BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Rams of Fordham University were recognized on Water Polo Wednesday‘s season preview podcast as the squad earned three mentions for best recruits, ranked No. 2 for the best recruiting class in the nation and received a pair of nods among the best 14 players in the nation.
The 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 MAWPC Champion Rams are listed as acquiring the second best class of recruits in the nation behind only the University of California and in front of the University of Southern California (No. 3), University of the Pacific (No. 4) and San Jose State University (No. 5).
A trio of incoming athletes lead the list of new blood for the reigning league champions as Diego Tresa (Rome, Italy/Istituto Santa Maria) is recognized by Water Polo Wednesday as a five-star recruit, while Matthew Bonello DuPuis (Sliema, Malta/St. Martin’s) and Alessandro Salipante (Brindisi, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Fermi Monticelli) claim four star notice.
A 6′-3″ goalkeeper, Bonello DuPuis is one of two Malta natives in this year’s recruiting class that attended St. Martin’s in Msida, Malta as well as graduated from the University of Malta. He played club water polo for Sirens ASC for many years. In a mid-season switch last winter, he led San Giljan ASC to the 2025 Winter League Championship. As the starting goalie for the Maltese Junior National team, his squad finished tenth in the 2022 U19 European Championship held in Podgorica, Montenegro, which was the highest finish for a Maltese team. He has also been a part of the Maltese Senior National Team.
Salipante, a 6′-3″ attacker, split his academic career between Liceo Scientifico Fermi Monticelli in Brindisi, Italy and Istituto Santa Maria in Rome. He has on two occasions been called up to the Senior Italian National Team, while playing club for Roma Vis Nova, which won the U16 and U18 National Championships in 2022. He has taken part in three European Championships (U15 – 2021, U17 – 2023, and U19 – 2024) as well as two World Championships (U16 – 2022; U18 – 2024). At the 2024 U18 World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Salipante helped his team to a fourth place finish.
Tresa is a 6′-7″ center/utility player who has twice been called up to the Senior Italian National Team. Additionally, he has competed for the Italian U19/U17 teams at the European Championship as well as the U16 World Championship. He played club for S.S. Lazio Nuoto, which won the Italian U18 Championship.
Among returning athletes, the dynamic duo of utility player Luca Provenziani (So., Rome, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Statale Isaaco Newton) and attacker Andras Toth (So., Pecs, Hungary/PTE Babits Gyakorlo Gimnazium) earn mentions among the “Best of the Best” list – an accounting of eight field athletes along with pairs of goalkeepers, defenders and centers that are the most likely to impact the 2025 season on a national level – as the pair are expected to once again to lead the Bronx institution as the knights of water polo in Gotham.
An Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Honorable Mention and All-Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) First Team selection in 2024 for becoming the eighth Ram in school history to net at least 80 goals in a season, Totah scored at least one goal in 32 of the 33 games last year.
The Hungarian finished second on the team in goals (84) and points (119), while leading the squad in steals (47), swimoff wins (83) and extra-man goals (20) while also accounting for 14 hat tricks as Fordham concluded the 2024 season with a 32-1 record and became the first East Coast institution to rank at No. 1 in the National Top 20 Poll during the season. The team’s lone loss came to the University of Southern California by an 18-16 count in overtime during the semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship hosted by Stanford University.
A member of the Hungarian National Team, Toth won the 2024 Men’s U18 World Championship held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, defeating Serbia, 12-10, in the championship match, posting two goals and two assists in the gold medal winning performance. Part of the U15 European Championship team in 2021 and the 2022 U16 World Champion team, where he netted the game-winning goal of the Gold medal match against Greece and finished as the tournament’s leading scorer, Totah also played in the U17 European Championship in 2023, garnering fourth place. Further, he helped his local team, Pecs, to a third place finish at the 2023 Hungarian Championship and was recipient of the Pecs Young Talent Award.
The 2024 MAWPC Rookie of the Year, a First Team All-MAWPC selection and the inaugural Ram to earn ACWPC First Team All-America accolades, Provenziani led Fordham in goals (93) and points (160), while being second in assists (67) and third in extra-man goals (17) and shooting percentage (65%) as a freshman.
He scored at least one goal in 32 of 33 games on the year, while his 93 goals scored were the fifth-most in a single season for a Ram and the most by a freshman.
A 2019 bronze medalist at the European Men’s U15 Championship in Bulgaria, Provenziani took part in the U17 Championship in Malta in 2021. Named the Best European assist man at the U19 Championship in 2022 in Montenegro, he played in the FINA World Men’s Youth U18 Championship in Serbia in 2022 and the U20 Championship in 2023 in Romania, being one of the youngest athletes competing.
Named the Top Player of the Italian U18 National Championship following his performance in 2023 as well as the Top Player of the Italian U16 National Championship in 2021, Provenziani also played regionally for Team Lazio, winning three regional trophies, and club for Roma Vis Nova, where he has claimed medals six times at various Italian National Championships.
