LANCASTER, PA - Rich Gebauer (Jr., South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) and Mike Parziale (So., Woburn, MA/Woburn) are ranked in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) preseason individual rankings in their respective weight classes.
Ranked #4 at 133-lbs., Gebauer will appear in his second season of intercollegiate competition in 2004 after missing the entire 2003 season with a severe elbow injury.
The ranking marks the second year Gebauer has been selected to finish fourth at the EIWA Championships as he earned a fourth place ranking prior to the 2003 season.
The team captain for the 2004 squad, Gebauer placed fifth at the 2002 EIWA Championships as a freshman to become the first Diplomat to place at the EIWA's since 2000 when Craig Frost placed sixth. Overall, he enters the season with a 15-19 overall record.
At 157-lbs, Parziale enters his sophomore season ranked #6 following a freshman season in which he registered 25 wins to establish a mark for the most wins by a freshman in Diplomats' history.
At the 2003 EIWA Championships, he finished 1-2 to conclude his first campaign with a 25-10 record.
The only Division I sport at Franklin & Marshall College, Franklin & Marshall athletes wrestle a university-level schedule and qualify for the NCAA Division I championships through the prestigious Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) championships.
Franklin & Marshall College finished the season 10-12 for the most wins in program history since the 1990-91 team finished 11-6.
The Diplomats will open the 2004 season on November 22 at the East Stroudsburg University Open.
2004 EIWA PRESEASON TEAM RANKING
1. Lehigh
2. Penn
3. Cornell
4. Harvard
5. Rutgers
6. Army
7. Columbia
8. Navy
133-LBS.
1. Travis Lee, Cornell
2. Bernard Gardner, Army
3. Matt Eveleth, Penn
4. Rich Gebauer, F&M
5. Brian Kirschbaum, Princeton
6. Dan Apello, Brown
157-LBS.
1. Derek Zink, Lehigh
2. Phillip Simpson, Army
3. Amir Kahn, Rutgers
4. Scott Roth, Cornell
5. Michael Carbonaro, Navy
6. Mike Parziale, F&M