BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall wrestling team finished with three Eastern Intercollege Wrestling Association (EIWA) place winners on Saturday, with Bryce Kresho (141 lbs.), Josh Hillard (149 lbs.), and RJ Moore (197 lbs.) all making it to the podium for the first time in their respective careers. Those place winners led the Diplomats to 31 team points as F&M finished 10th in the final team standings.
Kresho entered the day needing two wins to automatically advance to the NCAA Division I National Championships. He got the first of those in dominating fashion behind a technical fall over the sixth-seeded wrestler from Army for this third bonus point victory of the weekend. He scored three takedowns and forced multiple stall calls to advance to the third place match. Squaring off with Drexel's second-seeded Jordan Soriano for a spot in the national tournament, Kresho scored the first takedown of the bout and led 5-4 after the first period. Soriano tied it during the second period and escaped in third to take an 8-7 lead.
Kresho was in on multiple leg attacks from neutral throughout the match and finished in a wild scramble in the ultimate one-point decision. That final position came just seconds after the F&M coaches challenged for what looked to be the go-ahead takedown. However, the review did not go in F&M's favor and the Dragon was able to held on in the final seconds. Kresho did finish one spot off of the conference allocation, picked up a nationally-ranked win, and now owns a 35-15 season record. The Diplomats will now await the selection of at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament where they will see if the winningest wrestler across the entire Division I landscape will be rewarded with a ticket to Philadelphia.
Josh Hillard and RJ Moore wrapped up their conference tournaments with eighth place finishes on Saturday. Hillard was looking to avenge his opening round defeat against Drexel but a major decision put him eighth on the EIWA podium. Moore also dropped a match to an opponent from Hofstra who had defeated him earlier in the year to finish in eighth during his first conference championship appearance.
Franklin & Marshall Place Winner Results
#5 Bryce Kresho (141 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #12 Myrin Nixon (Morgan State); F: 4:10
Quarterfinals: Won vs. #4 Carter Bailey (Lehigh); F: 6:17
Semifinals: Lost vs. #1 Josh Koderhandt (Navy); 11-5
Consolation Semifinals: Won vs. #6 Rich Treanor (Army); TF: 6:19 (16-1)
Third Place: Lost vs. Jofdan Soriano (Drexel); 8-7
#9 Josh Hillard (149 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #8 Dominic Findora (Drexel); 9-0
Consolation of 8 #2: Won vs. #7 Drew Witham (LIU); 8-3
Consolation of 4: Lost vs. #11 Braden Bower (Bucknell); 2-0
Seventh Place: Lost vs. #8 Dominic Findora (Drexel); 11-0
#8 RJ Moore (197 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #9 Carsten Rawls (American); F: 6:58
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #1 Michael Beard (Lehigh); TF: 2:44 (21-6)
Consolation of 8 #2: Won vs. #10 Eric Washington, Jr. (Morgan State); 11-2
Consolation of 4: Lost vs. #4 Wolfgang Frable (Army); TF: 3:37 (17-0)
Seventh Place: Lost vs. #7 Nikolas Miller (Hofstra); TF: 6:46 (17-2)
