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Discussion Topic: Article on Buckeye recruit Pat Walsh
Dan Cosimi added to this discussion on May 10, 2008
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No wrestling with this turn of events
Monique Walker - The Boston Globe
May 4, 2008
With little hesitation, Pat Walsh says that things happen for a reason. A change of plans a few weeks ago led the 2007 Stoughton High graduate to a regional wrestling tournament, where he caught the eye of an Ohio State assistant coach. Before the month had ended, Walsh was signing a letter of intent to wrestle for the Buckeyes, a program that finished second in the country this past season.
The first weekend in April, Walsh was scheduled to take an official visit to the University of Oklahoma, but the coach there was forced to delay Walsh's trip.
Instead of relaxing, Walsh drove more than four hours from the Wyoming Seminary campus in Kingston, Pa., where he had wrestled for a year, to Brockport, N.Y., to compete in the Northeast Senior Regional Freestyle championships.
Walsh finished second overall in his weight class in the tournament, defeating respected wrestlers in his first meet against collegiate athletes. Spotted by the Ohio State assistant, Walsh would within weeks take an official visit to the campus. On Wednesday, he signed a letter of intent.
Walsh had a number of college choices after a successful post-grad season. Unbeaten (18-0) as a heavyweight, he was one of two Wyoming wrestlers to win a national title.
In the end, he was impressed most with the coaching background of second-year coach Tom Ryan, the former headman at Hofstra who guided Ohio State to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships this season, the best finish in the program's history.
The Buckeyes finished 19-4 overall during the regular season and also defeated then-No. 1 Penn State at the National Duals in January.
"He's just a great coach and he's already taken that program and made it great," Walsh said.
If Walsh didn't make the trip to New York, he's not sure he would have ever had the chance at Ohio State. His room is now decorated with Buckeyes posters and he owns a school sweatshirt. He didn't compete in the tournament for exposure, he said, but to test himself among the best. In the end, he walked away with renewed confidence.
"That tournament was an eye-opener for me," Walsh said. "Now my goals aren't just getting into a Division 1 program and doing well. Now my goal is to win a national title and see if I can qualify for the Olympics. It helped me re-evaluate myself as a wrestler."
Walsh said he expects to return to Stoughton this spring before reporting to Ohio State to begin training camp in June.
Wyoming Seminary coach Joe Gordon said Walsh was able to gain a college-like experience in his post-graduate year and thrived in the program.
"He' s just a workhorse," Gordon said. "He absorbed everything he could. He made adjustments and won over his teachers, coaches and everyone else here with his work habits."
The school not only provided top training opportunities for Walsh, but also helped him in the classroom, he said. "Academically," he said, "I feel so prepared for college next year."
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