Franklin & Marshall College

Brendan James stands among a group of elite Franklin & Marshall wrestlers with his numerous accomplishments on the mat throughout his career. The win totals from his career are staggering, but perhaps even more impressive was the way in which most of those victories were secured as he became known as one of the most prolific bonus point scorers in program history.

Capping his dominant career in the Diplomats' singlet, James broke through at the highest level of college wrestling when he qualified for the 1998 NCAA Division I Championships. During his NCAA qualifying season, James registered a 36-8 overall record after taking a redshirt the previous season. Those 36 wins stood as a school record until All-American Rick Durso '16 recently reset that school record. James earned the third seed at the 1998 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships which serves as a qualifier to the national tournament. It was that 36th victory that further cemented his place in F&M history.

James started his tournament with a bye before a convincing 6-0 win against Penn's Tim Ortman to advance to the semifinals. It was during that semifinal where he posted an 8-4 decision over second-seeded John Fogarty of Cornell to officially punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships and become the Diplomats' first EIWA finalist and NCAA qualifier in five seasons. To this day, celebrating that moment of joy with his coaches made his five years as a member of the Diplomats pay off. Even before that signature victory, James racked up a school record 11 falls while compiling a 16-1 mark in dual meet competition. Those 11 pins from the 1997-98 season originally set the school record and still rank second all-time to this day.

It was only fitting that James was able to cap off his career with a trip to Cleveland and the 1998 NCAA Championships after he had been the standard bearer for the program for several seasons. Elected as a team captain prior to his senior campaign, James' runner-up finish at the 1998 EIWA Championships helped him to become one of just nine Diplomats who have reached the EIWA podium on three separate occasions. James also placed fourth at the 1995 EIWA Championships after entering the bracket as an unseeded wrestler. A year later as the No. 8 seed, James once again exceeded expectations by placing fifth at the conference championship.

James finished his career with an overall record of 90-45. Those 90 career victories make him one of the top-five winningest wrestlers in the 100-plus year history of F&M wrestling. James racked up bonus points during more than 35 percent of his matches, registering 24 falls and 22 major decisions over his four competitive seasons. His 24 pins still rank fourth in the program history while his 22 major decisions broke the school record and still ranks second all-time behind only Durso. In addition to his record-breaking pin total in 1997-98, James put 10 of his opponent's shoulders flat as a junior and held the top two single-season pin records in program history at the time of his graduation. Both of those marks still stand among the top six to this day.

Following his graduation from Franklin & Marshall, James joined the financial services firm Deutsche Bank Alex Brown in late 1999. While there, he worked in the back office of the equity trading desk before joining First Union as a junior equity trader in 2001. James continued to climb the professional ladder in 2005 when he moved to New York to become a senior equity trader and director with Wachovia/Wells Fargo. James left equity trading in 2014 and started a new career with T. Rowe Price in 2015 where he presently works as the regional sales manager with the Great Plains territory which is based out of Denver, Colorado.