LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall wrestling team has finalized its 2024-25 schedule. The Diplomats will take part in nine tournaments and eight dual meets during the regular season before they look to peak at the EIWA and NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. F&M just celebrated its 100th anniversary as a program last year by sending two wrestlers to the national championships.

The Diplomats got off to a great start last year at the Southeast Open where Mason Leiphart pinned the No. 15-ranked wrestler in the country and James Conway notched a pair of nationally-ranked wins. They will be looking for similar success to begin this year as the Diplomats open the season in Virginia on Saturday, November 2.

Taking part in the Journeymen Collegiate Classic the following weekend, the Diplomats will have duals against VMI out of the Southern Conference and Rutgers from the Big 10 on Saturday, November 9 before turning their attention to the pool portion of the tournament the following day. F&M is 16-10-1 all-time against VMI, including a 21-14 win last year. The Diplomats will be wrestling Rutgers for the first time since 2015 when they meet the Scarlet Knights for the 48th time in program history.

Franklin & Marshall has a very tournament heavy focus on its schedule during the fall semester as it travels to Millersville's Shorty Hitchcock Memorial (Nov. 16), Penn's Keystone Classic (No. 24), Lehigh's Sheridan Open (Dec. 20), and the prestigious 60th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships to close the 2024 calendar year. At least year's Keystone Classic, Conway became the first-ever Diplomat to capture an individual title at that event while he was joined in the finals by fellow NCAA qualifier John Crawford as they became the first-ever F&M finalists. The Diplomats continued to make noise early on the national stage at Midlands last year when Leiphart and Conway both earned their way to the podium, marking the first time F&M had two medalists at that nationally-renowned event.

The 2025 calendar year opens with the 12th Annual David H. Lehman'68 F&M Open. Named in honor of the 2023 Franklin & Marshall Hall of Fame inductee, the Lehman Open annually attracts top teams from all over the Division I landscape and saw the Diplomats finish with four medalists a season ago.

The Diplomats will see a number of Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) foes in dual competition during the final two months of the regular season as they host Binghamton (Jan. 18), Sacred Heart (Jan. 25), and Drexel (Feb. 7), while traveling to LIU (Feb. 2) and Hofstra (Feb. 2). F&M will be wrestling Binghamton for the first time since the 2017-18 season, while the Diplomats have won three straight over Sacred Heart and defeated Drexel for the first time since 1988 with a thrilling 22-16 victory in Philadelphia a season ago.

February's schedule additionally features F&M hosting the Rupp Cup on February 15 against local rival Millersville. The Diplomats have won four straight and 12 of the last 13 against the Maurauders to pull within a single match of evening the all-time series. F&M will also take part in the Messiah Open (Feb. 8) before closing the regular season with the second annual Franklin & Marshall Invitational on Sunday, February 23.

The EIWA Tournament will feature a new look as the oldest Division I conference in the country will feature 11 teams in 2025 with the Ivy League hosting its own conference qualifier. Lehigh is serving as the host of the 2025 EIWA Championships which run from Friday, March 7 through Saturday, March 8. The 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to Philadelphia this coming spring with the national championship opening on Thursday, March 20 and running through the finals on Saturday, March 22.

Franklin & Marshall posted a 6-3 dual meet record a season ago to mark its third consecutive winning campaign for the first time since the 1989-90 through 1991-92 seasons. The Diplomats also had a program-record four wrestlers earn allocations to the NCAA Tournament for the EIWA, with James Conway and John Crawford both punching their ticket to the national tournament. The postseason success saw F&M place three wrestlers at the EIWA Championships for the first time since the 2018-19 season, while the two national representatives was the first for the program since the 2015-16 campaign.