HANOVER — The Dartmouth College football team is sending four players to Tokyo for the Japan-U.S. Dream Bowl, which will be played Jan. 22 at the National Stadium, site of the 2020 Olympic Games.

The contest will pit a team of Ivy League seniors and graduate students against a Japanese All-Star team of players from Japan’s top American football league, college players and crossover sport athletes. Defensive lineman Luca Di Leo, offensive linemen Michael Flores and Jake Guidone and tight end Joe Kramer will represent the Big Green on the Ivy League squad.

Di Leo made 37 tackles in 23 career games for Dartmouth before sustaining a season-ending injury against New Hampshire in 2022.

Flores started all 10 games this past season at left guard and is currently in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining. He has offers from Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) programs UMass, Miami-Ohio, Marshall and Old Dominion, as well as preferred walk-on offers from Colorado and Vanderbilt, before choosing the Big Green.

Guidone wrapped up his Big Green career in 2021 and played this past fall at UConn, starting at center for the Huskies and helping them reach a bowl game for the first time in seven years.

Kramer played in 24 games at Dartmouth, catching 10 passes for 108 yards in the 2022 season.

Only Yale, with two, is sending fewer players to Tokyo than the Big Green. Columbia’s 15 representatives are by far the most, and Lions head coach Al Bagnoli and his staff will lead the Ivy League team.

The contingent will arrive in Tokyo on Sunday and spend the week leading up to the game participating in several Japanese cultural and educational events, including a visit to the U.S. Embassy and social exchanges with the Japanese team, per a Dartmouth news release.

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