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August 29, 2008
9:52:07 AM
Entry #: 2887647
| Mount St. Joseph grappler achieves national ranking
He looks for new goals after giving up lacrosse
By Tom Worgo
tworgo@patuxent.com
Posted 8/27/08
Wrestling
Patrick Downey's most recent vacation came at the perfect time.
After eight months of wrestling almost every day, the Mount St. Joseph sophomore was exhausted from lengthy practices and high-profile tournaments.
"I was just beat up mentally and physically," Downey said.
Looking back after five days in Ocean City, he finally can take satisfaction in a tremendous off-season of wrestling, which is sure to propel him through his second year in the powerhouse St. Joe program.
By any measure, it has been an intense summer for Downey. He wrestled in 13 tournaments and worked out with eight different mat clubs throughout the metropolitan area.
The former lacrosse player he spent eight years in the Perry Hall Rec program and with the Maryland Lacrosse Club gave up the sport to focus solely on wrestling.
"This is rare," Mount St. Joseph wrestling coach Kirk Salvo said of Downey's intense schedule. "I don't know of anyone that has put in the mat time that Patrick did this year. You just don't see too many guys that compete more in the off-season than he did. He is showing how badly he wants to win."
Downey's success in spring and summer tournaments paid off with a 55-17 record and earned him a national ranking at 145 pounds.
"It's a big deal, and it was a goal of mine," said Downey, who has been wrestling for 10 years, with the longest stint coming in the Golden Ring Rec program.
Downey, who was third in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association wrestling tournament as a freshman, capped his hectic summer schedule with a trip to Fargo, N.D., for the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals as one of 45 members of Team Maryland.
He went 2-2 in both the Freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions.
He might have achieved All-American status (a top-eight finish) if he hadn't suffered a concussion a few days before the trip at a practice session at McDonogh.
"There were three or four guys at Fargo who placed who I beat (in previous tournaments)," Downey said. "I feel like if I didn't have a concussion, I would have done better. My coordination, balance and focus were off."
He won four other tournaments, including the USA Cadet Northeast Regionals in Binghamton, N.Y., and placed second in four others, most notably the Eastern Nationals in Salisbury.
Salvo believes all the tournament experience has paid big dividends for Downey, who went 43-18 as a freshman, while finishing sixth at the National Preps tourney last spring for the Gaels.
"It gives him a lot of confidence," the coach said. "He can compete at the national level and beat the best guys in the country."
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