Franklin & Marshall Diplomats

Program history[edit]

F&M competes in NCAA Division III for all varsity sports except wrestling, which is Division I, and men's and women's squash, which are non-divisional.^[2][3][4]


The Franklin & Marshall Diplomats football program was first organized in 1887 by Seminary student Miles O. Noll. Franklin and Marshall was defeated 9–0 by the York YMCA. Later that year, the program played a re-match and lost again, this time by score of 6–4.^[5] Frank Mount Pleasant became the head football coach in 1910.


Professor Charles W. Mayser founded the F&M wrestling team in 1923, and early 1924 saw the college's first wrestling match as the Blue & White defeated Western Maryland College 24–5. The Diplomat grapplers finished their maiden season with a 4–1 record. F&M wrestling has competed in the EIWA since 1948, making F&M the only Division III school to compete in Division I wrestling.^[6]


In 1981, F&M President Keith Spalding accounded the formation of the Centennial Conference.^[7] F&M is a charter member of the Centennial Conference, an athletic conference of 11 mid-Atlantic institutions that compete in 22 sports in the NCAA's Division III. The Centennial Conference also has 6 associate members, drawing distinction to F&M's privileged membership.^[8] The other founding members of the conference are Bryn Mawr College, Dickinson College, Gettysburg College, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins University, Muhlenberg College, Swarthmore College, Ursinus College, Western Maryland College, (renamed McDaniel College) and Washington College.^[8]


The men's basketball team started play in 1899. They have reached the NCAA Division III Final Four on five occasions (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2009), appearing in the national championship game in 1991. The men's basketball team has been nationally ranked on a frequent basis since the late 1970s, including No. 1 in Division III at some point during seven different seasons. Head coach Glenn Robinson is the career leader in wins in Division III. Robinson has been listed as one of the top 100 college basketball coaches of all-time.^[9][10]


Other successful athletic teams at F&M include men's soccer, men's and women's swimming, baseball, and squash. They all traditionally compete for conference championships and have been ranked high nationally. In 2008, the men's swimming team won the Centennial Conference championships and the women's swimming team placed second.^[11][12] At that championship, Thomas Anthony Grabiak Jr. of F&M set Centennial Conference championship meet records in the 100 and 200 yd breaststroke events.^[13] Men's squash consistently maintains a top 20 Division I national ranking. In 1987 the men's squash team finished 15-1 and achieved a #2 national ranking led by four time all-American Morris Clothier. In 1988, the men's lacrosse team finished the season 13-3 and played in the USILA national semifinals.^[14]