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Sports

Senior Spotlight on Ray O'Donnell III

With 150 career wins, Ray O'Donnell is the winningest wrestler in Saucon Valley High School history. He will attend Princeton University in the fall.

Saucon Valley senior Ray O'Donnell began wrestling as a first-grader, after his best friend encouraged him to come out for the team. "I loved it from that moment on," he recalled.

In ninth grade, Ray won 18 of his first 21 matches, but finished with a record of 21-17. That second half "slump" (3-14), as well as not winning at the 2011 Fargo Free Style, were his greatest disappointments, he said.

As a sophomore Ray placed second at Districts, third at Eastern Regionals and fourth at PIAA.

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In his junior year, Ray placed first at Districts, received the PIAA District XI AA 2012 Outstanding Wrestler Award and the Pinner Award, as he scored all his wins with pins (and in just 2:35). He was third at the Eastern Regionals and third at PIAA. In July 2012, he traveled to the Greco-Roman Freestyle Tournament in Fargo, S.D., where he was 29-1 at 171 pounds and helped the Pennsylvania team to its first place finish in what was a national competition. 

This year Ray was second at the Beast of the East Championships, Bethlehem Holiday Champion, District XI Champion, Eastern Regional Champion and PIAA State Champion. Ray had a 44-3 record and was unbeaten through the postseason. After such a hectic year, it's not surprising that Ray would like to take "a short break from wrestling activities" over the next few weeks!

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Panther head wrestling coach Chad Shirk described Ray's impact on the Panther wrestling program as follows:

"Ray has been a great role model for the next generation of wrestlers coming up through the Saucon Valley Wrestling program. His success is (attributed) to his great work ethic and dedication to the sport. It has been a great honor to coach Ray over the years, and we look forward to his continued success at Princeton University."

Ray is especially thankful for his parents, who he said have been "so supportive" in shaping his life as a person and athlete. Rulon Gardner is someone Ray admires because he "took out" a previously unbeaten Russian, much like Sylvester Stallone did in the Rocky IV film.

As a ninth-grader Ray played baseball, and he played soccer through his junior year.

Ray is a member of Saucon's chapter of the National Honor Society, active in Model UN, was junior class vice president, and is the 2012 vice president of the Future Business Leaders of America. Ray will be wrestling as a member of the Princeton Tigers and has a goal of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. He also wants to win an NCAA title!

His favorite subject is math, and when he is not involved with wrestling-related activities he likes to be with friends. As someone who cares about his community, he is also a member of a roadside cleanup group. Ray will never turn down his favorite food—a cheesesteak!

Ray has two younger brothers, Connor and Brendan, and a younger sister, Bridget. Ray is the son of Betty and Ray O'Donnell Jr.

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