PHILADELPHIA – Mason Leiphart and James Conway both earned their way on to the podium during day one of the EIWA Championships and kept their bids for a ticket to the NCAA Championships alive. Both wrestlers dropped their opening bouts of the day before coming back strong on Saturday night with consecutive wins to secure a their spots on the podium.

Leiphart will wrestle for his spot in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday morning as his weight class takes the top six place winners to the national tournament. The Diplomat first-year got a tough opening draw during his postseason debut, but bounced back with another technical fall to add to his Division I leading total to start Saturday's evening session. He needed just 1:53 to rack up 16 near fall points in the 18-0 final. Leiphart was again dominant on top during his second consolation match against ninth-seeded Micah Roes of Binghamton before he planted the Bearcats' shoulders at the mat at the 3:45 mark with a 9-2 lead already in hand.

Conway dropped a heart-breaking 4-2 sudden victory match against the No. 6 seed from Navy to start his day after he was the aggressor and was in on several takedown attempts throughout regulation. He would quickly put that loss behind him with a fall in just 1:08 before taking down ninth-seeded Maximus Hale of the host Quakers. Trailing 1-0 heading to the final period of that match, Conway took bottom and escaped before securing the winning takedown late in the period. Following a restart, the F&M sophomore left no doubt as a huge lift put the Penn wrestler on his back and secured the final near fall points of the 7-1 victory.

Leiphart and Conway will return to action on Sunday morning with the consolation quarterfinals beginning at 10:30 a.m. Leiphart will wrestle fifth-seeded Nick Babin of Columbia for a spot in the national tournament. Conway will need back-to-back victories as his Sunday begins with a rematch against Hofstra's Jacob Ferreira. The 184 lb. bracket will automatically take the top four finishers to the national championship.

Three other wrestlers saw their tournaments come within one match of a podium finish. John Crawford started his day with an 8-2 win to advance to the quarterfinals before a setback to the No. 2 seed. In his consolation match, Crawford had his opponent's leg in the air but was unable to collect a second leg in a 5-3 defeat.

Cenzo Pelusi was denied a second consecutive season on the podium with a pair of 2-1 defeats to the No. 5 and No. 7 seeds. Pelusi lost by riding time in the tiebreakers during his Round of 16 match before notching a 6-2 decision against Drexel. Riding time was unfortunately again the difference in his consolation match against fifth-seeded Ben Goldin of Penn. Pat Phillips was edged 2-1 in his opening match via a stalling point, but rebounded nicely with a 6-3 decision. However, he hit the No. 3 seed who was upset earlier in the tournament to finish his weekend in the round of 12.

Franklin & Marshall Individual Results

#7 Mason Leiphart (125 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #10 Carter Bailey (Lehigh); TF: 2:05 (18-0)
Consolation 2: Won vs. #15 Michael Manta (Sacred Heart); TF: 1:53 (18-0)
Consolation 3: Won vs. #9 Micah Roes (Binghamton); F: 3:45
Consolation Quarterfinals: vs. #5 Nick Babin (Columbia) (Sunday; 10:30 a.m.)

#9 Pat Phillips (133 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #8 Hunter Adrian (Brown); 2-1
Consolation 2: Won vs. #16 Anthony Sobotker (Binghamton); 6-3
Consolation 3: Lost vs. #3 Kurt Phipps (Bucknell); 5-2

#14 Aidan O'Shea (141 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #3 Josh Koderhandt (Navy); TF: 6:08 (18-3)
Consolation 2: Lost vs. #11 Raymond Lopez (American); F: 6:42

#12 Bryce Kresho (149 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #5 Dylan Chappell (Bucknell); F: 4:23
Consolation 2: Lost vs. #13 Michael Zarif (Binghamton); 10-6

#15 Nick Alvarez (157 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #2 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh); F: 1:13
Consolation 2: Lost vs. #10 Ty Whalen (Princeton); 12-3

#17 Noah Bash (165 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Matt Rogers (Hofstra); 14-13
Consolation 1: Lost vs. #15 Keegan Rothrock (Brown); 8-0

#12 Noah Fox (174 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #5 Lennox Wolak (Columbia); 22-9
Consolation 2: Lost vs. #13 Drew Clearie (Brown); 5-4

#11 James Conway (184 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. David Key (Navy); 4-2 (OT)
Consolation 2: Won vs. #14 Joseph LoPresti (LIU); F: 1:08
Consolation 3: Won vs. #9 Maximus Hale (Penn); 7-1
Consolation Quarterfinals: vs. #4 Jacob Ferreira (Hofstra) (Sunday; 10:30 a.m.)

#7 John Crawford (197 lbs.)
Round of 16: Won vs. #10 Nolan Springer (Bucknell); 8-2
Quarterfinals: Lost vs. #2 Jacob Cardenas (Cornell); 12-0
Consolation 3: Lost vs. #13 Daniel Lawrence (Army); 5-3

#10 Cenzo Pelusi (285 lbs.)
Round of 16: Lost vs. #7 Travis Stefanik (Princeton); 2-1 (TB-1)
Consolation 2: Won vs. #15 Santino Morina (Drexel); 6-2
Consolation 3: Lost vs. #5 Ben Goldin (Penn); 2-1