LAS VEGAS, Nev. – James Conway continued to make noise on the national stage as he went 3-0 Friday to make his way into the semifinals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (CKLV). Competing in the premier first semester tournament across all of Division I wrestling, Conway had two falls before coming from behind to defeat the No. 15-ranked wrestler in the country at 184 lbs.
Conway, who is ranked as high as No. 11 in the country, entered CKLV as the No. 3 seed at his weight class. Despite creating most of the action during the first period, Conway faced a 6-2 deficit after the first period against nationally-ranked Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia. Already owning two career victories over his Ivy League foe, Conway had to come from behind in this match and would do just that with takedowns in the second, third, and overtime to secure the 12-9 victory as he allowed only escapes during the final four-plus minutes of action.
The senior started his day with a pair of second period falls against Cal Baptist and Sacred Heart. During the round of 32, Conway planted Cal Baptist's David Alonso to the mat in 4:53. He followed that up with a pin in 4:28 against Sacred Heart's Hunter Perez in a clash of EIWA foes. After his quarterfinal win during Friday night's session, Conway will wrestle second-seeded Isaac Dean of Iowa State in the semifinals to start session III. Saturday's action gets underway at 1 p.m. (10 a.m. local time). Conway has wrestled Dean twice in his career when Dean was a member of Rider's team. The Diplomat owns a pair of victories against Dean with a 7-3 decision back in his first-year campaign, and a 4-1 sudden victory in open tournament action when he was redshirting a season ago.
Mason Leiphart – ranked No. 31 at 133 lbs. in this week's InterMat release – nearly joined Conway in the medal rounds as he went 2-2 during F&M's first-ever trip to CKLV as a team. Leiphart entered the tournament as the No. 11 seed and fell to the No. 6 seed from Cornell during his opening match. Leiphart rebounded with a 7-4 victory against Columbia's Evin Gursoy on the strength of six second period back points. He then controlled the action from neutral with two takedowns against Michigan's Gauge Botero in a 7-1 decision before getting caught on his back early in his round of 12 match against West Virginia's Gunner Andrick.
James Garcia (125 lbs.) had the biggest individual victory of his career when he defeated 16th-ranked Tyler Klinsky on Rider. Garcia went feet-to-back for seven points right out of the gates and used that big move to defeat the Rider Bronc by a 15-13 score in consolation action. Losses to Princeton and Columbia in his first and third matches eliminated him from the tournament. Josh Palmucci (165 lbs.) and Dominic Wheatley (174 lbs.) both posted shutout wins before being knocked out of the tournament. Wheatley advanced to session II with a first period takedown for the only points in his 3-0 victory against Harvard's Ben Smith. Palmucci used first and third period takedowns to pace his 8-0 win against Stanford's Zach Hansen.
Franklin & Marshall Results
James Garcia (125 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. #7 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton); 5-1
Consolation of 16 #1: Bye
Consolation of 16 #2: Won vs. #8 Tyler Klinsky (Rider); 15-13
Consolation of 8 #1: Lost vs. Sulayman Bah (Columbia); 7-1
#11 Mason Leiphart (133 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. #6 Tyler Ferrara (Cornell); 11-1
Consolation of 16 #2: Won vs. Evin Gursoy (Columbia); 7-4
Consolation of 8 #1: Won vs. Gauge Botero (Michigan); 7-1
Consolation of 8 #2: Lost vs. Gunner Andrick (West Virginia); F: 1:19
Pat Phillips (149 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. #6 Aden Valencia (Stanford); 16-3
Consolation of 16 #1: Bye
Consolation of 16 #2: Lost vs. 12 Sam Cartella (Northwestern); DEF: 1:03
Nick Alvarez (157 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. #8 Chance McLane (Arizona State); TF: 5:15 (19-3)
Consolation of 16 #1: Bye
Consolation of 16 #2: Lost vs. #10 Grayden Morton (Cal Baptist); 9-2
Josh Palmucci (165 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Sloan Swan (Wyoming); 12-0
Consolation of 16 #1: Won vs. Zach Hansen (Stanford); 8-0
Consolation of 16 #2: Lost vs. Ryan Burgos (Edinboro); 4-1
Dominic Wheatley (174 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. #6 Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State); TF: 6:54 (19-4)
Consolation of 16 #1: Bye
Consolation of 16 #2: Won vs. Ben Smith (Harvard); 3-0
Consolation of 8 #1: Lost vs. Leo Tukhlynovych (Arizona State); F: 6:24
#3 James Conway (184 lbs.)
Round of 32: Won vs. David Alonso (Cal Baptist); F: 4:53
Round of 16: Won vs. Hunter Perez (Sacred Heart); F: 4:28
Quarterfinals: Won vs. #6 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia); 12-9 (SV)
Semifinals: vs. #2 Isaac Dean (Iowa State)
RJ Moore (197 lbs.)
Round of 32: Lost vs. Rune Lawrence (West Virginia); 15-1
Consolation of 16 #1: Lost vs. Cole Jackson (Cal Poly); 20-12
Brody Kline (285 lbs.)
Round of 32: Bye
Round of 16: Lost vs. #1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State); F: 1:37
Consolation of 16 #2: Lost vs Rylan Kuhn (Air Force); F: 0:54
