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New Oxford to Penn State: Conaway's journey


The phones in the Conaway house kept ringing the day after Liberty University announced it was dropping its varsity wrestling program in March 2011.

One college coach after another called to reach Jordan Conaway, then a New Oxford senior not more than a month removed from winning the first state wrestling title in school history.

As Conaway spoke on the phone with Nebraska wrestling coach Mark Manning, another phone rang in the other room. His dad and high school coach, Dave, answered.

"Hello?" Dave said.

"Is this Jordan Conaway?" a deep, commanding voice asked on the other end.

"No, this is his dad," Dave responded.

"This is Cael Sanderson," said the Penn State coach, whose name resonates with wrestlers the way the name Michael Jordan resonates with basketball players. Before leading the Nittany Lions to four national titles and counting as a coach, Sanderson went 159-0 during his college career and won four national championships at Iowa State from 1998-2002.

Dave took the phone and sprinted into the other room to get Jordan's attention.

“I’m thinking, 'This is the No. 1 guy in the country, you need to get off the phone,'” Dave Conaway remembers with a chuckle.

It didn't take long for Jordan to commit to Penn State. Now, almost exactly five years later, he's set to wrestle his final meet for the Nittany Lions.

Conaway is seeded No. 5 at 133 pounds entering the NCAA tournament, which runs March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He's 26-5 on the season, giving him 87 career wins as a Nittany Lion.

UPDATE: Conaway won his first two matches Thursday to reach Friday's quarterfinals.

Last year, Conaway earned a spot on the podium at the NCAA championships for the first time, taking eighth place in the 125-pound weight class. Words congratulating him on his All-America status beamed from a sign outside New Oxford High School.

“In high school, I had a goal to be a state champ, and being able to fulfill that goal meant a lot because of all the hard work I put in," Conaway said. "I want to be a national champion, but obviously last year that didn’t happen. I’m still hungry for more.”

Conaway remains the winningest wrestler in New Oxford history with 146 career wins, and his state title banner is still the only one hanging for that accomplishment in the Colonials' gym.

His college career included a lot of uncertainty, but plenty of success along the way.

The uncertainty started when Liberty cut its NCAA Division I wrestling program to comply with federal gender equity laws. The first time he was recruited, Conaway was overlooked by the most prestigious wrestling programs in the nation. But coaches at those schools took notice when Conaway followed up his PIAA title by beating Team USA's Evan Silver at the 2011 Dapper Dan Classic.

He signed on with Penn State as a walk-on less than a month after Liberty dropped wrestling as a varsity sport.

“We’re very fortunate," Dave Conaway said. "Everything fell in place. I didn’t put limitations on him, but I didn’t expect this, either. This has been an absolutely wonderful journey. He’s got great coaches and people that care about all the kids, not just their athletic ability but also their grades and their character.”

Once he arrived in State College, the wrestler who won his high school state title at 112 pounds never quite found his natural weight class in the Nittany Lions lineup.

After a redshirt season in 2011-12, Conaway made his Penn State debut by beating Lehigh's Laike Gardner — a Biglerville graduate — during a dual meet at 133 pounds. He started at 133 for the rest of the 2012-13 season but lost his starting spot in 2013-14 to four-time PIAA state champion Jimmy Gulibon, who is now the team's starting 141-pounder.

Last year, Conaway earned the starting spot at 125 pounds as three-time NCAA medalist Nico Megaludis spent a redshirt season. This year, Conaway is back at 133 pounds.

“I think it's the best weight class for me," he said. "I’m a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger than what I used to be, so I think that’s making a difference too.”

Along with Megaludis and defending 197-pound national champion Morgan McIntosh, Conaway helps make up one of the most successful senior classes in Penn State history. The Nittany Lions have won three national championships since the trio joined as true freshmen in 2011 and appear poised to win a fourth after going undefeated in dual meets and winning the Big Ten Tournament title.

“They’re great individuals," Sanderson said of the seniors after Penn State beat Oklahoma State in the Nittany Lions' final home meet in February. "Very good wrestlers, but more than that, they’re good students and just good people. We’re certainly gonna miss them. They really set a great example to the incoming kids of how to train, lifestyle, all those different things that play such an important role in a college career.”

As his college career nears a close, Conaway reflects on all the support he feels from home. His family attended almost every home dual meet, as well as many road matches, during his career. Several of his former teachers and coaches have made trips to support him, as well.

“After a dual meet, after I come out of the locker room, some of the people there are from New Oxford or from the area and they’ll stop me and talk to me," Conaway said. "I really appreciate the support from back home because that means they’re continuing to follow me and see how I’m doing. It definitely means a lot when they come up to watch me wrestle and watch our team wrestle.”

His family will join him in New York City this weekend, cheering him as far as they can up the medal stand for his final meet.

"If he wrestles the way he can wrestle, he'll place in the top eight," Dave Conaway said. "There's not much separating the top eight. You can't count him out."

NCAA wrestling tournament

When: March 17-19. Saturday's championships 8 to 11 p.m. 

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City

To watch: Watch the championship matches at 8 p.m. Saturday on ESPN.