Hofstra University Men's Wrestling

Hofstra wrestling alumnus and former associate head coach Jamie Franco was named the program’s 13th head wrestling coach on July 1, 2024. Franco, a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier, served on the staff from 2016 to 2023, including the final two seasons as the associate head coach. Franco spent the 2023-24 season on the Columbia University staff and helped the Lions to a fourth-place finish at the EIWA Championships with two champions and three NCAA qualifiers.    A native of Monroe, New York, Franco wrestled at Hofstra from 2009 through 2014, was part of three Colonial Athletic Association championship teams, and served as team captain. He was a one-time CAA champion, a two-time CAA finalist, and recorded 75 victories during his collegiate career. After posting 21 wins and advancing to the CAA Championships finals as a sophomore, Franco recorded a 19-win season as a junior and went 3-0 at the CAA Championships to capture the 133-pound title. Franco wrapped up his collegiate career at 125 pounds with 21 victories, including a 6-1 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, and a New York State Collegiate Championship title in 2013-14. He was an NCAA qualifier in each of his final three seasons. Following his graduation, Franco served as operations manager of the Longo and Weidman MMA Training Center in Garden City, New York. In that capacity he controlled marketing and advertising campaigns, managed accounts payable, controlled inventory and supervised the non-fighting staff at the facility. Shortly after starting at Longo and Weidman MMA, Franco added the double duty of owner and head coach at the LAW Wrestling Academy, also in Garden City, handling scheduling, coaching, and conducting practices for wrestlers and fighters from the ages of 5 through 30 while also implementing the marketing and advertising campaign for the Academy. Franco, who also served as a youth wrestling coach for the Garden City Grapplers Wrestling Club between 2009 and 2015, returned to Hofstra in 2016 as a volunteer assistant coach and served in that capacity until the end of the 2017-18 season. In October 2018 he was promoted to assistant coach and was elevated to associate head coach in September 2021. He was part of 44 dual match victories during his tenure and helped 13 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships.  Franco graduated from Hofstra with a degree in business marketing in 2014.

Patacsil is in his third season as assistant wrestling coach at Hofstra University in 2016-17. Patacsil, a native of Sunrise, Florida, came to Hofstra after serving as an assistant coach at Duke University in 2013-14. While on the Blue Devils staff, he assisted in recruiting one of the top 50 recruits and several top 20-ranked wrestlers. He also helped with the marketing and the management of social media outlets for Duke wrestling and assisted in the planning and running of daily practices. Patacsil also worked extensively with Connor Hartman, who earned NCAA All-American honors with a fifth-place finish in the 197-pound weight class. Duke, which placed five wrestlers on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) academic team, finished 29th in the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships. Prior to coaching at Duke, Patacsil served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio for two seasons, Central College in Pella, Iowa during the 2010-11 season and at Twin Lakes High School in Monticello, Indiana in 2010. While at Notre Dame in 2012-13, the Falcons placed third as a team in the NCAA Division II Championship with seven All-Americans and two national champions. In his first season at Notre Dame, the Falcons captured the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) national championship and had two individual champions. At Central, he helped the Dutch get their first national qualifier in seven years. Patacsil was a three-year starter, captain and NCAA Championships qualifier at Purdue University, where he earned All-America honors in 2009 with a fifth-place finish at 149-pounds as a senior. He was a three-time Most Valuable Wrestler award winner at Purdue where he recorded a 120-41 record with 25 falls, 51 reversals and 803 back points. He currently ranks eighth in falls, third in victories, second in reversals and first in back points during his Boilermaker career. His .745 career winning percentage ranks 13th in Purdue history. In his sophomore season, Patacsil recorded a 34-12 slate, placed seventh in the Big Ten Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships. As a junior, he posted a 30-10 mark, placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships and advanced to the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships. His final season was his most memorable as he posted a team-best 38-10 record, placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships and went on to place fifth and earn All-America honors in the NCAA Championships. The 38 victories rank fifth all-time on the Boilermakers single-season win chart.   A standout student who earned his bachelors degree in math education in 2009, Patacsil was the first Purdue wrestler to earn the Big Ten Medal of Honor, given to a male or female athlete at each conference institution for excellence in athletics and in the classroom. He also received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award while at Purdue. Jake was also a third generation member of the Patacsil family to wrestle for Purdue, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Joe, who was a 1950 national champion, his father, Frank, and uncle, Ted. Patacsil, who is single, resides in Long Beach, New York.  

Papadatos, a two-time NCAA Division I NCAA National Championship qualifier for the Pride, was named the 12th head coach in the history of the Hofstra University Wrestling program on August 4, 2014. Now in his third season in charge of the Pride fortunes in 2016-17, he has brought a renewed atmosphere of dedication and commitment, both on and off the mat, to the Hofstra Wrestling program. Papadatos, a native of Bethpage, New York, was a four-year starter at Hofstra under then-head coach Tom Ryan from 1997-2001 and recorded 95 career victories. At 157 pounds, he qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1999-00 after earning a New York State championship and a second-place finish in the ECWA Championships. He returned to nationals as a senior in 2000-01 after winning the ECWA title with three straight victories. Papadatos has served an assistant coach with three well-respected Division I wrestling programs, including the last two seasons at North Carolina under head coach C.D. Mock. At Chapel Hill Papadatos served as the recruiting coordinator, where he helped the Tar Heels post a top-10 recruiting class for 2014 following a top-20 ranked class in 2013. He was also responsible for the programs budget, travel logistics, compliance and the student-athletes academic progress. As a key member of Mocks staff in running practices, he helped work with the upper weight classes and was part of a coaching unit that saw nine North Carolina wresters qualify for the NCAA Championships. Under his tutelage, North Carolina earned its first All-America selection in eight seasons when Evan Henderson earned the spot at 141 pounds in 2013. Henderson would follow that up with another All-America selection in 2014, becoming UNC's first two-time All-American since 2005 and also the highest finisher in nearly two decades as he finished in fourth place. North Carolina also finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships in 2013 and 2014, marking the first time since 1996 and 1997 that the Tar Heels had finished in the top 25 in back-to-back seasons. He helped coach Tar Heels to a 21st-place team finish in 2013, which was the programs best showing since 1996. The Tar Heels had success in the classroom as well as Alex Utley earned NWCA All-Academic Team honors in both 2012-13 and 2013-14, while also being a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Team. Before going to North Carolina, Papadatos spent five years as an assistant at Binghamton from 2006 through 2011 and helped produce 16 NCAA individual qualifiers and the first four All-America selections in school history. Binghamton saw six wrestlers make it to the NCAA Championships in each of his final two seasons, culminating with a 21st-place national finish in 2010. In the classroom, Papadatos helped Binghamton improve its academic progress rate (APR) score over a four-year period and helped recruit a 2008 class that was ranked in the top 25. He was also part of a staff that led the Bearcats to their first and only Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title in 2010. Papadatos earned his first assistant wrestling coach position at Northern Illinois, where he helped coach four NCAA Championship qualifiers and Josh Wooton to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship at 141 pounds. He assisted in recruiting and arranged the teams travel and scheduling logistics. Papadatos started his collegiate coaching career as a strength and conditioning assistant at Hofstra from 2001-04 following his graduation. As a certified personal trainer, Papadatos structured team and individual lifts and conditioning programs. Hofstra won the Colonial Athletic Association title in all three of his seasons. As a wrestler, Papadatos, a graduate of Island Trees High School on Long Island, was named to the ECWA All-Freshman team in 1998 and was a three-time NWCA Academic All-America. He graduated from Hofstra in 2000 with a degree in exercise physiology and completed a master's in health education from Hofstra in 2002. Dennis and his wife, Angela, have three children (Gabriella - 8, Apostoli - 6 and Yianni - 4). Dennis Papadatos Head Coach Dennis Papadatos, a two-time NCAA Division I NCAA National Championship qualifier for the Pride, was named the 12th head coach in the history of the Hofstra University Wrestling program on August 4, 2014. Now in his third season in charge of the Pride fortunes in 2016-17, he has brought a renewed atmosphere of dedication and commitment, both on and off the mat, to the Hofstra Wrestling program. Papadatos, a native of Bethpage, New York, was a four-year starter at Hofstra under then-head coach Tom Ryan from 1997-2001 and recorded 95 career victories. At 157 pounds, he qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1999-00 after earning a New York State championship and a second-place finish in the ECWA Championships. He returned to nationals as a senior in 2000-01 after winning the ECWA title with three straight victories. Papadatos has served an assistant coach with three well-respected Division I wrestling programs, including the last two seasons at North Carolina under head coach C.D. Mock. At Chapel Hill Papadatos served as the recruiting coordinator, where he helped the Tar Heels post a top-10 recruiting class for 2014 following a top-20 ranked class in 2013. He was also responsible for the programs budget, travel logistics, compliance and the student-athletes academic progress. As a key member of Mocks staff in running practices, he helped work with the upper weight classes and was part of a coaching unit that saw nine North Carolina wresters qualify for the NCAA Championships. Under his tutelage, North Carolina earned its first All-America selection in eight seasons when Evan Henderson earned the spot at 141 pounds in 2013. Henderson would follow that up with another All-America selection in 2014, becoming UNC's first two-time All-American since 2005 and also the highest finisher in nearly two decades as he finished in fourth place. North Carolina also finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships in 2013 and 2014, marking the first time since 1996 and 1997 that the Tar Heels had finished in the top 25 in back-to-back seasons. He helped coach Tar Heels to a 21st-place team finish in 2013, which was the programs best showing since 1996. The Tar Heels had success in the classroom as well as Alex Utley earned NWCA All-Academic Team honors in both 2012-13 and 2013-14, while also being a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic Team. Before going to North Carolina, Papadatos spent five years as an assistant at Binghamton from 2006 through 2011 and helped produce 16 NCAA individual qualifiers and the first four All-America selections in school history. Binghamton saw six wrestlers make it to the NCAA Championships in each of his final two seasons, culminating with a 21st-place national finish in 2010. In the classroom, Papadatos helped Binghamton improve its academic progress rate (APR) score over a four-year period and helped recruit a 2008 class that was ranked in the top 25. He was also part of a staff that led the Bearcats to their first and only Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title in 2010. Papadatos earned his first assistant wrestling coach position at Northern Illinois, where he helped coach four NCAA Championship qualifiers and Josh Wooton to a Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship at 141 pounds. He assisted in recruiting and arranged the teams travel and scheduling logistics. Papadatos started his collegiate coaching career as a strength and conditioning assistant at Hofstra from 2001-04 following his graduation. As a certified personal trainer, Papadatos structured team and individual lifts and conditioning programs. Hofstra won the Colonial Athletic Association title in all three of his seasons. As a wrestler, Papadatos, a graduate of Island Trees High School on Long Island, was named to the ECWA All-Freshman team in 1998 and was a three-time NWCA Academic All-America. He graduated from Hofstra in 2000 with a degree in exercise physiology and completed a master's in health education from Hofstra in 2002. Dennis and his wife, Angela, have three children (Gabriella - 8, Apostoli - 6 and Yianni - 4).

Vallimont is in his sixth season as an assistant coach on the Pride staff and his first as head assistant wrestling coach in 2016-17. Under his direction in 2014, Hofstra had its first Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion in Joe Booth at 165 pounds Vallimont, a native of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, was a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Nittany Lions of Penn State from 2005 through 2010 who recorded a 110-36 mark during his collegiate career. A team captain in 2008-09 and 2009-10, Vallimont placed second at the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships at 165 pounds and finishing the season with a 30-9 mark. As a sophomore, he finished third at the 2008 NCAA Championships at 157 pounds and posted a 32-3 record. A three-time top three finisher at the Big Ten Championships, Vallimont placed second in 2008 and third in 2009 and 2010. As a red-shirt freshman in 2006-07, he placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships and tallied a 22-12 record. Vallimont advanced to the NCAA Championships as the 12th-seed at 157 pounds and came within one win of All-America accolades. As a junior, he placed third in the Big Ten, advanced to the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds and, again, came one victory shy of All-America status, finishing with a 26-12 slate on the season. Vallimont has continued his wrestling career, and has been ranked as high as 21st in the world, while coaching the Pride. He has consistently been ranked in the top 10 U.S. National Team rankings over the past several years. Vallimont was a two-time U.S. World Team Trials qualifier and finished in the top six in 2014. He was also a member of the U.S. Freestyle World Cup team that placed third in Los Angeles in 2014. Vallimont was a runner-up at the 2014 Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Vallimont, who graduated from Penn State in 2010 with a degree in architectural engineering, was a two-time New Jersey State High School champion at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge, New Jersey. A three-year team captain and a four-year member of the National Honor Society, he posted a 134-9 career record in high school.   Dan Vallimont Head Assistant Coach Former two-time Penn State All-American Dan Vallimont is in his sixth season as an assistant coach on the Pride staff and his first as head assistant wrestling coach in 2016-17. Under his direction in 2014, Hofstra had its first Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion in Joe Booth at 165 pounds Vallimont, a native of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, was a four-time NCAA qualifier for the Nittany Lions of Penn State from 2005 through 2010 who recorded a 110-36 mark during his collegiate career. A team captain in 2008-09 and 2009-10, Vallimont placed second at the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships at 165 pounds and finishing the season with a 30-9 mark. As a sophomore, he finished third at the 2008 NCAA Championships at 157 pounds and posted a 32-3 record. A three-time top three finisher at the Big Ten Championships, Vallimont placed second in 2008 and third in 2009 and 2010. As a red-shirt freshman in 2006-07, he placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships and tallied a 22-12 record. Vallimont advanced to the NCAA Championships as the 12th-seed at 157 pounds and came within one win of All-America accolades. As a junior, he placed third in the Big Ten, advanced to the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds and, again, came one victory shy of All-America status, finishing with a 26-12 slate on the season. Vallimont has continued his wrestling career, and has been ranked as high as 21st in the world, while coaching the Pride. He has consistently been ranked in the top 10 U.S. National Team rankings over the past several years. Vallimont was a two-time U.S. World Team Trials qualifier and finished in the top six in 2014. He was also a member of the U.S. Freestyle World Cup team that placed third in Los Angeles in 2014. Vallimont was a runner-up at the 2014 Dave Schultz Memorial Tournament at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Vallimont, who graduated from Penn State in 2010 with a degree in architectural engineering, was a two-time New Jersey State High School champion at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge, New Jersey. A three-year team captain and a four-year member of the National Honor Society, he posted a 134-9 career record in high school.  

DeAngelo is in his second year as the Prides volunteer assistant wrestling coach in 2016-17. A 2015 graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in religious studies, DeAngelo earned NCAA Wrestling Championship bids in 2013 and 2015 for the Wolfpack. He placed fifth in the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships to earn an automatic berth and then placed fourth in the 2015 ACC Championship to receive an at-large bid.   DeAngelo, who was selected the Wolfpacks team captain in 2014-15, was named the North Carolina State Most Valuable Wrestler after joining the team at mid-season in 2013, the Wolfpacks Redshirt of the Year in 2014 after recording a 27-4 and placing no lower than third in all seven open tournaments, and was selected ACC Wrestler of the Week in February, 2015 after posting two victories over nationally-ranked opponents. He also earned University National Freestyle All-American honors by placing fourth and was a finalist at the National Collegiate Open in 2014. DeAngelo, who earned an associates degree at Nassau Community College in Garden City, NY, earned All-American honors by placing seventh at the National Junior College Athletic Association Wrestling Championships in 2012. He also earned NJCAA Academic All-American honors that year as well. Active on the club and camp circuits, DeAngelo has coached in the Pop and Flo Nationals and the Wake Forest Wrestling Club since 2014 and the Vougar Hall of Fame Wrestling Club and the Nassau Kettlebell Program in 2011-12. He also has extensive camp experience having worked at the Journeyman Wrestling Camp, Bob Guzzos World Class Wrestling Camp, the Havelock Wrestling Camp, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Wrestling Camp and the North Carolina State Wrestling Camp. DeAngelo has also been doing personalized coaching since 2010 which has resulted in three All-American performers and three state championship finishes along with numerous state place-winners.