Penn Hills wrestler in midst of breakthrough senior season

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, January 14, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Cameron Patterson’s transformation as a wrestler came from a willingness to take the first step.

The 145-pound senior Penn Hills wrestler wanted to make sure he was going forward with confidence.

“I wasn’t a shooter when I first wrestled in high school,” Patterson said. “When I started to shoot, my confidence grew.”

Believing in his skill set has Patterson excelling as a senior. He leads the Indians with a 12-4 record with 10 of those wins coming via pin.

Standing at 6-foot-1, Patterson is lanky for his weight class. Patterson utilizes his length during matches to make him a difficult puzzle for opponents to solve.

“He was in our weight room or wrestling room all summer,” Penn Hills coach Jeremy Packer said. “He’s our quiet leader. He’s only not been in the semifinals in one tournament, but wrestled back for third in the tournament he didn’t make the semifinals.”

Patterson had an opportunity to grow within the program. Last season, Patterson split his time wrestling between 139 and 145 pounds. Patterson served as an understudy to Dom Frollo at 145.

“It helped me a lot because he showed me a lot of moves to use,” Patterson said. “He was making it more realistic for what I would see in a match.”

Patterson won the junior varsity tournament at the Bo Wood Tournament in Indiana last season. Once he got his weight right to wrestle varsity, Patterson competed at 139 pounds for the WPIAL Class 3A East section qualifier.

Patterson pinned Gateway’s Dallas Steel in the first round before losing his next two matches to finish the year 10-13.

Packer was proud of how Patterson was willing to work his way into the lineup. In Patterson’s most recent competition, he placed fourth at the Bo Wood Tournament at 139 pounds. Patterson reached the semifinals before losing 6-2 to Knoch’s Owen Layhew. Patterson lost to South Allegheny’s Benecio Hernandez in the third-place match.

“He’s been patient,” Packer said. “There are a lot of kids that if they can’t wrestle varsity right away, they’ll quit. It was a testament to his belief in himself. He loves the sport and works hard.”

Easing back into wrestling was a smart strategy for Patterson.

Patterson first dabbled with the sport in middle school, but he didn’t come out for wrestling in high school until his junior year.

Patterson wanted to focus on football and returned to wrestling after talking about the sport with a few football coaches. Now that Patterson has found success, he hopes to challenge for a spot in the WPIAL tournament.

The Indians didn’t have any qualifiers last season. Since Penn Hills doesn’t compete in the dual section of the schedule, the Indians aren’t sure where they will be placed come postseason time. But that won’t matter to Patterson.

He’s already seen improvement.

“It means a lot,” Patterson said. ‘I had a losing record (last year), and I was on a losing streak. It’s nice to see I’m progressing.”

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