OMAHA, Neb. – J.P. O’Connor has always looked good in red. He wore the red and white singlet for Oxford on his way to four New York state wrestling titles, and now donning the crimson for Harvard University, he capped a remarkable four-year college career with an NCAA Division One title Saturday night in Omaha, Nebraska.
Already one of the all-time great wrestlers in Chenango County history, O’Connor cemented his position on the national stage as well winning Harvard’s third-ever national title. O’Connor, facing longtime nemesis Chase Pami of Cal Poly, won a 6-4 decision in the 157-pound finals.
O’Connor tied Harvard’s 2004 national champion, Jesse Jantzen for first place on Harvard’s all-time win list with 132, and his unblemished 35-0 season is the first in Harvard wrestling history.
“Going unbeaten is something I am definitely proud of,” O’Connor said on Sunday. “If I had lost a match earlier in the season and won a national title, I’d still be pretty happy. This is just icing on the cake.”
O’Connor was a two-time national all-American after his freshman and sophomore years, and his 37 wins in his inaugural season with the Crimson set a school record. Still, O’Connor was frequently bitten by the injury bug, and never had the perfect union of a healthy mind and body until his senior campaign.
“I know I did everything in my power this year and did everything right,” O’Connor said, who added that it is extremely tough for any division one wrestler to sustain his body through the duration of the season.
As a freshman, O’Connor had the naïveté of a rookie wrestler making his first appearance on the national stage, and was simply pleased to place among the top six. He had notions of winning the title every year thereafter, but ill-timed injuries, illness, and bad fortune conspired against him. “No excuses any of those other years,” O’Connor said. “This year I was fortunate to stay healthy and go into the tournament ready mentally and physically.”
O’Connor’s high school coach at Oxford, Scott Green, was at the national tournament this year as a member of the Binghamton University coaching staff. Green, who is also the founder of the Shamrock Wrestling Club, has seen three of his former pupils – including Kyle Dake of Lansing and Troy Nickerson of Chenango Forks – win NCAA D-One national titles over the past two years
“Winning a national title title is not an expectation in our wrestling room (at Shamrock), but it is something that they are capable of, and we try to indoctrinate those thoughts in our kids from an early age,” Green said. “This is a great cap to J.P.’s college career, and he’s been one of the top guys since he was in seventh grade.
“One thing I do have to stress, J.P.’s going to graduate in less than three months from Harvard University with a degree in Pre-Med. That, itself, makes this special.”
O’Connor’s road to the finals was as dominant as any of the 10 new national champions. He outscored his first four opponents by a combined 45-6, and had not given up a takedown.
Early in the first period, Pami, who beat O’Connor at last year’s tournament, scored a single-leg takedown. Twelve seconds later, O’Connor had the escape to pare the deficit in half. Pami was in deep for another takedown on the same leg later in the first, but O’Connor hopped around and fended off the takedown. Eventually, O’Connor forced a scramble and came away with the two-point takedown near the edge of the mat for a 3-2 lead after one period.
“When I was taken down, that was definitely a wake-up call,” O’Connor said. “He got in deep again, and I just tried to hop around and tire him out. I don’t remember what exactly happened, but I ended up on top as we were going out of bounds. I’m actually looking forward to watching the match (on video).”
O’Connor scored a reversal from the bottom in the second period, and built up substantial riding time over the course of the two-minute stanza. A plus-one-minute advantage in riding time over the duration of a college wrestling match ensures one additional point. O’Connor was aware of his riding time advantage, so although he gave up two escapes – one in the second and one early in the third period – he knew he was in control as long as he avoided a Pami takedown. Pami pushed the action, but never came close to another takedown as time expired.
“The competition level here is so high, and you can drop a match to almost anyone, ranked or not,” O’Connor said. “Pami may have been the sixth seed, but what it really comes down to is who has the best tournament. There is a lot that goes into it – who is mentally sharp and who is able to perform. Pami may have dropped a couple of close matches early in the season, but he is a great competitor, and I’m sure I’ll see him on the freestyle stage down the road.”
O’Connor says he plans to continue his wrestling career after graduation from Harvard, and will hold off medical school until 2012. O’Connor is hopeful of one day representing the United States in the world championships, and perhaps, the Olympics, so he will train the next two years with that goal in mind. O’Connor knows he will need to raise his level of wrestling another notch beyond the NCAA championships. He also knows he owes so much of his success to his humble, small-town roots. Those thoughts will stay with him, no matter how much he achieves.
“If I didn’t grow up in Oxford, I wouldn’t be in the position I am in today,” O’Connor said. “You reflect back on everything you’ve done your whole life, and how much you’ve busted your butt…you put so much work in and you believe that you deserve (to win a national title). I believed that this year, and I was the best wrestler in the country.”