O’Connor Impresses From the Very Start

From the first few weeks of the season, coaches and teammates knew freshman wrestler J.P. O’Connor had endless potential.

After placing fifth at NCAAs to complete his rookie campaign with a 37-8 record, these high hopes for the Crimson 149-pounder were confirmed.

His placement at the NCAAs earned O’Connor All-American status. He not only finished highest among the four Crimson wrestlers at the tournament, but, in addition, his finish was the highest for any freshman in Harvard wrestling history.

O’Connor’s long list of achievements, however, extends beyond his All-American status. Earning second-team All-Ivy and Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year, the freshman has a lot to show for himself.

O’Connor was also recently named EIWA Freshman of the Year. After Max Odom in 2000 and current tri-captain Bode Ogunwole in 2004, O’Connor is the third Harvard wrestler to win the award.

Fellow Crimson wrestlers are impressed, but not surprised, by O’Connor’s successful season. His high school awards alone propel him high above rookie status.

“Coming into this year, I knew [O’Connor] was going to do great things,” senior tri-captain Max Meltzer said.

“But as we have gone through the year, I guess I knew something special was going to happen. The sky was the limit.”

At Oxford Academy in New York, O’Connor garnered four New York state championship titles and was a five-time sectional champion.

O’Connor was also named first team All-America and a member of the Amateur Wrestling News Dream Team. Ranked number one in his weight-class for Nation’s Best 2006 High School Wrestlers, O’Connor finished his high school campaign with a 238-12 record.

To add on to his impressive wrestling resume, the New Yorker was awarded the Dave Schultz High School Excellence award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum in 2006.

The award was given for achievements in wrestling as well as scholastics, character, citizenship and community service.

Coming off an impeccable high school record, O’Connor’s domination has not skipped a beat, as he continues winning matches and earning awards in a Crimson uniform.

“The first day in the wrestling room, everyone already had respect for him based on his high school accomplishments,” senior tri-captain Robbie Preston recalls.

“I’ve never seen a wrestler transition so well from high school to college.”

To his team, O’Connor is not only defined by his awards. As a freshman, to be voted Most Valuable Wrestler for the 2006-2007 seasons, he had to show much more.

This honor only begins to demonstrate the amount of respect his teammates have for O’Connor’s accomplishments as well as his character.

“The big thing about [O’Connor] is his character, how he handles himself and how he respects his teammates,” coach Jay Weiss said.

“To be a frosh and voted most valuable, that’s impressive. When you get that respect from your peers at early age, it shows a lot.”

Agreeing with the coach, the captains emphasized O’Connor’s attitude and never failed to not run out of compliments for the first-year star.

“He’s such a nice kid. I couldn’t say a bad thing about him if I tried. Everyone on the team respects him far beyond his wrestling ability, and everyone is so happy for him when he does well,” Meltzer said.

“He carries himself in such a positive way. Everything he does in life he puts his heart and soul into and I really respect him for that. I feel privileged to be around him for a year”

“He’s a stud,” Preston added.

Aiming for the national title, O’Connor has set high yet reasonable expectations for next season. For him, the bar has been raised—for current wrestlers and incoming freshman.

“I really think that the rest of the guys on the team are going to look around and say ‘hey I can do that too’,” Weiss said. “Being a freshman isn’t an excuse anymore.”

The character and ability of O’Connor makes him a team favorite and inspiration, and, with luck, he will be around, winning national titles, for three more years.

“He definitely is a coach’s dream and I’m not surprised at all by his success,” Weiss said.