Penn State junior Quentin Wright is ranked No. 1 after winning the 2011 NCAA title at 184 pounds. Tony Rotundo photo.

There were times last season when Penn State’s Quentin Wright looked like anything but the guy who would stand atop the podium as the NCAA wrestling champion at 184 pounds.

Sidelined for six weeks during the season with a shoulder injury, Wright struggled when he finally did step on the mat.

The 2008 Junior World bronze medalist and 2009 NCAA All-American started piling up losses. And it wasn’t pretty.

He lost 8-3 to Iowa’s Grant Gambrall and fell 10-1 to Minnesota’s Kevin Steinhaus. He was locked in a close match with Wisconsin’s Travis Rutt before being turned to his back and pinned.

“It was a struggle there for a while,” said Wright, who won a pair of Pennsylvania state high school titles. “All those losses, I tried to learn from them. There were a lot of little things I was doing wrong. Even if there are 30 seconds left in a match, you can’t relax. Don’t try to beat somebody in their best position. Don’t take bad shots. And sometimes you have to win ugly.”

Wright entered the 2011 Big Ten Championships in Evanston, Ill., as the No. 8 seed at 184. But even with his struggles during Big Ten dual meets, Wright still liked his chances.

“I focused on what I could do and I went into the tournament with a positive attitude,” he said. “I wasn’t 100 percent, but my shoulder was feeling better. I felt real confident.”

That was clearly evident when Wright knocked off the top-seeded Rutt and the second-seeded Steinhaus en route to winning the Big Ten title. Wright was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler as he led the Nittany Lions to a close win over Iowa for the team title.

Wright carried that momentum into the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia, winning the title at 184 despite being the No. 9 seed. He led Penn State to its first national team title in wrestling since 1953.

“When I first heard the NCAAs were going to be in Philadelphia, I envisioned winning it in front of our fans and my family,” said Wright, who is from Wingate, Pa. “It was such a great opportunity to wrestle in Pennsylvania. Winning it in our home state, it was amazing. Our fans have been really great. They are so supportive. They give us an extra drive to perform and do what we do best.”

Wright delivered the signature win in his team’s march to the NCAA title, locking up a cradle to earn a dramatic semifinal pin over Gambrall. The pin set off a huge roar from the large group of Penn State fans and also generated plenty of excitement in the Nittany Lion corner.

An exuberant Penn State coach Cael Sanderson was down on the mat, simulating an official slapping the mat as Wright finished off the pivotal semifinal victory.

“That was awesome, to see Cael and (Penn State assistant coach) Casey Cunningham get so excited in the corner,” Wright said. “Cael and Casey are usually pretty calm. They got pretty fired up. It was a huge win for the team race and it was big for me because Gambrall dominated me in the dual.”

The top-ranked Wright started this season by winning his first match by fall in his team’s season-opening victory over Bloomsburg. He is scheduled to face the sixth-ranked Steinhaus when No. 1 Penn State wrestles No. 3 Minnesota on Sunday at home.

Wright begins his junior season ranked No. 1 at 184, but as Sanderson is quick to point out, this is a new season.

“I think Quentin is in the same boat that our team is in,” Sanderson said. “Last year is last year, and as proud as we are of that, it is in the past. He had a great run there, and you saw the potential that he has. He just got stronger as the tournament went along, and as the competition improved, he got better, the same thing with Big Tens.

“He is capable of doing whatever he wants to do. He is just incredibly talented, and the sky is the limit for Quentin Wright. If he wants to dominate this year, it is going to be tough to keep him from doing that. It is up to him.”

A healthy Wright said he is just as hungry to win another title this season. Penn State is favored to repeat and returns a majority of its roster from last season.

“For me, the focus is still the same,” Wright said. “No matter if you are the champion or not the champ, the guy is out there to beat you. I can’t think of it as defending or repeating. It’s a whole new year and a whole new season. Anybody can get beat on any given day. Nobody is going to roll over for you because you won a national title. I treat it like my opponent is the national champion and flip that mentality where I have to go after them.”

Much of Wright’s best competition comes in the practice room. The Nittany Lions have a loaded college roster and also feature some of the best wrestlers in the World with athletes who compete for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club.

One of those athletes is Sanderson, who returned to the mat this year and placed fifth at September’s World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Wright was in the same bracket with Sanderson at 84 kg/185 for the U.S. World Team Trials in June. They did not face each other as Sanderson won the title.

Wright, a 2011 University Nationals champion in freestyle, knocked off 2008 Olympian Andy Hrovat and pinned No. 1 seed Keith Gavin to reach the Challenge Tournament semifinals at the World Team Trials.

Wright fell one win short of facing Sanderson in the Challenge Tournament finals. Wright lost to Jon Reader, a 2011 NCAA champion at 174 for Iowa State, in the semifinals. Wright then dropped his next match to past U.S. National Team member Bryce Hasseman.

“It was awesome to see Cael come back to compete,” Wright said. “We watched how disciplined he was with his training and everything he did. It was really helpful for the team to see him prepare for the World Championships. He showed us how it is done. We knew he was that good and he proved it. We were behind him 100 percent. He was doing the things that he tells us to do – go out, have fun, be disciplined, compete and just enjoy life.”

Shortly after Wright placed sixth as a true freshman at 174 pounds at the 2009 NCAA Championships, Sanderson was hired to lead the Penn State program. Sanderson spent the previous three seasons coaching his alma mater at Iowa State, where he went 159-0 as a wrestler and won four NCAA titles for the Cyclones.

“We had no clue that was coming,” Wright said. “We thought we had an idea who may take over. In no way, shape or form did we ever conceive we were getting Cael Sanderson. Three days before he accepted the job, we heard a rumor he was flown in to interview for it. We were in shock when we first heard. We never thought he would be pulled away from Iowa State. For me personally, it was great. I have the best guy in the World working with me. I know I am always going to be challenged with Cael in the room. It’s a great situation for me and for our team.”

Wright redshirted during Sanderson’s first season at Penn State before bumping up a weight class to 184 this past season.

Wright also excels in the classroom, carrying a 3.17 grade-point average with a double major in business management and labor studies.

Once the college season is done, Wright plans to jump immediately into freestyle wrestling. He hopes to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on April 21-22 in Iowa City.

“I have a lot more fun in freestyle,” he said. “My style is more suited to freestyle and Greco, than it is to folkstyle. I made a Junior World Team in 2008, and won a bronze medal. Having a taste of that, it was a lot of fun to wrestle at that level. My ultimate goal is to become an Olympic champion. I want to pursue those dreams and win a gold medal.”

Wright wrestles a wide-open, explosive style where he is adept at scoring big points with an array of throws and big moves.

“We grew up through Ken Chertow wrestling and his camps,” Wright said. “He taught a lot of throws. I was actually his dummy partner. He would grab a hold of me and I would go flying. He taught us the proper way to hit the throws. I was kind of a natural at it, and my brother and I would practice the throws all the time. It is so much fun to throw somebody onto their back.”

Wright and his older brother, Landis, who wrestled collegiately for Lock Haven, had their share of battles growing up.

“My brother was always about 20 pounds bigger than me,” Quentin Wright said. “We would be wrestling, and then end up fighting each other. He would pound me. He taught me how to be tougher.”

You won’t see many 2-1 or 3-2 matches when Wright steps onto the mat.

“We had no fear when we went out there,” Wright said. “My brother and I would go in and scrap, and keep on scrapping. Our matches were always exciting. That’s how I’ve always wrestled.”

Wright has gained another top-notch workout partner with the addition of true freshman Morgan McIntosh, the 2010-11 National High School Wrestler of the Year. McIntosh has jumped right into the Nittany Lion lineup at 197.

“Morgan’s doing a great job,” Wright said. “He’s doing all the right things. He took a few lumps when he first came into our room, but he’s giving a few back now. He’s learning really fast.”

Wright said he is eager to begin the quest of trying to win individual and team titles again for Penn State.

“This is the fun part of the season,” he said. “The preseason is rough and it is a grind. Everybody is ready to go. We are excited to start wrestling again, and see our hard work and determination pay off.”