Patrick Ritchie has become Saint Paul’s new head wrestling coach as former coach Matt Pinero steps down to fulfill his new role as vice principal of Saint Paul’s. 

It’s tough to fill Coach Pinero’s shoes, but “Coach Pat” is the perfect fit for the Wrestling Wolves because of his history in the sport, both as a coach and a wrestler.

Coach Pat started his wrestling career as a freshman at Archbishop Rummel High School and was brought about by his older brother, who had also started wrestling. He started for Rummel’s varsity team as a sophomore and won a state championship in his junior year in the 103″ weight class and his senior year in the 119″ weight class. While he was at Rummel, he won what is known today as the Louisiana Classic, and he was named Most Outstanding Wrestler at that tournament. 

After his impressive career at Rummel, he went on to wrestle in college at Colby Community College in Kansas for two years. There, he was a part of their national championship team (that makes two high school championships and one college championship, for those counting the rings at home). Interestingly, he wrestled with world-champion wrestler Daniel Cormier at Colby. Afterward, Coach Pat was recruited to wrestle at Nebraska Kearney and was a starter in the 125 weight class. However, during his first year there, he suffered an injury, which caused him to end his competitive career.

After Coach Pat’s wrestling career, he coached at Rummel. It was there where Coach Pat actually coached former head coach Matt Pinero and current assistant wrestling coach Ivan Muller.

Coach Pat went on to coach a local club team named Scorpion, and then the Saint Paul’s opportunity came up. “This opportunity came available for me to be able to keep coaching, and so knowing the history, knowing the individuals that are associated with it, I thought it was a perfect fit for me and my family to be a part of this team,” said Coach Pat.

Coach Pat knows how to improve a wrestling program. “I think it’s just really leaning into what I’m good at, and then also getting support of the community itself. The good thing about Saint Paul’s is that y’all have a real good community, a real good wrestling tradition, and a lot of support from the school itself, so just leveraging all that, and then just taking my experience coaching throughout the year, and just challenging you guys.”

He has plans to bring the team closer as a whole and plans to use the wrestler’s past experiences to better them. Coach Pat has already started pushing the wrestlers throughout the summer by entering the team into camps and tournaments, as well as having practices three times a week, even though the season doesn’t start until November.  

Coach Pat has also made two tough schedules for the varsity team and plans to get every wrestler at least 30 matches throughout the season.

Coach Pat stated that he had very positive first impressions of what he called a very talented wrestling team, saying the team was very respectful to him, despite having to replace former Coach Matt Pinero, who was extremely well-liked and respected. Coach Pat loves how Saint Paul’s gave him a lot of support; he enjoys coaching at a school that respects the wrestling program. 

Former coach Matt Pinero seemed very excited for the team, knowing that Coach Pat was a passionate coach. “Coach [Pat] Ritchie was a great coach because we knew he genuinely cared about his athletes and wanted what was best for us. He cared for us beyond wrestling. The thing that I most appreciated about Coach Ritchie was his equanimity. He was a calming influence, which can be important in the chaos of competition,” Pinero stated.

Since Pinero knew Coach Pat very well, he also knew what Coach Pat’s strengths were: ”His organization and planning skills, his technical knowledge and tactical expertise, his calm demeanor, and his genuine care for his athletes, which extends beyond the wrestling gym.”

Coach Pat also has two sons who are attending Saint Paul’s now. 

Led by Coach Pat, the Saint Paul’s Wrestling Wolves look to improve on last year’s 6th-place finish in the LHSAA State Championship.

The Wrestling Wolves begin their season on November 6, 2024, as shown below.