Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/121281
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletic Communications embroidered Nike T-shirt, but even that was a struggle for the exhausted 197-pounder. ���My arms,��� he gasped as he raised his hands to the singlet���s shoulder straps. ���They���re so tired.��� There���s no gym membership capable of delivering the workout Wright had just completed. He capped his last col- legiate season with a second NCAA title in what was his third consecutive appearance in the final. And even more significant was his impact on the overall team race. Had he lost (and all subsequent results from the finals stayed the same), Penn State would have finished in a tie with Oklahoma State for the title. But because he won, the Nittany Lions finished with four more points (123.5-119.5) than the secondplace Cowboys. Wright���s victory was the decisive blow in a down-to-thewire team battle and a storybook ending to one of the most memorable wrestling careers in school history. Putting the team title on his back would normally have meant a lot of pressure for Wright, but by the time he walked to the center of the mat on March 23, he was accustomed to pressure. In the year leading up to the tournament, he had married his college sweetheart, Lauren, and learned that he was going to be a father ��� all while he was working toward earning a diploma in May and taking aim at another NCAA title. ���I just wanted to go out on top,��� Wright said. ���Having a baby was just one of those things where it���s a part of life. We got married Aug. 24, and that���s next along the way. ��� I just have had to work really hard to juggle everything, with going to school and being married. Plus, I had to win the national title with the team. It was hard to juggle.��� He certainly walked like someone who had been juggling a lot of weight following his appearance in the NCAA final against Dustin Kilgore. But that was due to the brute strength of the Kent State senior, who bears an eerie resemblance to Ivan Drago from ���Rocky IV.��� Although it appeared that Kilgore, whose nickname is ���Killer,��� had a physical strength advantage in the final, Wright was able to take advantage of his superior technique. Using a series of underhooks, arm ties, double legs and cross-body knee picks, he tallied three takedowns and defeated the topseeded Kilgore, 8-6. ���After re-watching it, there were a few opportunities where I could have scored more, but I wasn���t quite in position,��� Wright said a few days after the Lions��� victory. ���But really, a win is a win. At that point, I���m very pleased that I���m coming out with a win. I thought I wrestled real smart and real well.��� While Kilgore wasn���t sporting a 1000 record like the fictional Drago, he had won 66 matches in a row, a streak