Former Kiski Area wrestler leads Penn in pins as a freshman

Former Kiski Area wrestler Cam Connor always has had high expectations for himself.

When he was a Cavalier, it helped him produce a 162-32 career record, two individual WPIAL championships, a 49-3 record as a senior and a state runner-up finish at 152 pounds. He finished his high school career as one of the top wrestlers in Western Pennsylvania.

So, when Connor stepped onto campus this past season at Penn for his first year of collegiate wrestling, he was ready to prove he belonged.

Connor did just that by winning the freshman/sophomore division at the Michigan Open, placing sixth at the Keystone Classic, going 14-12 and leading the team with four pins.

“I honestly thought once I got injured that someone would pass me up. It’s not like I had a crazy number of pins, but four pins is a good amount for a freshman,” Connor said. “I’d also like to add onto that a little bit more next time I compete. But it was definitely kind of cool to lead the team in pins. It wasn’t really something I was expecting.”

Around January, Connor suffered a torn labrum, but rather than end his season, the former WPIAL champ wrestled through the pain. He started in eight dual matches and went 4-4. As the season carried on, he said he wasn’t performing to the standards that he had hoped, and the pain was becoming too much for him to compete.

On March 6, Connor had surgery to repair his injury, which ended his season. Now, three months out from surgery, Connor still is going through rehab and just returned to running. He’s hoping to start lifting upper-body weights in July so he can improve his strength for his sophomore year, which was something he felt he lacked this past year.

“I definitely want to improve my strength and get in the weight room once I’m cleared for that,” Connor said. “I want to put on a lot of strength because that was the biggest thing for me this past year. That was the biggest difference from high school.”

Before injuring his shoulder, Connor got his freshman season started on the right foot. In his collegiate debut at the Michigan State Open, Connor went 4-0 with one pin and one major decision at 157 pounds. He also got to do it in front of his family.

“To wrestle in front of them was pretty cool,” Connor said. “It was all a new experience, but I really enjoyed it.”

Connor opened the tournament with a pin over Findlay’s Deshea Pettiford in 2 minutes, 11 seconds. In the quarterfinals, he earned his major decision over Buffalo’s Hunter Shaut, 11-3. His semifinal match was a little closer as he squeaked out a win over Edinboro’s Tyler Griffith’s, 5-4.

In the championship match, Connor earned a 12-6 win over Ohio’s Shawn Mondello. He said the tournament was a good sign for what was to come during his freshman season.

“That gave me the confidence that I could compete with those other guys and that I was able to wrestle at the collegiate level,” Connor said.

Although he had success in the early parts of his freshman season, Connor didn’t start in Penn’s dual matches right away. Sophomore Anthony Artalona, who made it to the Round of 12 at NCAAs last year as a freshman, was at the same weight and earned the start in Penn’s first two dual matches.

The two Quakers faced off in the consolation semifinals at the Keystone Classic, and Connor took Artalona to double overtime but lost 5-3. Soon after their match, Artalona suffered an injury that kept him out for the second part of the season. Connor filled his spot until he suffered his own injury.

Despite how his season ended, Connor thought he was able to adjust to the collegiate level in a good way.

“Everyone is a lot tougher (in college),” Connor said. “But as the year went on, I felt like I started to get used to it more. I think I was able to develop my wrestling skills, and I learned a lot more.”