HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – The Franklin & Marshall wrestling team saw both Noah Fox (174 lbs.) and John Crawford (197 lbs.) battle their way into day two of the 58th Annual Ken Craft Midlands Championships on Thursday. With their spots secured in the Round of 12, those wrestlers will have a chance to become F&M's first place winners at the prestigious event since Rick Durso during the 2015 tournament. Their round of 12 matches will be Friday morning during session III (11 a.m. local / 12 p.m. EST)

Crawford entered the Midlands as the No. 9 seed and picked up a hard-fought 5-3 decision against EIWA foe Aaron Wolk of Brown behind the strength of two reversals and a riding time point. Crawford then took down eighth-seeded Nick Willham of Indiana by a 3-2 score during the round of 16 before running into top-seeded Braxton Amos of Wisconsin. Crawford will look to bounce back in session III tomorrow morning against 11th-seeded Andrew Davison of Northwestern.

Fox stands as one of the final 12 at his weight after entering the tournament unseeded. He started his day with a defensive fall against Michigan State's Martin Larkin in the second period while already leading 2-0. Fox nearly joined Crawford in the quarterfinals as he appeared to be in the winning takedown during the final seconds against second-seeded Troy Fisher of Northwestern, but the call went against him in a 3-2 final.

Bouncing back with a pair of EIWA victories, Fox had another takedown call go against him during the second period versus Harvard's Alex Whitworth. Despite Fox's points coming off the board that period, the Diplomat left no doubt in the third with an escape, takedown, and a rideout for the 4-3 victory. The third period heroics continued in his only session II match against Penn's Michael Kistler as Fox used another third period takedown and subsequential rideout for the 4-3 victory. Fox will look for his strong results against EIWA opponents to continue on Friday morning as he draws Princeton's Kole Mulhauser in the round of 12.

Sophomores Pat Phillips (133 lbs.) and James Conway (184 lbs.) both won two matches during their Midlands debut after tough opening round defeats. Phillips earned tech falls against Virginia's Marlon Yarbrough and Indiana's Blaine Frazier. A third period takedown in a 3-1 final was the difference in Phillips having to come through the wrestlebacks early in the draw. Conway fell in a thrilling 11-10 attempted comeback versus George Mason to start his tournament before earning an 8-1 win over SIU-Edwardsville's Sergio Villalobos and pinning Northwestern's Jack Jessen during the first period. His tournament came to an end against the No. 7 seed Rylan Rogers of Michigan.

Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.) and Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.) both claimed wins during the opening session. Pelusi drew third-seeded Yaraslau Slavikouski and gave the nationally-ranked Crimson heavyweight all he could handle as the match was 1-1 in the third period before a takedown and rideout. Pelusi bounced back in consolation action with a 2-1 victory over Rutgers' John O'Donnell. Leiphart also drew the third seed – Killian Cardinale from West Virginia – in his bracket. He would rebound from a tough opening match with his Division I leading sixth technical fall of the year against Brown's Jared Brunner.

Session III of the Midlands Championships will get underway at 11 a.m. local time (12 p.m. EST) on Friday. All mats will continue to be streamed on BTN+. Friday's morning session will include all matches up to the finals, plus the seventh place bouts. The first, third, and fifth place bouts will be wrestled during session IV which is scheduled for a 6:05 p.m. CST (7:05 EST) start on BTN+.

Franklin & Marshall Day 1 Results

Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Lost vs. #3 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia); F: 2:16
Consolation 3: Won vs. Jared Brunner (Brown); TF: 5:06 (16-0)
Consolation 4: Lost vs. Spencer Moore (North Carolina); 14-3

Gio Diaz (125 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Lost vs. Beau Bayless (Harvard); 2-0
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Nick Molchak (Cleveland State); 8-4

Jack Bruce (125 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Lost vs. #5 Ryan Miller (Penn); TF: 7:00 (22-7)
Consolation 3: Lost vs. Shay Horton (Thomas More); 9-4

Pat Phillips (133 lbs.)
Round of 64: Lost vs. Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois); 3-1
Consolation 1: Bye
Consolation 2: Won vs. Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia); TF: 4:34 (15-0)
Consolation 3: Won vs. Blaine Frazier (Indiana); TF: 4:45 (18-0)
Consolation 4: Lost vs. Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg); 7-1

Noah Fox (174 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Won vs. Martin Larkin (Michigan State); F: 3:45
Round of 16: Lost vs. #2 Troy Fisher (Northwestern); 3-2
Consolation 4: Won vs. Alex Whitworth (Harvard); 4-3
Consolation 5: Won vs. Michael Kistler (Penn); 4-3
Consolation 6: vs. Kole Mulhauser (Princeton) (Friday; 11 a.m. CST)

James Conway (184 lbs.)
Round of 64: Lost vs. Malachi DuVall (George Mason); 11-10
Consolation 1: Bye
Consolation 2: Won vs. Sergio Villalobos (SIU-Edwardsville); 8-1
Consolation 3: Won vs. Jack Jessen (Northwestern); F: 2:12
Consolation 4: Lost vs. #7 Rylan Rogers (Michigan); 4-1

#9 John Crawford (197 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Won vs. Aaron Wolk (Brown); 5-3
Round of 16: Won vs. #8 Nick Willham (Indiana); 3-2
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #1 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin); F:2:33
Consolation 6: vs. #11 Andrew Davison (Northwestern) (Friday; 11 a.m. CST)

Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.)
Round of 64: Bye
Round of 32: Lost vs. #3 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard);4-1
Consolation 3: Won vs. John O'Donnell (Rutgers); 2-1
Consolation 4: Lost vs. Daulton Mayer (Thomas More); 4-0