2024-25 Schedule | 2024-25 Roster | Live Video (home duals)
LANCASTER, Pa. – The Division I Franklin & Marshall wrestling team has recorded three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1992 and will look to build on that success this coming season with a young squad. The Diplomats sent two wrestlers to the NCAA Championships last season and had three place winners at the EIWA Championships. That group included the College's first-ever Elite 90 recipient in James Conway who defeated an All-American during his NCAA debut after a record-breaking season.
Conway and Pat Phillips (who placed sixth at last year's EIWA Championships) are both expected redshirts for the Diplomats which will give the team an exciting new look on the mats after graduating three seniors from last year's postseason lineup. Mason Leiphart headlines the group of returning starters as he was nationally ranked throughout much of last season, with Eric Howe, Josh Hillard, and Dominic Wheatley also gaining valuable experience at the conference championships.
The coaching staff will be led by Mike Rogers in his 15th season where he has guided 23 EIWA place winners and 11 NCAA qualifiers, highlighted by All-American Rick Durso '16 reaching the podium in 2014. Only 14 coaches across the Division I landscape have served as head coaches at their current institution than Rogers. Steve Borja (12th season), Tyson Dippery (seventh season), Rob Morrison (fourth season), and Jack Bruce '23 (second season) also return to the staff that is bolstered by the addition of Stephen Loiseau.
Returning 2024 EIWA Tournament Participants (last year's weight class & record listed)
* indicates a wrestler is anticipated to redshirt during the 2024-25 season
** Aidan O'Shea, Bryce Kresho, Nick Alvarez, and Noah Bash also have postseason appearance having competed at the 2023 EIWA Championships
Weight-by-weight breakdown
125: With last year's starter Eric Howe expected to miss the upcoming season due to injury, a number of young options will look to emerge. Jack Parker went 14-13 as a redshirt last season, including tournament placements at the Messiah Open and Sheridan Open. A Virginia state champion, Parker went 5-4 against EIWA opponents. Three-time Pennsylvania state qualifier James Garcia broke his high school's win record with a 162-28 mark that was capped by a seventh-place finish at the AAA state tournament as he is expected to battle for time in the starting lineup. First-years Charlie Colantonio, Vincent Gioffre, and Ejiro Montoya make for a strong core of underclassmen in the first weight class.
133: Junior Mason Leiphart was a nationally-ranked wrestler throughout last season and enters this year ranked No. 33 by InterMat. The junior has 52 wins during his first two seasons. One of four team captains, Leiphart already has a school record 22 technical falls during his career, including 13 from his first-year campaign where he led all Division I wrestlers. Leiphart has a 20-1 career record in dual meets and will certainly challenge for a spot in the national tournament in Philadelphia. He allocated a spot to last year's NCAA Tournament for the conference after placing eighth in the EIWA during his first season at F&M.
141: Senior captain and EIWA place winner Pat Phillips will redshirt during the upcoming season, leaving the chance for a couple of experienced options to get into the lineup. Junior captain Bryce Kresho has 32 career wins and competed at the EIWA Championships during his first-year campaign. Kresho won 18 bouts a season ago, placing at the Keystone Classic and winning his pool at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Aidan O'Shea enters his third year with the program after a redshirt last year where he compiled an 18-10 record while competing unattached, including an individual title at the Messiah Open. His record last year featured a 5-1 mark against conference competition. Junior Brandon Sauter (18 career wins) and sophomore Brandt Fajerman (eight wins last year) have strong experience at the weight, with first-year Max Dubner joining the team this season.
149: A pair of local products will compete at 149 lbs. Josh Hillard earned the postseason nod last year and has 32 career wins to his credit entering his third season. Hillard racked up 11 pins as a first-year and has 15 during his career which has seen him place at four different tournaments. First-year Kyle Deisley won the PIAA AAA South Central Regional Championship last year before advancing to the state championships and finishing his high school career with a record of 82-25. Fellow first-year Seth Weaver will descend to this weight class after posting a 46-2 record as a senior in high school where he advanced to the Maryland state championship match.
157: Luke Bender posted nine wins during a redshirt campaign in his first season with the Diplomats as over half of his victories came against EIWA competition. Four of his victories came by technical fall as the two-time Delaware state champion will have the opportunity to step into the lineup. Junior Chris Arciuolo and sophomore Billy Templeton also have experience at the Division I level. Senior Avery Clarke would have been another option at 157 lbs., but injuries will keep him sidelined this season. First-year Jake Neill will also contend for a starting lineup spot in his first-year as he was a PIAA AAA state qualifier for Central Bucks South High School who won 96 career matches, with 67 of those coming during his two most recent high school seasons.
165: Junior Josh Palmucci is the incumbent starter at this weight after winning 14 matches a season ago. Palmucci recorded bonus points in 11 of those 14 wins and has placed at both the Southest and Messiah Opens during his career. Sophomore Tyler Shea's first-year campaign at F&M was highlighted by a sixth-place finish at the Messiah Open. Fellow sophomore Michael Duggan will also vie for a spot in the starting lineup after transferring from Bloomsburg where the Boiling Springs High School graduate was a two-time PIAA AA third-place state finisher. Senior Makoa Niebel enters his final season with eight career victories, securing bonus points during half of those wins.
174: One of F&M's most experienced weight classes, sophomore Dominic Wheatley, junior Nick Alvarez, and senior Noah Bash have all previously competed at the EIWA Championships. Wheatley put in the work during the off season and will climb two weight classes after winning five matches at 157 lbs. last season, including a technical fall at the conference championship. Taking a redshirt last year, Alvarez owns 24 career victories after also starting his career at 157 lbs. during the 2022-23 season. He has placed at three different tournaments throughout his career. Bash has won 10 career matches and was the Diplomats' starter at 165 lbs. during his 2022-23 sophomore season. Nine of those wins have come by fall, with the only non-fall for a win being an injury default victory. Two-time New Jersey state qualifier Michael Fuccilli will also compete at this weight along with junior Jiahe Li who officially joins the roster this season.
184: Senior captain James Conway is the Diplomats' most credentialed wrestler after winning 30 matches last season and defeating Cornell All-American Chris Foca at the NCAA Championships. Conway will redshirt this year in anticipation of one final postseason run during the 2025-26 season. One potential option to fill those shoes is sophomore Jake Allred who won five matches last season, including a sixth-place finish at the Messiah Open. He also defeated Drexel's Natty Lapinski for his first career EIWA victory. First-year Leo Varga will also vie for the starting spot after he was a multiple time all-county selection throughout his high school career at Bergen Catholic.
197: RJ Moore was the Diplomats' starter for the majority of his first-year campaign during the 2022-23 season at 165 lbs. and moved up to 174 lbs. during his redshirt campaign last year where he was limited to just nine matches. Moore continued to hit the weight room this past offseason and is now the only 197 lb. wrestler on the Diplomats' roster entering the year. The National Prep Championship All-American has 10 wins to his resume and will look to bolster that total with two years of experience in the room.
285: First-year Brody Kline was a two-time PIAA AA state place winner and is coming off a second-place finish at the state championships during his senior season at Berks Catholic. He will immediately be looked to as a potential starter in the Diplomats' lineup. Fellow first-year Jake Rickett was a state qualifier from New Jersey and Glen Rock High School where he also won a district championship. Sophomore Quincy Long will join the team following the conclusion of F&M's football season. His first season with the wrestling program was highlighted by an eighth-place finish at the Messiah Open.
A look at the schedule
The first half of the 2024-25 schedule will be almost exclusively tournaments with the exception of duals against VMI and Big Ten foe Rutgers as part of the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. The season begins at the Southeast Open (Nov. 2) and features a number of familiar tournaments, headlined by the Keystone Classic (Nov. 24), Midlands (Dec. 29-30), and David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open (Jan. 10). The Lehman Open is now in its 12th season attracting some of the top Division I teams in the country to Lancaster. The team's dual meets in January and February will have a strong EIWA focus with home matches against Binghamton (Jan. 19), Sacred Heart (Jan. 25), and Drexel (Feb. 7) before battling local foe Millersville for the Rupp Cup on Saturday, February 15 inside the Mayser Center. The Diplomats will additionally host the second annual F&M Invitational on the final day of the regular season.
Eye on the Postseason
Building towards the postseason, the 2025 EIWA Championships will have a different look this year as the Ivy League has created its own conference tournament, while Morgan State has joined in its first year of conference affiliation since restarting its program. Twelve teams (American, Army, Binghamton, Bucknell, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Hofstra, Lehigh, LIU, Morgan State, Navy, Sacred Heart) will vie for the conference title during the 2024-25 season. Lehigh will serve as the host of the 2025 EIWA Championship which begins on Friday, March 7 and continues through Saturday, March 8. The 2025 NCAA Division I Championships return to Philadelphia this spring with the national championship tournament starting on Thursday, March 20 and concluding on Saturday, March 22.
