J.P. O'Connor, Harvard, Class of 2010

A native of Oxford, N.Y., O'Connor was a highly touted recruit out of high school. He won four New York state championships and was a five-time sectional champion. He completed his high school career with a 238-12 record, was named first team All-America, was a member of the Amateur Wrestling News Dream Team and was a recipient of the 2006 Dave Schultz Athletic Excellence Award. In addition, O'Connor was an 8x Freestyle and Greco-Roman Cadet and Junior All-American at Fargo.

During his athletic career at Harvard, O'Connor was a 4x EIWA finalist. As a freshman, O'Connor became Harvard's first ever freshman All-American and is only the second Harvard wrestler to become a three-time NCAA All-American. He placed 5th at 149 pounds as a freshman and sixth as a junior at the NCAAs. As a senior, O'Connor won his first EIWA title, defeating Navy's Bryce Saddoris in the finals, 3-1. At the 2010 NCAA championships in Omaha, O'Connor was the top-seed at 157 pounds. He won his first four matches by the combined scores of 45-6. In the finals, he topped Chase Pami of Cal Poly 6-4 to become Harvard's third NCAA wrestling champion in program history. During his four years of collegiate competition, O'Connor was named EIWA Freshman of the Year in 2007, Ivy League Wrestler of the Year in 2008 and 2010, and EIWA Wrestler of the Year in 2010.  

His career record at Harvard was 132-16 which ranked him first in career victories for his alma mater. O'Connor was a two-time team captain, a three-time NWCA All-Academic and Academic All-Ivy honoree, and earned the 2010 William J. Bingham award as Harvard's outstanding male athlete. 

After graduating from Harvard with his degree in Human Evolutionary Biology studies, O'Connor stayed involved with the sport as a Harvard assistant wrestling coach from October 2011 to April 2015. In Freestyle competition in 2011 he was a US Open All-American and a World Team Trials Qualifier at 74 KG, O'Connor currently works in London, England in Real Estate Development and Asset Management. He is married to Carly Dickson.