Joseph Joyce, a top-15 P4P wrestler in New England, has notified The Schwartz Report that he has committed to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
A 2024 New England champion and quite the student, Joyce had his pick of the top wrestling Ivy League schools.
“My top three schools outside of Brown were Cornell, Harvard, and Princeton,” Joyce told The Schwartz Report. “I know that I will be going for a master's or doctoral degree after undergrad, so the academic program wasn't too much of a concern as long as it was a tier-one school educationally.”
Joyce made sure the school not only fit his needs, but that the team felt like family.
“I was mostly trying to figure out if I would be comfortable with and fit in with the guys on the team,” Joyce mentioned. “My faith is also very important to me. So, a team with a number of athletes involved in FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] or guys who were active in their Catholic or Christian Centers matters; I already spent time with people at the BRCC [Brown-RISD Catholic Community], so that made a big difference in the decision.”
In the end, Brown’s course structure and curriculum also won Joyce over.
“I am going to major in philosophy or theology, so all of the schools I visited were great for that degree, but Brown's open curriculum, which allows me to take only the classes I was interested in, was very appealing.”
Joyce also noted that he’s already watched his brothers walk this very same path, so he knows what kind of drive will be needed. “By watching my brothers lift, practice, and suck weight in college, I know that DI wrestling plus school is very difficult, so being able to take only the classes you want to take makes a big difference.”
Wrestling in college is already a challenge when considering the social life and academic requirements that come with being an athlete, and this will most certainly be the case at the prestigious university.
“It's a lot. My brother, Jacob and Andrew Reall just last week studied 15 hours for a test, and they both got Bs. We are athletes, not geniuses, so balancing the workload is crazy, but the structure of wrestling helps. I manage pretty well now, so I don't think it will be too much of an adjustment. You just have to know what's coming.”
The Ponaganset to Brown pipeline is well established at this point. By 2027 there will be a total of six (If oldest brother Michael Joyce redshirts) wrestlers from the Rhode Island school on the DI roster at the same time.
“We didn't plan it this way, but we call it Brownaganset,” Joyce joked. “What's better than being 20 minutes from home, being with your training partners and brothers, the same people you have gone through the last ten years with? As much as each of the other schools had great guys who I knew I would get along with and could build lifelong friendships with, nothing compares to the relationships I have now with my teammates and my brothers.
“I couldn't duplicate that anywhere, plus we want to do what no one thinks can be done, we want to turn our local university’s program around, and what's better than doing it together?”
And when it comes to the younger wrestlers that look up to Joyce and his Ponaganset teammates, he has a message for them:
“Meeting all the coaches and schools is a must, so I would tell everyone to take all their visits; it was hard saying no to all of them, but I also advise you to call each coach and tell them personally.hough difficult, they appreciated it. I was very fortunate to be able to choose!”
Ponaganset wrestlers wrestling for or committed to wrestle for Brown:
Mike Joyce ‘22
Jacob Joyce ‘23
Andrew Reall ‘24
Preston Marchessault ‘25
David Perez ‘26
Joseph Joyce ‘26