KANSAS CITY – It was certainly a memorable NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament debut for James Conway as he used a last second takedown to upset 14th-seeded and returning All-American Chris Foca of Cornell by a 5-4 score during the opening session of the NCAA Championships. Conway will return to action Thursday night during the Round of 16 (7 p.m. EST / 6 p.m. local) where he will battle third-seeded Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State.
Conway scored all five of his points during the third period to complete the thrilling comeback inside Kansas City's T-Mobile Center. Despite the Diplomat controlling the ties during the opening period. It was Cornell that had a 3-0 lead and 1:29 of riding time after the first period. Conway got the riding time down to 48 seconds in the second period, but needed to make up a 4-0 deficit after a Foca escape as he took neutral to start the third period.
Wasting no time, Conway earned three stall calls against his opponent at the 1:48, 0:43, and 0:05 mark of the third period to make the score 4-2. Still needing to create his own score to win the match, Conway made that happen as time expired with a double right through the defense of Foca at the buzzer. Although he would have to wait for review, the call on the mat stood and Conway came away a 5-4 winner over last year's third-place finisher at 174 lbs.
Conway was one of two Diplomats making his NCAA Championship debut today. John Crawford drew Evan Bates of Northwestern in the pigtail round and was also facing a 4-0 deficit heading to the third period of his match. He would spend the entire second period and most of the third period on top after an early reversal in the third period. Despite has numerous turn attempts, Bates was called for stalling just once in the eventual 4-3 final. Crawford will return to action tonight needing two victories in the consolation rounds to advance to Friday's Session III. His night will start with a match against Buffalo's Sam Mitchell.
Tonight's second session of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will begin at 7 p.m. eastern (6 p.m. local). Action will move over to ESPN 2 for live coverage with ESPN+ continuing to provide mat-by-mat coverage of the national tournament.
Franklin & Marshall Results/Upcoming Matches
#19 James Conway (184 lbs.)
Round of 32: Won vs. #14 Chris Foca (Cornell); 5-4
Round of 16: vs. #3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) – Session II
#32 John Crawford (197 lbs.)
Pigtail: Lost vs. #33 Evan Bates (Northwestern); 4-3
Consolation Pigtail: vs. #30 Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) – Session II
