LANCASTER, Pa. – The NCAA has announced updated coaches' rankings for the second time this season and released the first edition of the RPI ratings. Three Diplomats were featured in the weekly release which leads into conference allocations and seeding for the NCAA Division I Tournament.
James Conway is ranked fifth once again in the coaches' ranking for the second consecutive release. That ranking matches his national ranking from the media groups that include InterMat, FloWrestling, and The College Wrestling Report. Conway is also ranked ninth in the NCAA RPI at 184 lbs., where he is joined by teammates James Garcia (30th at 125 lbs.) and Mason Leiphart (32nd at 133 lbs.)
The third coaches ranking (and second RPI) will be released on February 26 which will be the data set that finalizes the conference allocations heading into the NCAA Tournament. A final coaches' ranking and RPI calculation will take place on March 9 after the conclusion of the conference tournaments to help determine seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
James Conway is currently leading the NCAA in wins (29) and technical falls (12) this season. The national technical falls leaderboard currently takes into account matches wrestled through Sunday, February 8. With his most recent technical fall during F&M's 51-0 win versus Morgan State, Conway takes sole possession of the national lead in that category. He is 29-1 on the season with individual titles at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Southeast Open, Keystone Classic, and David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open. Conway has recorded bonus points in 21 of his 29 victories, featuring six pins and three major decisions in addition to his Division I lead in technical falls. The 2024 Elite 90 Award winner recently became the third Diplomat in program history to reach 100 career wins as he accomplished that milestone against Drexel. Conway is currently riding a 23-match winning streak and is a perfect 9-0 in dual meets and 8-0 against EIWA competition.
James Garcia jumps into the national discussion at 125 lbs. with a 16-11 record on the season that includes a win against Rider's Tyler Klinsky who is second in the RPI and 14th in the coaches' ranking. Garcia has also defeated Harvard's Logan Brzowski who is 19th in the RPI rankings. Garcia has 10 bonus point victories on the season, including three pins and three technical falls.
Mason Leiphart is back on the national radar once again after finding himself in the national rankings several times throughout his career. Leiphart owns a 15-11 record this season and a 6-1 mark in dual meets and 5-2 record against EIWA competition. The F&M career record holder in technical falls has added six to his total this season and is 8-2 during his last 10 matches. A four-year starter for the Diplomats, Leiphart currently owns 77 career victories heading into the final two weekends of the regular season.
With those national rankings, Franklin & Marshall has also made its presence known as a team in the national rankings. The Diplomats are ranked as high as 26th in the country by FloWrestling in the Team Tournament rankings, holding the 27th position according to The College Wrestling Report, and the No. 30 spot according to Intermat.
F&M continues its busy week with 18 wrestlers set to compete at the Messiah Open on Saturday. The Diplomats wrap up the dual meet portion of their schedule this Sunday at 2 p.m. vs. Millersville in the annual Rupp Cup.
About Coaches' Rankings: The coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of three coaches in each weight class. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
About RPI: The RPI is a calculation that consists of three factors: winning percentage, opponent winning percentage (strength of schedule) and opponent's opponent winning percentage (opponent's strength of schedule). Only matches against Division I opponents at the designated weight class count towards the RPI and a wrestler needs to have wrestled 15 matches to be ranked.
