By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
From the time he first stepped onto a wrestling mat at Ocean City High School, people were talking about
Pat Lynch being a Hall of Famer.
Last week it became official.
Lynch, the Gazette’s OCHS Wrestler of the Century, was inducted into the South Jersey Wrestling Hall of
Fame at Degenhardt’s Restaurant in Mount Ephraim. “It was very nice,” said the modest and soft-spoken
Lynch. “It was an honor to be placed in that company.”
Lynch, who is originally from Millville, got involved in wrestling when he was five years old. He followed a
neighborhood friend – Paul Simpkins – to a youth wrestling program. Simpkins also went on to become a
successful high school wrestler.
Lynch went on to become a legend. He was 133-4 at OCHS, winning two state titles and, at one point, 99
straight matches. You can see all his career stats in the chart at the bottom of this page.
“Patrick is a man of few words,” said Ocean City coach Bill Nickles, who attended the induction with Tony
and Janet Galante, George Reeves and Absegami coach Gene Barber, among others. Lynch is now a
faculty member and assistant wrestling coach at Absegami.
“We knew they gave each Hall of Famer eight minutes to talk,” said Nickles, “and we thought he’d be
happy with eight seconds. But he was great. He was actually funny at times.”
“That’s because I was talking about wrestling,” said Lynch, “and that has been my life.”
Lynch thanked his parents for their support. “They were amazing,” he said. “I think I wrestled in maybe
3,000 matches in my life and they got me to most of them.”
After high school, Lynch earned All-American status at Arizona State before an injury sidelined him. He
later transferred to Georgia State, where he finished his college career.
When you win 133 matches and set a bunch of state records, there are a lot of big moments. But there is
one that sticks out in his memory. “When I won the state championship in Princeton my sophomore year,”
he said, “I think half of Ocean City was in the stands. It was an amazing feeling to look up there and see
all that red. Somebody said later that they must have closed down the island.”
For a future Hall of Famer, it was the least they could do.
Pat Lynch Record at OCHS
Career 133-4
Senior 35-2
Junior 35-0
Sophomore 32-0
Freshman 31-2
at 152 18-2
at 160 13-0
at 171 64-0
at 189 38-2
vs CAL 66-0
in Districts 12-0
in Regions 11-1
in States 16-3
vs District Champs 23-4
Consecutive wins 99
Career pins 101
Consecutive pins 31
1st period pins 87
First-minute pins 48
Fastest pin 14 seconds
Takedowns 323
Match scores 1,024-273
