Wrestling Back

Unless you are standing on Franklin & Marshall’s picturesque campus, it is likely that you cannot feel the positive energy buzzing around the wrestling program. The buzz is palpable. The electric feeling came in the form of a vote of confidence by the team’s alumni, who mobilized to add a full-time assistant coach. That precipitated the hiring of the Cornell All-American, Matt Greenberg, whose positive energy at times seems boundless.

His energy will be needed.

There is no question that the program has been down on the mat and at times, written off. The rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. The restoration of Franklin & Marshall’s proud wrestling tradition will be a long and arduous journey. There will be fits and starts, as well as potholes and obstacles, but the veritable David of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association has its determined sights set on the conference’s many Goliaths.

Franklin & Marshall is committed to restoring its wrestling program to its rightful place. The place that was carved out by Charlie Mayser’s matmen, who toppled Army, C.C.N.Y. and Princeton in a span of three weeks in 1926. Those teams went toe-to-toe with the wrestling giants of their day – Chicago, Michigan, and Nebraska – and won.

Frank Burgess, who led tiny F&M to a fourth place at the 1939 NCAA Championships, cemented that place. There were the pre-war winning streaks and Mayser men shaping the EIWA. Roy Phillips, for whom the wrestling room is named at F&M, coached Penn. Following the war, Bob Schell, Stan Mousetis and Bob Wendell wrestled to the 1948 NCAA semifinals at Lehigh.

That was just the first golden era.

Wrestlers like Jim Clair, Doug Ward, John Stevenson, Nip Brown and Craig Blackman carried the torch with EIWA medals and NCAA appearances. A small skirmish in the large Cold War played out in our gym when the Diplomats hosted a contingent of Soviet wrestlers. There was the wild weekend when F&M shocked both Pitt and William & Mary.

Even in what have been the program’s darkest hours, wrestlers like Mike Parziale and Justin Herbert have been beacons of light, reminding us of F&M’s once and future prominence. Through our history, we shape our identity, and we know who we are. We are the tiny college walking proudly amongst giants, we are shapers of the EIWA, and we are decidedly Division I. To borrow a line from that other Blue and White team in Pennsylvania: We are, F&M!