F&M Wrestling vs. Binghamton (Saturday, January 18; 12 p.m.)

Last Time out

• The Diplomats open their EIWA dual meet schedule after most recently competing at the David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open last week
• Bryce Kresho (141 lbs.) continued his streak of placing in every tournament with a fifth-place showing at the Lehman Open
• The junior co-captain started his tournament with a pair of EIWA bonus point wins against LIU and American before a hard-fought 10-4 battle against American's fifth-seeded Eligh Rivera
• Kresho rebounded in the consolation bracket with a 7-0 win against Harvard's Dante Frinzi. During his fifth-place match, he defeated seventh-seeded Andre Gonzales of Ohio State to cap his first-ever placement at the Lehman Open with his 26th victory of the season
• Fellow 141 lb. entrant Pat Phillips also advanced to the quarterfinals while wrestling unattached. Phillips earned the No. 6 seed and picked up a first period technical fall against Kent State before back-to-back convincing decisions versus Princeton and Navy.
• Phillips' run through the championship bracket was halted by third-seeded and nationally-ranked Shanna Hanna of Campbell
• The Diplomats had a pair of unattached first-years make deep runs at 125 lbs. in James Garcia and Ejiro Montoya
• Garcia found himself in the round of 16 after pinning his opponent from Harvard. In the consolation brackets, he rolled to consecutive major decisions to finish with three victories
• Montoya also won three matches. His victories came via two wins against Hofstra before a major decision against a B1G foe from Maryland
• Josh Hillard (149 lbs.) and Josh Palmucci (165 lbs.) also recorded three-win days to add to the Diplomats' success. Hillard's only losses came to seeded wrestlers who had previously qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but he did earn three EIWA victories to bolster his day, including a major decision against Army before a late rally allowed him a second victory against the service academy.
• Two of Palmucci's three victories came against conference foes, while he further racked up a major decision against North Carolina. His only losses came to the first and third-seeded wrestlers at the weight
• Another highlight for the Diplomats was James Conway advancing to the finals of the Lehman Open for the second consecutive season. The returning NCAA qualifier and Elite 90 Award recipient from a season ago only fell to returning national runner-up Rocco Welsh of Ohio State by a 4-2 score after recording bonus points during four of his five victories to put himself in the finals

Binghamton

Saturday, January 18 (12 p.m.)

• EIWA & Independence Division Opener
• The EIWA and the EIWA Coaches Association announced a new, division-based, regular season dual meet schedule for the 2024-25 season
• Teams will be grouped into two divisions, competing against each other for Divisional Championships beginning this season, with a full divisional dual meet schedule starting in 2025-26
• Independence Division: Binghamton, Drexel, Franklin & Marshall, Hofstra, Long Island University, Morgan State, Sacred Heart
• Patriot Division: American, Army, Bucknell, Lehigh, Navy

F&M vs. Binghamton History

• All-Time Series: Binghamton leads: 5-3
• First matchup: F&M won 21-16 (February 1, 2003)
• Most recent: Binghamton won 31-15 (December 29, 2017 at South Beach Duals)
• Last 10: Binghamton 5-3
• Current streak: Binghamton +5
• Longest F&M winning streak: 3 (2003-2006)
• Largest Margin of Victory: W, 21-16 (2/1/2003)
• Smallest Margin of Victory: W, 19-18 (2/18/2006)
• Last F&M win: W, 19-18 (2/18/2006)

F&M vs. Binghamton Notables

• Binghamton enters the weekend with a 4-6 record (2-1 EIWA)
• The Bearcats have defeated both LIU (W, 26-12) and Hofstra (W, 31-6) who the Diplomats will see later in the year during EIWA competition
• Binghamton also dropped a 23-16 match against Lehigh in its most recent outing
• The match with F&M will be the first of two on Saturday for the Bearcats who will leave Lancaster and head to Philadelphia for a 6 p.m. dual meet against Drexel later in the evening
• F&M is 1-2 in head-to-head matchups vs. Binghamton this year
• The only expected rematch of the dual would be at 141 lbs. between Bryce Kresho and Nathan Lucier
• F&M vs. Binghamton Matchups this season
• 125: James Garcia def. Jay McDonnell; F: 1:47 (Journeymen)
• 141: Nathan Lucier def. Bryce Kresho; 14-7 (Journeymen)
• 165: Tyler Reed def. Tyler Shea; 9-4 (Lehman Open)

National Leaders

Bryce Kresho (141 lbs.)

• Kresho, a junior team captain, is currently leading all Division I wrestlers with 26 victories on the season
• He is one of just five wrestlers in the entire country who has at least 20 DI victories on the year
• Kresho has also secured seven pins versus Division I competition to rank in a tie for seventh nationally in that category
• At 141 lbs., Kresho is the only wrestler at that weight with at least seven falls on the year

Assistant Coach Steve Borja

• 12th 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 - SACRED HEART

Saturday, January 25 (7:30 p.m.)

Lancaster, Pa. (Mayser Center)