Senior co-captain Joe Wilch will be one of the Scots' top breaststrokers.

Five seniors, highlighted by breaststroke and butterfly standout Peter Parisi, will lead the 23-member College of Wooster men's swimming and diving team, which includes 10 freshmen, as the Fighting Scots look to move into the top half of the highly-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference.

"That (freshmen class) was really needed," explained 10th-year head coach Rob Harrington. "We have a great core of seniors who have scored quite a bit of points for the program. It was really important for us to bring in a (quality) freshmen class, and I think we were able to accomplish that. We have good balance now."

While the first-years adapt to collegiate competition, Parisi aims to reach the NCAA Div. III Championships, something he has come close to previously. He has recorded B-cut qualifying times in both the 100 breast and 100 fly during his career, including a 50.17 in the latter last season when he finished among the top-10 within the conference in the 100 fly and 50 freestyle, placing seventh and ninth (21.15), respectively.

Wooster also hopes to send a relay to nationals, with Parisi being joined by fellow seniors Alex LaJoie and Imre Namath and sophomore Brian Maddock for a strong medley team. They set school records last winter in both the 200 (1:34.47) and 400 (3:27.86), while taking fourth in the NCAC in each race.

LaJoie has been a significant contributor in the backstroke and IM events the last three years. He produced matching 11th-place swims in the 100 back (52.35) and 200 back (1:54.78) at the 2012 NCAC Championships, and advanced to a championship heat (top-eight) in the 400 IM earlier in his career.

Namath is expected to be the Scots' top sprint freestyler for the third-straight season. He has reached the consolation finals of the NCAC's 50 free the past two years, hitting the wall in 13th in 2011 (21.90) and 14th in 2012 (21.70), and he'll also be a factor in the 100 free and 100 back.

Maddock, who will likely handle the butterfly on the relay team, gives Wooster another strong backstroker. In his initial conference meet, he touched 13th in the 200 back (1:58.83) and 14th in the 100 back (53.31), and he may add distance freestyle to his duties this season.

Those four may garner a lot of the attention throughout 2012-13, but it will be the Scots' increased depth that should lead to more dual-meet wins and a jump in the NCAC standings. Key scoring could come from the likes of veterans Peter Hause, Steven Hardy, and James Love in the butterfly events, and Joe Wilch and Evan Hagedorn in the breaststrokes.

Hause, a senior, was 15th at the 2012 conference meet in the 200 fly (2:03.26), an event that Love and Hardy also scored in, while Wilch, another senior and team co-captain alongside Parisi, tallied points in the 200 breast. Hagedorn is coming on strong after an illness set him back as a freshman.

Among the freshmen, watch for Travis Burgess, Elliot Ferrier, Hawken Lewis, James Lorenzin, Andrew Pfeuffer, Frayne Poeting, Zackary Pool, and Michael Sokolich to make immediate contributions in the pool, and Bryan Smith in diving.