F&M Wrestling Friday, January 5 vs. Brown (12 p.m.), Davidson (1:30 p.m.), Presbyterian (3 p.m.), Saturday, January 6 vs. Lehman Open (9 a.m.)

LAST TIME OUT

Midlands Championships

• The Diplomats took on some of the nation's best at 58th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships just before the New Year
• Noah Fox (174 lbs.) and John Crawford (197 lbs.) both finished just one win shy of becoming F&M's first placer at that prestigious event since All-American Rick Durso '16
• Fox had a fall and two EIWA victories against Harvard and Penn, while almost upsetting second-seeded Troy Fisher in a 3-2 final just one week after winning the Wilkes Open
• Fox has now won 10 of his last 12 bouts entering the 2023 calendar year
• Crawford picked up an EIWA victory over Aaron Wolk of Brown and defeated eighth-seeded Nick Willham of Indiana before falling to the eventual second and third place finishers in the tournament during back-to-back matches
• Pat Phillips (133 lbs.) secured the title of most technical falls in the least amount of time with two such victories against opponents from Virginia and Indiana to run his season record to 14-7
• In addition to Phillips' individual accomplishment, Franklin & Marshall secured the most technical falls in the least amount of time as a team
• Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) added another technical fall to give him a Division I-leading six on the year. The first-year's record currently sits at 15-8 on the year
• Lephart is tied with Josh Hillard (133 lbs.) for the team lead in wins
• James Conway (184 lbs.) notched two victories at the Midlands, including a fall against host Northwestern, improving his record to 12-9
• Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.) registered a win against Rutgers' John O'Donnell just one round after falling in a tightly-contested Round of 32 match versus Harvard's nationally-ranked Yaraslau Slavikouski

Weekly Schedule

Friday, January 5 (Quad Meet) - Mayser Center

Mat 1

• F&M vs. Brown (12 p.m.)
• F&M vs. Davidson (1:30 p.m.)
• F&M vs. Presbyterian (3 p.m.)

Mat 2

• Brown vs. Presbyterian (1:30 p.m.)
• Brown vs. Davidson (3 p.m.)

Friday, January 6 (Lehman Open) - ASFC

• 9 a.m. start running until the conclusion of the tournament

Tickets

• Tickets will be sold on-site only
• Cost: Adults ($20), Students ($10; 18 and under), children 10 and under are free

Diplomat Notables

F&M vs. Brown

• All-time: Brown leads 24-3
• At F&M: Brown leads 12-2
• First meeting: December 13, 1963 (F&M won 22-14 at Brown)
• Last meeting: January 19, 2020 (F&M won 21-19) - victory by Cenzo Pelusi at HWT clinches the dual in the final match
• Current streak: F&M +1
• Brown had won 24 straight before Pelusi's victory broke the skid that spanned from the 1987 to 2019
• Although they did not meet during the regular season last year, F&M and Brown finished 13th (29 pts.) and 14th (26.5 pts.), respectively, in the final team standings at the EIWA Championships
• F&M and Brown also both competed at the Midlands Championships last week where the Diplomats (24th; 16.5 pts.) outpaced the Bears (25th; 14 pts.)
• The Diplomats won the only two head-to-head matches at the Midlands with Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) defeating Brown's Jared Brunner via a 16-0 tech fall in 5:06 and John Crawford (197 lbs.) defeating the Bears' Aaron Wolk by decision, 5-3
• Brown's Hunter Adrian (133 lbs.) was the only wrestler to place from either team as he took seventh at the Midlands

F&M vs. Davidson

• All-time: F&M leads 10-5
• At F&M: Diplomats are 5-2
• First meeting: January 24, 1933 (F&M won 31-3)
• Most recent: January 14, 2022 (Davidson won 20-18)
• Current Streak: Davidson +1 (F&M had won the first six duals vs. Davidson under head coach Mike Rogers until last year's narrow defeat)
• Davidson won six of the 10 bouts a year ago, but a fall from James Conway (184 lbs.), and a tech fall from Gio Diaz (125 lbs.) made the dual a tight final score.
• Seniors last year, Wil Gil (141 lbs.) and Cristiaan Dailey (149 lbs.) also had wins in that dual
• F&M and Davidson have both competed at the Southeast Open (11/5), GMU Patriot Open (12/4), and Wilkes Open (12/22) this season
• Head-to-head F&M vs. Davidson Matches this season (Diplomats are 5-3)
• 125: Mason Leiphart (F&M) maj. Luke Passarelli (Davidson); 11-2 (Southeast Open)
• 133: Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson) dec. Josh Hillard (F&M); 5-2 (Southeast Open)
• 133: Josh Hillard (F&M) WBF Jackson Sichelstiel (Davidson); 6:40 (Patriot Open)
• 133: Josh Hillard (F&M) maj. Noah Burstein (Davidson); 12-2 (Patriot Open)
• 149: Avery Clarke (F&M) dec. David Loniewski (Davidson); 4-2 (Wilkes Open)
• 149: David Loniewski (Davidson) dec. Hunter Hockensmith (F&M); 6-0 (Wilkes Open)
• 149: Chris Arciuolo (F&M) WBF Noah Frack (Davidson); 4:40 (Southeast Open)
• 165: Nate Stephenson maj. Makoa Niebel (F&M); 9-1 (Patriot Open)

F&M vs. Presbyterian

• Presbyterian began its wrestling program during the 2019-20 season and the Diplomats emerged a 38-9 winner in the first-ever dual between the two schools
• Presbyterian's Director of Wrestling, Mark Cody, previously served as the head coach at American University where F&M head coach Mike Rogers was the head assistant during the 2009-10 season before coming to Lancaster the following season
• During that one season in Washington, D.C., American produced three All-Americans, finished a then program-best 14th at the NCAA Championships, and had the second-highest team GPA in the country

F&M Dual Notables

• F&M holds a 23-17 individual record in dual meets
• Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) and John Crawford (197 lbs.) are each a perfect 4-0 in dual meets
• Gio Diaz (2-0 at 133 lbs.), Aidan O'Shea (1-0 at 133 lbs.), and Sam Kotch (1-0 at 141 lbs.) are also unbeaten in limited dual action
• Pat Phillips (3-1 in duals) has split time between 133 lbs. and 141 lbs. to give the team its best possible lineup
• Noah Fox (3-1 at 174 lbs.) has excelled in dual meets, with Nick Alvarez (2-1 at 157 lbs.) also holding a winning record in dual competition

David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open

• 10th year in which this tournament has come to F&M
• Originally titled the F&M Open in 2013, the tournament was renamed the David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open for the 2015 season to honor Lehman's $5 million gift during the fall of 2014 to endow Franklin & Marshall's Division I wrestling team
• The Diplomats are the only Division I wrestling team in the entire country who compete at the Division III level across each of its other varsity sport offerings

Teams Expected to Compete

• Franklin & Marshall – EIWA
• #13 Princeton - EIWA
• #14 Virginia Tech - ACC
• #16 Lehigh - EIWA
• #17 North Carolina State - ACC
• #24 North Carolina - ACC
• #26 Rider - MAC
• #27 Air Force – Big 12
• #30 Drexel - EIWA
• American - EIWA
• Army - EIWA
• Brown - EIWA
• Campbell - SoCon
• Columbia - EIWA
• Davidson - SoCon
• George Mason - MAC
• Harvard - EIWA
• Hofstra - EIWA
• Kent State - MAC
• Lock Haven - MAC
• LIU - EIWA
• Kent State - MAC
• Maryland – Big Ten
• Millersville – Division II
• Navy - EIWA
• Penn - EIWA
• Presbyterian - SoCon
• Sacred Heart - EIWA

Six of the seven Division I conferences (exception of PAC 12) will be represented at the Lehman Open

Division I National Leaders

• Franklin & Marshall has won 169 individual matches this season, recording bonus points in 92 of those victories (54.4%)
• That total includes 40 falls, 18 tech falls, and 20 major decisions
• 20 F&M wrestlers have at least one pin during the first half of the 2022-23 season

Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) - 6 Tech Falls

• True freshman Mason Leiphart leads all Division I wrestlers with six technical falls on the season
• Just three four freshmen - including Leiphart - rank in the top 19 nationally, with Leiphart leading Wyoming's Jore Volk (125 lbs.), Iowa State's Jacob Frost (141 lbs.) and SIU-Edwardsville's Alec Peralta (149 lbs.) who each have four during their true freshman seasons
• The Diplomats' first-year has recorded bonus points in 13 of his first 15 career victories, including one fall, six tech falls, three major decisions, and three forfeits

Josh Hillard (133 lbs.) - 8 Falls

• First-year Josh Hillard has registered falls during eight of his 15 victories
• Hillard trails only Northwestern's Josh Martin (nine falls) and Iowa's Anthony Cassioppi (nine falls) among Division I wrestlers
• Only four true freshman in all of Division I wrestling have recorded at least seven pins: Joseph Martin - Northwestern (9), Thaddeus Huff - Bellarmine (8), Hillard - F&M (8), JR Reed - Cleveland State (7)
• Hillard also has two tech falls, two major decisions, and one medical forfeit, giving him bonus points in 13 of his 15 victories (86.7%)
• Hillard's 15 victories are tied for the F&M lead with fellow true freshman Mason Leiphart

Aidan O'Shea (133 lbs.) - 6 Major Decisions

• Aidan O'Shea's six major decisions are tied for the third-most in Division I wrestling, just one behind the co-national leaders: Doug Zapf - Penn (149 lbs.) & Andrew Davison - Northwestern (197 lbs.)
• O'Shea's six major decisions lead all true freshman in Division I wrestling, with Penn's Evan Mougalian (5 majors) as the only other true freshman with O'Shea to rank amongst the top 30 wrestlers nationally in this category

Assistant Coach Steve Borja

• Entering 10th season at Franklin & Marshall
• Previously served as an assistant coach at Millersville University and Manheim Central High School
• Graduated from Virginia Tech in 2008 where he was a two-time first-team All-CC wrestler who was ranked as high as fourth in the country during the 2007 season

Next Week

vs. Drexel

Saturday, January 14 (7 p.m.)

EIWA TICKETS NOW ON SALE