No wrestling with this turn of events

With little hesitation, Pat Walsh says that things happen for a reason. A change of plans a few weeks ago led the 2007 Stoughton High graduate to a regional wrestling tournament, where he caught the eye of an Ohio State assistant coach. Before the month had ended, Walsh was signing a letter of intent to wrestle for the Buckeyes, a program that finished second in the country this past season.

The first weekend in April, Walsh was scheduled to take an official visit to the University of Oklahoma, but the coach there was forced to delay Walsh's trip.

Instead of relaxing, Walsh drove more than four hours from the Wyoming Seminary campus in Kingston, Pa., where he had wrestled for a year, to Brockport, N.Y., to compete in the Northeast Senior Regional Freestyle championships.

Walsh finished second overall in his weight class in the tournament, defeating respected wrestlers in his first meet against collegiate athletes. Spotted by the Ohio State assistant, Walsh would within weeks take an official visit to the campus. On Wednesday, he signed a letter of intent.

Walsh had a number of college choices after a successful post-grad season. Unbeaten (18-0) as a heavyweight, he was one of two Wyoming wrestlers to win a national title.

In the end, he was impressed most with the coaching background of second-year coach Tom Ryan, the former headman at Hofstra who guided Ohio State to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships this season, the best finish in the program's history.

The Buckeyes finished 19-4 overall during the regular season and also defeated then-No. 1 Penn State at the National Duals in January.

"He's just a great coach and he's already taken that program and made it great," Walsh said.

If Walsh didn't make the trip to New York, he's not sure he would have ever had the chance at Ohio State. His room is now decorated with Buckeyes posters and he owns a school sweatshirt. He didn't compete in the tournament for exposure, he said, but to test himself among the best. In the end, he walked away with renewed confidence.

"That tournament was an eye-opener for me," Walsh said. "Now my goals aren't just getting into a Division 1 program and doing well. Now my goal is to win a national title and see if I can qualify for the Olympics. It helped me re-evaluate myself as a wrestler."

Walsh said he expects to return to Stoughton this spring before reporting to Ohio State to begin training camp in June.

Wyoming Seminary coach Joe Gordon said Walsh was able to gain a college-like experience in his post-graduate year and thrived in the program.

"He' s just a workhorse," Gordon said. "He absorbed everything he could. He made adjustments and won over his teachers, coaches and everyone else here with his work habits."

The school not only provided top training opportunities for Walsh, but also helped him in the classroom, he said. "Academically," he said, "I feel so prepared for college next year."

The Holbrook/Avon Youth Soccer Board will hold its next meeting at 7 p.m. on May 18 at the Holbrook Town Hall. Anyone interested in participating in the program is encouraged to attend.

Registration for fall soccer is available at holbrookavonsoccer.com. Paper sign-ups will be from 9 to 11 a.m. this Saturday at the Holbrook Town Hall and from noon to 1 p.m. at Brookville soccer fields, weather permitting.

For more information contact Nancy Schaefer-Flynn at 617-653-3070.

Jared Kinch of Cohasset, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, earned Little East Conference Rookie of the Week honors after scoring nine points in three games for the men's lacrosse team from April 21-27.

Kinch won 57.1 percent of his faceoffs, collected seven goals and two assists, and added 15 ground balls in three games for the Beacons.His 32 points rank second on the Beacons. The BC High graduate had a team-high 16 assists in 14 games.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com