By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass.-- He had moved on from wrestling after successful high school and prep school careers plus stops at two Div. 1 colleges. PatrickWalsh, a former Massachusetts and New England champion at Stoughton High School, turned to mixed martial arts after being a national champion atWyoming Seminary Prep in Pennsylvania and one-year stints at Ohio State University and Binghamton University.

Walsh had seven MMA bouts and was getting used to the sport, but the attraction to wrestling never left. A student at Bridgewater State University since last spring, Walsh decided to give wrestling another shot, joining the Bears' team in January.

"It was one of those itches I couldn't get over,'' saidWalsh.

"It was something where I thought maybe I'd regret it if I didn't try it again. I didn't want any regrets, and the love of the competition brought me back.'' Walsh is happy that he made a return to wrestling this winter, going 15-1 and winning the New England Wrestling Association heavyweight championship.

The Bridgewater State junior will be competing at the NCAA Div. 3 tournament beginning on Friday in La Crosse, Wis., against Olivet College's Logan Renas, who is ranked seventh in the nation.

"This is something that is finally giving me that satisfaction that I wanted in wrestling,'' saidWalsh, who is an assistant coach at Stoughton High. "I was getting satisfaction from MMA, but I just love wrestling and I'm so involved with it.''

Following his successful wrestling career at Stoughton (148-24), Walsh went toWyoming Seminary Prep in 2007-08 and was an undefeated national champion, and that opened doors for him.

Walsh attended an Olympic qualifier tournament in New York in the spring of 2008 and opened eyes with his performance, earning a partial scholarship to Ohio State.

He went 6-8 for the Buckeyes, but was hampered by injuries and eventually moved on to Binghamton for the 2009-10 season, going 4-4.

"I tore up my knee pretty bad my freshman year and continued to practice the whole year,'' said Walsh. "It probably wasn't a good idea and I had 60 percent of the meniscus taken out.

"After I had knee surgery, the first competition, I wound up breaking a rib. That was kind of the reason for transferring. It was more like I pushed my body so hard trying to get better so much faster and trying to be so physical that it kind of messed me up. "I wanted to perform at a higher level than my body did.

I just tried to push through injuries, thinking I was invincible when I wasn't.'' Walsh wound up at BSU in the spring semester in 2011 and had no intentions of wrestling.

He was learning the ropes of MMA, but after having knee surgery late last year, decided he might be ready for another shot at wrestling.

In his first match with the Bears, Walsh lost to Tom Foote of Williams College, 3-2, on Jan. 22. That has been Walsh's only loss of the season as he takes a 15-match winning streak into the NCAAs.

At the New England meet, Walsh defeated Foote, who was ranked 10th in the country, twice to earn the regional championship.

"I think (knee surgery last year) really put my confidence back,'' saidWalsh. "I got more flexibility in my knee. It wasn't bending the way I wanted it to.

I wasn't moving as fast as I wanted to.

"Now I have confidence where I can sit back on my heels and explode now that I got my knee taken care of.''

Walsh has one year of eligibility remaining, but he is undecided about returning in 2012-13 since he should have enough credits to graduate by the end of this year.

He is hoping to go out on a high note with an impressive showing at the NCAAs this weekend.

"It's definitely realistic,'' said Walsh of winning the national crown. "I'm a very dangerous wrestler. There's going to be a lot of big bodies out there. I'm 5-101/ 2 with my shoes on, 240 pounds.

"There are kids 6-4, 285, I might have trouble with, but with my wrestling style, I'm real good on top, I've got some upper-body stuff. Even if I'm losing, I can put them on their backs.''