CLEVELAND, Ohio – All roads have been leading to Cleveland for James Conway this season as the No. 4 seed at 184 lbs. will make his return to the NCAA Division I Championships. Fans can catch the action live on the ESPN family of networks beginning Thursday, March 19 and continuing through the national championship matches on Saturday, March 21.

Schedule (Hosted at Rocket Arena) – All mat coverage available on ESPN+ (need ESPN select subscription)

Thursday, March 21

• Session 1 (12 p.m.; ESPN 2): Pigtails and first-round matches
• Session 2 (7 p.m.; ESPN): Round of 16 matches, consolation pigtails, first round consolation

Friday, March 20

• Session 3 (12 p.m.; ESPNU): Quarterfinals, second and third round consolations
• Session 4 (8 p.m.; ESPN 2): Semifinals; fourth (blood round) and fifth round consolations

Saturday, March 21

• Session 5 (11 a.m.; ESPNU): Consolation semifinals, third, fifth, and seventh place matches
• Session 6 (6:30 p.m.; ESPN): National championship matches

Conway's 2025-26 Season
After taking a redshirt during the 2024-25 season, Conway reestablished himself on the national scene early in the season when he won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and notched a pair of top 10 victories at that event. F&M was making its first-ever appearance at CKLV. He also started his season with an individual championship at the Southeast Open and second title at the Keystone Classic (only Diplomat to ever win that event). Conway continued to make history when he became Franklin & Marshall's first-ever champions at the David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open in early January.

In addition to his tournament success, Conway went 10-0 in dual meets, highlighted by becoming the third wrestler in program history to reach the 100 win mark for his career during the dual against Drexel. After finishing runner-up at the EIWA Championships, Conway enters the national championships with a 32-2 record this season. He has won 105 matches over his four years in the starting lineup, with an additional 22 victories coming during his redshirt campaign.

A look at the draw/national field
Entering the tournament as the No. 4 seed, Conway begins his march to a national title with No. 29 Nick Fox of Northern Iowa in the round of 32. Fox enters the tournament with a 12-5 record after placing ninth at the Big 12 Championships. In addition to his 32-2 overall record, Conway is 6-1 against NCAA qualifiers at the 184 lb. weight class with victories against No. 5 Brock Mantanona (Michigan), No. 13 Isaac Dean (Iowa State), No. 14 Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech), No. 19 Jared McGill (Edinboro), No. 21 Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State), and No. 24 Joe Curtis (Columbia), Conway also has a victory over North Carolina's Collin Carrigan who qualified for the national tournament at 174 lbs. His only defeat to a wrestler in the national field came to American's Caleb Campos during the EIWA finals.

Previous NCAA Tournament Experience
Conway was the program's 100th qualifier to the NCAA Championships during the team's 100th varsity season in 2023-24. With his second appearance on the national stage, F&M now has 102 qualifiers all-time as the three-year team captain is the 26th wrestler in program history to advance to the national tournament on multiple occasions. During his first appearance at the national tournament, Conway defeated returning All-American Chris Foca of Cornell on a last second takedown during his first match and finished the tournament with a 1-2 record. That tournament was also memorable for Conway as he became the first-ever Franklin & Marshall student-athlete to win the Elite 90 Award in any sport as he held the highest cumulative grade point average among all Division I wrestlers who qualified for the national championship back in 2024.

Franklin & Marshall National Championship History
Chris Black and John Stevenson both won national championships for the Diplomats during the 1971 and 1972 season during the brief period when F&M competed in the College Division where the winners advanced to the University National Championships. The Diplomats have had 16 All-Americans throughout the program's history, beginning with W. Roy Phillips taking second at the 1933 national tournament. The most recent All-American to make the podium was Rick Durso who placed eighth at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships.