Patrick Wright

Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Grand Ledge, Mich.
High School:
Grand Ledge

2010-11: Split time between 174 pounds and wrestling up to 184 pounds during the season, posting a record of 18-11. With a 4-1 day, Wright finished in third place at the UCM Open in November, with his only loss coming to teammate Dorian Henderson. He then won three of his next four dual matches, picking up a 2-1 decision over Chris Chionuma of Lindenwood, a 5-3 win over Hofstra's Ben Clymer, and a 10-0 major decision against Phillip Barreiro of American. He finished third again at the UNI Open, defeating two Iowa State opponents and picking up his first fall of the season, pinning Iowa Central's Christian Mays in 1:56. At the 2010 Midlands, Wright took eighth place at 174 pounds, winning five times during the tournament. Wright opened with a 2-1 win and then pinned Bucknell's Steven McPeek in 2:14. After dropping to the consolation bracket, Wright won three straight matches without giving up a point, scoring two 4-0 decisions to go with a 10-0 major decision. He helped the Tigers to a dominating win over Northern Iowa to open the 2011 National Duals by beating Brice Wolf by a 4-3 decision.

2009-10: Wright was a fixture at 157 pounds last season for the Tigers, compiling 19 victories to go along with three top-three tournament finishes. At the University of Central Missouri Open, Wright won his first four matches, which included a 14-5 major decision and a 15-0 technical fall, on his way to a runner-up finish. Six days later, in Mizzou's dual against Purdue, Wright picked up his first dual win of the season, winning 4-0 over Boilermakers' Colton Salazar. Wright took his second runner-up tournament finish of the year at the Missouri Open, winning his first three matches before falling by a 2-0 decision in the finals. The next weekend, at the Nittany Lion Open, Wright placed third after going 4-1 on the day with one victory by fall and three by decision. He won all three of his matches at the National Duals, defeating Northwestern's Kevin Bialki, 9-4, Minnesota's Joseph Grygelko, 2-0 and Cornell's John Testy-Bastings, 3-2. Wright picked up another dual victory, this one against Nebraska's Tyler Koehn, winning 4-0.

2008-09: Recording 23 wins on the season, including four in dual competition, Wright collected five top-eight finishes at tournaments, earning top honors at the Northern Iowa Open and University of Central Missouri Roger Denker Open, Dec. 7 and Jan. 17, respectively. Wright first appeared in the Tiger lineup on Nov. 29 at the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. Wrestling up one weight class at 165 pounds, Wright pinned his opponent, Michael Salder of Harvard, in 6:28. Later in the day, Wright stuck his second dual opponent, Thomas Fazio of Brown, in 4:34. Three of Wright's four dual victories on the year were bonus point wins. Competing at the Missouri Open on Nov. 23, Wright battled with then-No. 15 Johnny Bonilla-Bowman of Hofstra and won his opening round bout, 12-8. Throughout the 2008-09 season, Wright managed four wins by fall, the fastest clocked at 1:40 in his opening round match with Colby Bitler of Newman at the Missouri Valley College Open on Feb. 6.

2007-08: Wrestling at 165 pounds, Wright finished with first place tournament finishes on two occasions. Wright took first at the Missouri Open in the freshmen division on Nov. 18, defeating Bryan Wells of Campsville by a 3-1 decision in the championship round. He also finished first at the Missouri Valley College Open on Feb. 2 after defeating Kyle Reid from McKendree College, 5-0. On his way to the Missouri Valley College Open title, Wright managed a perfect 4-0 record that included back-to-back wins by fall and a 17-5 win by major decision over Blake Reed of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Wright finished in third place three times during the season, first at the Lindenwood Open, next at the Dana Open and finally at the Roger Denker Open.

HIGH SCHOOL: A four-time state qualifier, Wright finished second at 171 pounds at the Michigan State Championships his senior season at Grand Ledge High School. In previous tournament appearances, Wright took third at 152 pounds as a sophomore (2005) and fifth at 160 pounds as a junior (2006). Coached by Tom Muir, Wright received All-America honors all three years that he placed at states and was crowned a USA Wrestling National Champion in 2007. Wright was a five-time letterwinner and a member of the Comets football team.

PERSONAL: Patrick was born April 10, 1989, to Woodrow and Linda Wright in Grand Ledge, Mich. He has two brothers, Joseph (23) and Thomas (26) and plans to major in business management.