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Mustangs 2025 graduate receiver Sam La Roue, defensive lineman Conner Franzisi, and fullback Sandro Pierini talk with each other and a fellow combine attendee during the CFL Invitational Combine in Waterloo, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Veronica Miranda \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n Fourth-year fullback Sandro Pierini\u00a0<\/p>\n Pierini\u00a0showed where the strength behind his blocks comes from with 21 reps on the bench press, the most of any fullback or tight end.<\/p>\n Mustangs Fullback Sandro Pierini jogging back after a 1-on-1 drill at the CFL Invitational Combine, Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Henson Han \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n Pierini explained that he set his expectations high, aiming for 25 reps on the bench press and a sub-five-second 40-yard dash.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[I] didn\u2019t quite get it, but those are still numbers I\u2019m proud of, that I can stand behind and say those are the best I could do.\u201d<\/p>\n Pierini recorded a 28-inch vertical and a 9′ 2 1\/8″ broad jump, both of which were the best among Mustangs this year.<\/p>\n When the combine was completed, Pierini\u2019s number was called, but it was only to complete randomized drug testing administered by the CFL.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pierini will have the opportunity to continue to improve his scores next year, when he returns to complete his final year in an Ivey Business School and law dual degree program.<\/p>\n Fourth-year defensive lineman Conner Franzisi<\/p>\n Mustangs Defensive Line Conner Franzisi running the 40-Yard Dash at the CFL Invitational Combine, Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Henson Han \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n As a former member of the Alabama A&M Bulldogs NCAA Division I Football team, Franzisi brought the bark and the bite for Western University this season with a team-high 4.5 sacks and five tackles for loss.<\/p>\n He measured in at 239 lbs, the second-lightest among defensive linemen, yet still completed an impressive 19 reps on the bench press.<\/p>\n With this lighter build, Franzisi recorded a 4.66-second shuttle, the fastest of all Mustangs.<\/p>\n Mustangs defensive lineman Conner Franzisi during the 40-yard dash drill at the CFL Invitational Combine in Waterloo, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veronica Miranda \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to stick out in a group that good, and I feel like I did my part to show that I could compete with anybody in this country,\u201d said Franzisi about his performance.<\/p>\n Franzisi will continue to train with the team and remains hopeful for a draft spot or free agent invite in May.<\/p>\n 2025 graduate receiver Sam La Roue<\/p>\n Mustangs 2025 graduate receiver Sam La Roue jumps forward during the broad jump drill at the CFL Invitational Combine in Waterloo, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veronica Miranda \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n Have you ever seen a lacrosse defenseman sharpen into an offensive weapon?<\/p>\n Meet the mystery man of this year’s combine, La Roue \u2014 a former Mustangs bench receiver who now is a National Lacrosse League defenseman for the Halifax Thunderbirds.<\/p>\n At 6′ 3 3\/4″, he measured as not just the tallest Mustang at the combine, but the tallest wide receiver.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think ultimately this was just another chance to put the pads on,\u201d said La Roue. \u201cA couple of weeks ago, lacrosse was the only sport I was focusing on. We\u2019ll probably go back to that, unless something comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n Although La Roue was the fastest Mustang with a 5.1 40-yard dash, he ranked as the slowest receiver at the drill as well as the slowest receiver in the three-cone drill.<\/p>\n Wide Receiver Sam La Roue running the 3-Cone Drill at\u00a0the CFL Invitational Combine, Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House, March 6, 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n Henson Han \/ GAZETTE<\/a><\/p>\n For reference, the 2025 invitational combine saw two Mustangs crack a sub-five-second 40-yard dash \u2014 running back Edouard Wanadi<\/a>, who ran it in 4.93 seconds and receiver Seth Robertson<\/a>, who ran it in 4.74.<\/p>\n The National CFL Combine will take place in Edmonton from March 27 to 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n While no competitors from the Mustangs were invited forward into the combine, Western will be represented by fifth-year backup quarterback J\u00e9r\u00f4me Rancourt and fifth-year offensive lineman Keegan O\u2019Neil, both among the CFL\u2019s top prospects.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a chance to advance as potential CFL draft prospects, Pierini, Franzisi and La Roue fell short. On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,527,82],"class_list":["post-521598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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