F&M Wrestling Thursday, December 29 & Friday, December 30 at Midlands

LAST TIME OUT

Wilkes Open

• The Diplomats had seven place winners at Wilkes and finished second as a team to Bloomsburg in the team race, racking up 125.5 points
• Noah Fox (174 lbs.) had two falls and a default victory before defeating top-seeded Jacob Burgette (Pitt-Johnstown) by a 9-6 score in the finals to win his bracket
• Unseeded James Conway (184 lbs.) beat the #2, #3, and #6 seeds on his way to a runner-up finish
• Harrison Shapiro (197 lbs.) pinned the #3 and #4 seeds to take third after reaching the semifinals
• Aidan O'Shea (133 lbs.), Nick Alvarez (157 lbs.), and Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.) all advanced to the semifinals before placing fourth
• O'Shea had two major decisions and a tech fall and is now tied for the Division I lead with six major decisions
• Alvarez earned his first collegiate placement after winning three straight to reach the semifinals, including a pin against EIWA foe Calum Price of Sacred Heart
• Pelusi made his season debut and went 2-0 with a tech fall and decision before medically forfeiting out of the tournament
• Josh Hillard (133 lbs.) won four straight in the consolations, including three pins, during a sixth place finish
• Hillard is currently tied for the Division I lead with eight falls

Midlands

Thursday, December 29

Session I: 9:30 a.m. local (10:30 a.m. EST)

• Championship Round of 63
• Championship Round of 32
• Championship Round of 16
• Consolation Round 1
• Consolation Round 2
• Consolation Round 3

Session II: 7 p.m. local (8 p.m. EST)

• Championship Quarterfinals
• Consolation Round 4
• Consolation Round 5

Friday, December 30

Session III: 11 a.m. local (12 p.m. EST)

• Championship Semifinals
• Consolation Round 6
• Consolation Quarterfinals
• Consolation Semifinals
• 7th Place Matches

Session IV: (6:05 p.m. local; 7 p.m. EST)

• First Place Matches
• Third Place Matches
• Fifth Place Matches

Awards Presentation: 9 p.m. local (10 p.m. EST)

F&M at MiDLANDS Championships

• The Midlands Championships - hosted annually by Northwestern - bring the top talent in NCAA wrestling, plus some postgraduate competition, to Chicago
• F&M has competed at the Midlands Championships every year that the tournament has been held since the 2013-14 season
• Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.) is the only Diplomat on the current roster to compete at the Midlands inside NOW Arena when he advanced to the final 16 wrestlers during the December 2019 Tournament
• In 2021, the Midlands Championships was replaced by the Matmen Open where John Crawford - then at 174 lbs. - won two matches and Gio Diaz (125 lbs.) advanced to the Round of 16
• Pat Phillips (133 lbs.), Noah Fox (174 lbs.), and James Conway (184 lbs.) also competed at the Matmen Open a season ago
• Wil Gil '22 nearly made it to the placing matches in 2021, falling in the Round of 12 before eventually advancing to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships later in the season

F&M Place Winners at Midlands

• 2015: Rick Durso (7th; 141 lbs.)
• 2014: Rick Durso (5th; 141 lbs.) - unattached
• 2013: Rick Durso (4th; 141 lbs.)

Division I Teams at Midlands

• #2 Iowa - Big Ten
• #3 Missouri - Big 12
• #6 Arizona State - PAC 12
• #7 Pittsburgh - ACC
• #9 Wisconsin - Big Ten
• #11 Michigan - Big Ten
• #13 Princeton - EIWA
• #15 Northwestern - Big Ten
• #16 Lehigh - EIWA
• #17 North Carolina State - ACC
• #21 West Virginia - Big 12
• #22 Purdue - Big Ten
• #24 North Carolina - ACC
• #27 Air Force - Big 12
• #28 Illinois - Big Ten
• Binghamton - EIWA
• Bloomsburg - MAC
• Brown - EIWA
• Bucknell - EIWA
• Buffalo - MAC
• California Baptist - PAC 12
• Central Michigan - MAC
• Cleveland State - MAC
• Edinboro - MAC
• Franklin & Marshall - EIWA
• George Mason - MAC
• Harvard - EIWA
• Indiana - Big Ten
• Navy - EIWA
• Northern Illinois - MAC
• Oklahoma - Big 12
• Penn - EIWA
• Rutgers - Big Ten
• Southern Illinois-Edwardsville - MAC

A total of 44 teams are expected to compete

Rankings are based on InterMat's Team Tournament Rankings

Division I National Leaders

• Franklin & Marshall has won 158 individual matches this season, recording bonus points in 89 of those victories (56.3%)
• That total includes 38 falls, 15 tech falls, and 20 major decisions
• 21 F&M wrestlers have at least one pin during the first half of the 2022-23 season

Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) - 5 Tech Falls & 14 Wins

• Mason Leiphart is currently tied for the Division I lead with five technical falls
• He shares the top spot with Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour (125 lbs.) and Indiana's Donnell Washington (174 lbs.)
• Just three true freshman - including Leiphart - rank in the top 16 nationally, with Leiphart leading 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 12 of his first 14 career victories, including one fall, five tech falls, three major decisions, and three forfeits
• Leiphart's 14 victories are just two off of a top 10 mark in all of Division I

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) among Division I wrestlers
• Only eight true freshman in all of Division I wrestling have recorded at least six pins
• 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 just one off of a top 10 mark in all of Division I. No true freshman has more victories to date than F&M's 133 lber.

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

• Aidan O'Shea's six major decisions are tied with Indiana's Nico Bolivar (149 lbs.), Rider's Cole McComas (157 lbs.), and Presbyterian's Malcolm Wiley (197 lbs.) for the most in Division I
• Not only is he the only true freshman amongst that leading group, he is the only true freshman to rank in the top 19 across all Division I wrestlers for major decision victories

F&M In National Rankings

Cenzo Pelusi, Sr./285 (#31 InterMat / HM FloWrestling)

• Currently 2-0 on the year after making his debut at the Wilkes Open with a technical fall and decision before medically forfeiting to fourth
• 37-23 career record at F&M (44-41 in college)
• Placed seventh at last year's EIWA Championship for first conference placement of his career

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

UP NEXT

Lehman Open Week

Thursday, January 5, 2023

• F&M dual vs. Brown (12 p.m.)
• F&M dual vs. Davidson (1:30 p.m.)
• Brown vs. Presbyterian (1:30 p.m.)
• F&M dual vs. Presbyterian (3 p.m.)
• Brown vs. Davidson (3 p.m.)
• All matches on Thursday, January 5 will be wrestled in the Mayser Center

Friday, January 6

• Lehman Open (9 a.m.)
• Teams expected to compete include Air Force, American, Army, Brown, Campbell, Columbia, Davidson, Drexel, Harvard, Hofstra, Lehigh, Lock Haven, LIU, Kent State, Maryland, Millersville, Navy, North Carolina, Penn, Presbyterian, Princeton, Rider, Sacred Heart, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Saturday, January 7 - Sunday, January 8

• Tyrant Duals

EIWA TICKETS NOW ON SALE