BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Senior captain Wil Gil, a wrestler receiving honorable mention in the preseason national rankings, put an exclamation mark on his season debut week by capturing the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open championship at 141 lbs. on Sunday afternoon. Gil's title marked the third of his career as he also won the 2018 Messiah Open and the 2019 Millersville Open.

Following his five victories on Sunday, Gil moved up to fifth all-time in the Franklin & Marshall record books with his 86th career victory. With a number of EIWA teams in the field, Gil defeated opponents from Brown and Cornell during his semifinal and championship matches. Gil recorded a fall during the opening round and also got bonus points with his second periord pin in the quarterfinals over Clarion's Brady Worthing. Gil won his semifinal by a 10-7 decision over Brown's Justin Bierdumpfel before a 7-2 win in the finals against Cornell's Cole Handlovic.

As a team, the Diplomats picked up a number of victories against EIWA opposition throughout the tournament. First-year James Conway continued to impress as he advanced to the fifth round of consolation action at 184 lbs. He started his day with a three takedown third period to overcome Cornell's Andrew Berreyesa before falling in sudden victory to American during the Round of 16. Conway quickly bounced back with consecutive victories against Rider. His final 10-9 victory against the Broncs was the result of another strong third period as he used an escape, take down, and riding time to come away with a 10-9 decision before falling to a nationally-ranked wrestler in the following round.

Jose Diaz advanced to the quarterfinals at 125 lbs. behind a 4-2 victory against Brown's Reese Fry before taking on two more EIWA opponents. He fell to Cornell's Greg Diakomihalis, brother of the Big Red's two-time national champion, by a 7-3 score before his tournament came to a close against Bucknell. Fellow senior Crew Fullerton notched a pair of EIWA victories with bonus points at 165 lbs. He pinned Bucknell's Coy Bastian in the first period before a major decision against American in the wrestlebacks. Bonus points were once again prevalent throughout the F&M victories as first-year Pat Phillips (133 lbs.), Avery Clarke (141 lbs.), and Nick Tewell (141 lbs.) all registered bonus points during consolation victories.

Franklin & Marshall wrestling will continue its tournament-heavy emphasis during the month of November this coming week as the Diplomats will compete in both the "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic at Millersville (Saturday, Nov. 20) before traveling to Penn for the Keystone Classic (Sunday, Nov. 21), which is always one of the showcase tournaments during the early part of the Division I wrestling season.

Jose Diaz (125 lbs.)
Round of 32: bye
Round of 16: Won vs. Reese Fry (Brown); 4-2
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. Greg Diakomihalis (Cornell); 7-3
Consolation 4: Lost vs. Aiden Lewis (Bucknell); Fall: 5:56

Eli Wallace (125 lbs.)
Round of 32: bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. Maximilian Leete (American); TF: 7:00 (17-0)
Consolation 2: Won vs. Matthew Schreiber (Binghamton); 6-4
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Grant Treaster (Navy); Fall: 0:38

Pat Phillips (133 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Angelo Rini (Columbia); 4-1
Consolation 1: Bye
Consolation 2: Won vs. Nain Vasquez (Army Prep); MFF
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Ivan Garcia (Binghamton); 4-2 (SV)

Gio Diaz (133 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. JJ Wilson (Cornell); Fall: 3:58
Consolation 1: Won vs. Caleb Svingala (Buffalo); 3-1
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton); Fall: 5:42

Jack Bruce (133 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. #26 Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton); Fall: 1:41
Consolation 1: Lost vs. Cole Minnick (Buffalo); 4-3

Wil Gil (141 lbs.) – 1ST PLACE
Round of 32: Won vs. Liam Schibi (Spartan Combat RTC); Fall: 0:43
Round of 16: Won vs. Bryan Miraglia (Rider); 7-4
Quarterfinals: Won vs. Brady Worthing (Clarion); Fall: 4:17
Semifinals: Won vs. Justin Bierdumpfel (Brown); 10-7
Finals: Won vs. Cole Handlovic (Cornell); 7-2

Avery Clarke (141 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Brendan Ferretti (Navy Prep); 8-1
Consolation 1: Won vs. Hayden Horsley (Rider); 13-3
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Joshua Saunders (Cornell); TF: 5:22 (18-2)

Nick Tewell (141 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Sam McMonagle (Brown); 6-1
Consolation 1: Won vs. Vincenzo Napolitana (Spartan Combat RTC); Fall: 3:21
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Bryan Miraglia (Rider); Fall:2:00

Anthony Micci (149 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Nick Lombard (Binghamton); 10-4
Consolation 1: Bye
Consolation 2: Lost vs. John Altieri (Clarion); 9-0

Hunter Hockensmith (149 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Andrew Gapas (Rutgers); 11-1
Consolation 1: Lost vs. Owen Finn (Cornell); 3-1 (SV)

Chase McCollum (157 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Dylan Weaver (Rutgers); 11-8
Consolation 1: Won vs. Antonio Amilio (Bucknell); 11-7 (SV)
Consolation 2: Colton Washleski (Rider); 7-5

Chris Hisey (157 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Mason Spears (Brown); 12-1
Consolation 1: Bye
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Josh Bonomo (Bloomsburg); 6-1

Crew Fullerton (165 lbs.)
Round of 32: Won vs. Coy Bastian (Bucknell); Fall: 1:31
Round of 16: Lost vs. Julian Ramirez (Cornell); 19-5
Consolation 2: Won vs. Breon Phifer (American); 10-1
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Michael Wilson (Rider); 4-2

Noah Fox (174 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. Nick Fine (Columbia); 8-0
Consolation 2: Won vs. Genaro Quodala (Navy Prep); 4-3
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Benjamin Root (American); Fall: 2:07

James Conway (184 lbs.)
Round of 32: Won vs. Andrew Berreyesa (Cornell); 14-10
Round of 16: Lost vs. Connor Bourne (American); 8-4 (SV)
Consolation 2: Bye
Consolation 3: Won vs. Isaac Dean (Rider); 7-3
Consolation 4: Won vs. Evan Vazquez (Rider); 10-9
Consolation 5: Lost vs. #29 David Key (Navy); 10-2

Harrison Shapiro (184 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. #24 Jonathan Loew (Cornell); Fall: 2:40
Consolation 2: Lost vs. Andrew Berreyesa (Cornell)l; 11-3

Mike Waszen (197 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. Levko Higgins (Penn State); 12-1
Consolation 2: Lost vs. William Jarrell (American); 2-0

Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. Ethan Laird (Rider); 5-0
Consolation 2: Bye
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Grady Griess (Navy); 4-1