University of North Carolina Athletics
Patterson Medal Winners
Austin O'Connor
- Induction:
- 2023
- Class:
- 2023
2023 – Austin O’Connor: Wrestling (Lockport, Ill.)
A two-time NCAA champion. Won his first NCAA title in 2021 at 149 pounds and capped his 131-win career with a second title in 2023, this time at 157 pounds. He was the Tar Heels’ first NCAA wrestling champion since three-time winner T.J. Jaworsky (1993-94-95), the only other multiple-time national champion in Carolina wrestling history.
The ACC Wrestler of the Year in 2021 and 2023, becoming the seventh overall and second Tar Heel to win the award multiple times. He was Carolina’s 10th three-time conference champion, and went 31-3 against ACC competition, including ACC Championship matches.
Finished third nationally at 149 pounds as a freshman in 2018, earning the first of his five trips to the podium at the NCAA Championships. He earned his second All-America award in 2020, when he was the No. 2 seed at the national meet which was subsequently canceled due to the pandemic.
His 2021 NCAA title capped an undefeated 13-0 season. He placed eighth the following season after suffering a knee injury, then returned to the top of the platform as the No. 1 seed in the bracket in 2023, defeating No. 2 Levi Haines of Penn State, 6-2, in the championship bout.
A 2023 finalist for National Wrestler of the Year, O’Connor also earned two Scholar All-America awards from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
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A two-time NCAA champion. Won his first NCAA title in 2021 at 149 pounds and capped his 131-win career with a second title in 2023, this time at 157 pounds. He was the Tar Heels’ first NCAA wrestling champion since three-time winner T.J. Jaworsky (1993-94-95), the only other multiple-time national champion in Carolina wrestling history.
The ACC Wrestler of the Year in 2021 and 2023, becoming the seventh overall and second Tar Heel to win the award multiple times. He was Carolina’s 10th three-time conference champion, and went 31-3 against ACC competition, including ACC Championship matches.
Finished third nationally at 149 pounds as a freshman in 2018, earning the first of his five trips to the podium at the NCAA Championships. He earned his second All-America award in 2020, when he was the No. 2 seed at the national meet which was subsequently canceled due to the pandemic.
His 2021 NCAA title capped an undefeated 13-0 season. He placed eighth the following season after suffering a knee injury, then returned to the top of the platform as the No. 1 seed in the bracket in 2023, defeating No. 2 Levi Haines of Penn State, 6-2, in the championship bout.
A 2023 finalist for National Wrestler of the Year, O’Connor also earned two Scholar All-America awards from the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
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