or more accurately, “good afternoon”) is the only word in japanese that I know.  I took latin in high school and espanol in college…and pretty much stunk at both despite getting an A in each (big assist to Fr. Garrettt and Prof. Billy Thompson).  However, the [...]

Sorry it took me so long to get this week’s column out. The past few days have been on the crazy side. My older brother finally got his heat back after three days of freezing, and then the very next day, his electricity goes out. Therefore, I’ve been babysitting for my nephew a lot this week. Plus, the dreaded cold that I had around the time of the Long Island Challenge, has reemerged. Hence, as I sit down to write this journal entry, I need to stop every five minutes or so to attend to health matters. However, to borrow from a few cliche phrases, the show must go on, and it’s better late than never.

Before I get too deep into my journal entry for the week, I wanted to let you all know that this column will be undergoing a bit of change. Instead of releasing all four parts in a single shot, we at LHW have decided that it will be better if we unveil each piece of the weekly blog, day-by-day for three consecutive days. That way, none of you will get burned out or lose interest by the time you reach page three. Heck, if I had to do what I was asking all of you to do, I think I’d be completely bored out of my mind by the half way mark too. My apologies for that. Hopefully, you will find the new format to be more pleasing and enjoyable to read.

Happy 2009 All !!!
I hope everyone enjoyed a very safe and joyous New Year. I spent a solid portion of mine trying to recharge the old battery following an extremely busy week of wrestling action….As promised, I made it a priority to get my chubby butt to MacArthur to watch the Long Island Challenge, a [...]

Good Morning everyone!!! I hope that you had a very blessed and joyous holiday. I spent a good portion of mine in pjs trying to kick the cold/cough bug, a battle that I continue to lose as I sit down to write this week’s column. However, it’s going to take much for than just a little tickle in my throat to keep me from attending this year’s Long Island Challenge, starting tomorrow (Tues. December 30th) at 10a.m. on the campus of General Douglas MacArthur High School in Levittown. If you are off from high school, college, and/or the regular 9-5er, be sure to get yourself into the ole car and make he trip to L’Town to see a full day of fantastic wrestling featuring some of the Island’s (and with the inclusion of Monsignor Farrell, the city’s) finest talent.

Happy Holidays everyone !!!  I hope that all of you have been a lot smarter than me and have managed to finish all of your shopping.  I am about 97 percent complete.  However, I still need to buy a gift for my father.  While I know what I am going to pick up, I am in [...]

Happy Monday everyone,

I am back with another edition of the column I know you all love (LOL). As you can see, I have decided to change the title a little bit. While I will continue to base a large portion of this weekly blog towards the the collegiate scene (it is after all my specialty; Plus Irlo and Bill already do a great job handling the what’s what in high-school wrestling), I figured that after last week where I spent almost no time talking about college wrestling, it would be wise to remove “college” from the title so as to free myself up to deviate whenever I feel it is warranted.

I am back with the fourth installment of “This Week in College Wrestling”. I must admit, the time I spend sitting down and writing this column is among the best moments of my week.

As promised, Matt’s official top-10 rankings at each weight class will debut this week. More than likely, what I will do, is sandwich the rankings in between the “weekly recap” and “featured dual” sections…That way, all of your Mattism will be contained in a single post. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted to do rankings (for any level) in my life. Therefore, if they stink, do not hesitate to offer feedback and/or suggestions as to who you want to see moved up or down.

Hola mi amigos.
With Hofstra on a break until their December 12th dual against Binghamton, I didn’t have much in the way of wrestling related entertainment this week. I did however spend a large portion of Saturday glued to the internet, trying to find updated results for the Mat Town Classic on the campus of Lock [...]

Hey people,
The Hofstra loss to Missouri on Saturday left me in a rather melancholic mood for the majority of the weekend.  In watching the replay of the dual on Missouri All-Access (which I better remember to cancel before next month), I could not help but feel that the Pride were so close to victory only [...]

After spending the past 48 hours celebrating Hofstra’s 18-15 victory over the #7 Penn State Nittany Lions, I felt the need to do some writing. Since I have not done any significant reading in the past few weeks, I promise, this blog will not be a book report. However, there will be more of those as soon as I find a piece of wrestling literature that meets my golden standard.

Hey everyone,
I had a few hours to kill before “House”, “Dancing With the Stars” (Yes, I watch that), and the Duke/Georgia Southern basketball game came on, so I thought I’d do a little writing to keep myself entertained.
It is approximately 6pm here in Levittown, which means that we are officially six hours away from the [...]

When I introduced this column, you may remember that I mentioned that I would be throwing in the occasional book review for your entertainment. Since Hofstra does not make their season debut until the weekend and the high school season is still approximately a month a way, I figured that today would be as good a day as any to present my first installment of “From On the Mat to A Book Review By Matt.” Yes, I do realize how long winded this title is. Therefore, in subsequent editions, I will refer to it simply as “FOTMTABRBM.” I am not a master of religions, but to me, my abbreviation looks like something you’d find in an untranslated version of the Tanak.

When the “Battle for the Belt” began at 8 a.m. on November 1st, 2008 from the Greensboro Coliseum, it was a day of hope for some of New York State’s finest wrestlers. It was going to be the day that several of them proved that they were for real. For others, it was going to be a coming out party. The event that introduced them to the nation.

It is now being reported by InterMat that 2008 New York State Champion, Jamie Franco, gave a verbal commitment to Hofstra University over the weekend.
Franco, whose DI title last season came at 125 pounds when he defeated fellow junior Shawn Brown 2-0, becomes the second member of the class of 2009 to make Hempstead, NY his home for the [...]

Hey all,
I just got finished watching the latest pay per view fight card from the UFC. Since this particular card featured a pair of multiple time NCAA DI All-Americans, I figured I’d pop on here and provide some commentary….I preface all remarks by saying that I have no formal training in MMA and am just [...]

On October 13th, I contacted an inside source within the Hofstra University Wrestling program to congratulate him on getting a verbal commitment from three-time Minnesota AAA State place-winner, Luke Vaith.

Welcome to LighthouseWrestling.com. I hope you all will enjoy reading my material as much as I intend to enjoy writing it.