PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sean Conway led the University of Chicago wrestling team at the NCAA National Championships as he finished as a runner-up and wrestled for a national title on Saturday night. Conway earned All-American honors after becoming the first Maroon to reach the National Championship match since 1992.

Conway shocked the country on Friday morning to reach the Quarterfinals in the 141 pound weight class. In the opening bout, Conway picked up four takedowns and a near fall throughout the course of the match as he cruised to an 18-4 win over Noah Hunt from Penn College. This win set up a bout with the #1 wrestler in the country according to the NWCA and the #2 overall seed in the tournament, Jacob Reed from Ohio Northern. In the next bout, Conway and Reed went back and forth with neither competitor giving an inch. After Reed picked up a point on an escape in the second period, Conway leveled the match in the third period with an escape of his own to send the match to a sudden-death overtime period. In overtime, with just five seconds remaining on the timer, Conway made his move and got the three-point takedown to win the bout and complete the upset victory. The final takedown can be seen HERE.

In his quarterfinal bout, Conway returned to the mat to take on a friendly foe, Dylan Phelps from Olivet College. Conway defeated Phelps 6-5 earlier this season in a match in Hyde Park, but this was set to be another nailbiter in Providence. After a scoreless opening period, Phelps got on the board first with an escape in the second period. However, Conway would level the match just 14 seconds into the final period and we would go to a sudden-death overtime for the second consecutive match. Conway didn't take long to take control in the overtime period as he would complete his takedown 45 seconds into the overtime period to advance to the semifinals with a 4-1 victory. The final takedown of this win can be seen HERE. 

On Saturday, Conway continued his historic run by taking down the #3 wrestler in the country, Pierre Baldwin from Central College. Conway took a 4-0 lead in the match when he scored an escape and then added a takedown with 37 seconds to go in the second period. Baldwin was able to add a pair of escapes of his own in the third period to make the score 4-2, but not before Conway had accrued 1:14 of riding time. With just 25 seconds remaining in the final period, Baldwin scored a takedown to take a 5-4 lead.  After going out of bounds, Conway had :14 seconds to score the tying escape or he risked losing the match.  Incredibly, he escaped in only 2 seconds to tie the match and preserve his riding time advantage of 1:02, and held on for the 6-5 victory. The incredible escape can be seen HERE. The magical run for Conway came to an end in the final match as he fell 9-3 in the championship after becoming the first University of Chicago wrestler to reach the finals since 1992.

Darian Estevez earned a bye in his opening round, setting up a matchup with the #8 overall seed, Clayton McDonough from Luther College. McDonough earned a takedown in the opening period, and he would complete the pin with just four seconds remaining in the opening period to advance and send Estevez to the consolation round. In the consolation round, Estevez dominated with a 8-1 victory over Casey Smith from Washington & Jefferson College. Estevez picked up a pair of takedowns in the first and second period to put the match out of reach, and he would hold on for the win to advance further in the consolation bracket. With the win, Estevez advances to wrestle the #6 overall seed, Ryan Smith from Stevens, with an All-American spot on the line.

Gunnar Garriques dropped his opening round matchup to Pilo Perez of the University of Dubuque in a second round pin. Garriques earned a takedown in the opening period and led 3-1 entering the second, but Perez was able to get the pin and send Garriques to the consolation round. In the consolation round, Garriques dropped his second match of the day to be eliminated from the tournament and bring his excellent season to an end.

The Maroons finish the championship in 24th place with 18 total points for their team as they wrap up the 2024-25 wrestling season.