F&M Wrestling at Gettysburg & Sacred Heart

LAST ACTION

Army Round Robin

• F&M wrestled Extra Countable Matches this past Sunday vs. EIWA foes Army and American
• The Diplomats posted a 17-9 record as a team with no team scores being kept at the event
• Gio Diaz (125 lbs.), Cristiaan Dailey (149 lbs.), Crew Fullerton (165 lbs.), James Conway (184 lbs.), and Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.) gave the Diplomats five undefeated wrestlers on the day
• Eight of F&M's 17 wins came win bonus points, highlighted by a pair of falls from Crew Fullerton
• Mike Waszen (197 lbs.) also recorded a pin while Diaz pinned EIWA place winner Ryan Chauvin (Army) during his second match

at Gettysburg

Wednesday, January 26 (7 p.m.)

at Sacred Heart

Sunday, January 30 (12 p.m.)

Series History

F&M vs. Gettysburg

• First meeting: February 26, 1930; F&M won 36-0
• All-Time: F&M leads series: 61-6-2
• At Gettysburg: Diplomats are 12-0
• F&M has won nine straight duals, but this will be the first meeting since 2013
• Most recent matchup: F&M def. Gettysburg, 43-8 (1/9/2013)
• Last Gettysburg win: January 12, 1999 (28-14)
• Gettysburg competes in the Centennial Conference where the majority of F&M's programs compete on the Division III level.
• Franklin & Marshall is the only primarily Division III school to compete in Division I wrestling
• The Diplomats have already defeated Centennial Conference foe Ursinus (48-4) and will wrestle McDaniel when the team returns home next Wednesday
• With 69 all-time meetings, F&M vs. Gettysburg is the most wrestled dual in the Diplomats' history
• The next most-wrestled F&M dual is Princeton with 57 meetings between the Diplomats at Tigers
• Only 11 teams have wrestled F&M at least 30 times in school history

Series History

F&M vs. Sacred Heart

• First meeting: February 19, 2000; F&M won 23-13
• All-Time: F&M leads 9-4
• At Sacred Heart: Diplomats are 4-1
• These EIWA foes have met every year since 2011 with F&M and head coach Mike Rogers holding an 8-2 record, but the Pioneers have won the most recent two duals by a single point each time
• The most recent dual between these two schools was decided on criteria, a 65-64 advantage for Sacred Heart in match points
• Last F&M win: 37-11 (2/17/2018)
• F&M is undefeated against EIWA opponents this season, having beaten LIU by a 32-16 score
• In addition to this week's EIWA dual, the Diplomats will close the regular season with an EIWA dual at home against Hofstra on Sunday, February 20

100 WIN COUNTDOWN

Wil Gil (97-43 career record) was receiving honorable mention in FloWrestling's preseason national rankings and is off to a 17-5 start to his senior season

Gil is 8-1 against EIWA opponents with victories against Army, Cornell, Penn, Brown, Bucknell, Drexel, Sacred Heart, and LIU

Gil is currently fourth in program history for most career wins, trailing third-place Brian "Nip" Brown '80 by just two victories entering this week

He is currently on pace to become just the third wrestler in program history to reach 100 career wins

Gil was previously named the EIWA Wrestler of the Week after starting his season 6-0

Gil is a two-time EIWA place winner and was the alternate to the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships

Weekly Notables

F&M Notables

• The Diplomats have excelled in duals with a 34-15 record in those bouts
• Wil Gil (141 lbs.) is a perfect 5-0 in dual meets while teammates Pat Phillips (133 lbs.) and Cristiaan Dailey (149 lbs.) are both 4-0 in dual meets
• Gio Diaz (125 lbs.), Nick Tewell (141 lbs.), and Noah Fox (174 lbs.) are also undefeated in limited dual action
• The Diplomats have six wrestlers with winning records expected to weigh in this week while two others are at .500 and can move into that position this week. That list does not include Gio Diaz who is 4-2 since dropping to 125 lbs.
• Senior captain Wil Gil (17-5) is leading the team in wins, with first-years Pat Phillips (11-8) and James Conway (12-8) joining sophomore Noah Fox (12-8) in posting double digit win totals so far this season
• Seniors Cristiaan Dailey, Chase McCollum, Crew Fullerton, and Cenzo Pelusi can all join that 10+ win group during the upcoming week
• The Diplomats have a strong balance of experience and youth as six projected starters have previously competed at the EIWA Championships while three others have made their collegiate debuts this year

Gettysburg Notables

• Gettysburg is seeking its first dual victory of the season.
• The Diplomats and Bullets have shared two common opponents in Elizabethtown and Ursinus
• Ray Martin (17-5, 165 lbs.) and Luke Kowalski (16-4, 133 lbs.) are having the strongest individual seasons for the Bullets
• Martin was named the Centennial Conference Wrestler of the Week back in November after a runner-up finish at 174 lbs. during the Penn College Wildcat Invitational
• That award came just one week after Kowalski won the 133 lb. bracket at the Messiah Invitational

Sacred Heart Notables

• Sacred Heart won its opening dual of the season vs. American, 17-16, but will be looking to snap a four-dual skid that included a loss to then-No. 2 Penn State
• The Pioneers and Diplomats both competed at the Keystone Classic back in November where F&M won all five matches head-to-head matches against Sacred Heart as four of those matches could be repeated this weekend
• At the Keystone Classic: Christiaan Dailey was a winner by fall vs. Cole McGill (5:51), Noah Fox pinned Sebastian Ford (2:54), and Cenzo Pelusi picked up a pair of major decisions vs. Nick Copley (20-7 and 10-1)
• Wil Gil also had a technical fall (6:30) vs. Chris Naegele, but the Pioneer is not listed among the probable starters
• Dante Delbonis (fourth, 197 lbs.), Joe Acousti (fifth, 184 lbs.), Nick Copley (sixth, 285 lbs.), Shaun Williams (seventh, 149 lbs.), Alex Marciniak (seventh, 174 lbs.), and Logan Michael (seventh, 197 lbs.) all placed for Sacred Heart at the Keystone Classic
• Nick Palumbo (157 lbs.) and Joe Acousti (184 lbs.) both advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago after respective second and sixth-place finishes in the conference tournament
• The Pioneers returned six place winners in total from the 2021 champion season with Kyle Randall (eighth, 133 lbs.), Seth Brown (eighth, 149 lbs.), Robert Hetherman (sixth, 197 lbs.), and Dante Delbonis (eighth, 285 lbs.) adding to that group.
• There will also be a family connection between the two schools as Sacred Heart's projected 174 lber. Ryan Bolletino is the brother of F&M senior Chris Bolletino

Assistant Coach Steve Borja

• Entering ninth 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

vs. McDaniel (Wed., February 2; 7 p.m.)

at Messiah Open (Saturday, February 5; 9 a.m.)