Austin O’Connor can’t remember if his family bought a car that day.
But the St. Rita graduate remembers how it kickstarted his wrestling and MMA career.
O’Connor, who grew up in Lockport and now goes by the nickname “The Irish Nightmare,” was only 4 years old when his family went shopping for a car.
“We went to a dealership about an hour from our house,” O’Connor said. “The guy we were talking with (Jim Burlison) lived really close and actually ran the local wrestling team, the Lockport Gators.
“He asked my older brother (Michael) to come to a practice and I came along. The first day I was running around and tackling kids.”
The coaches liked his energy, and then had him practice before participating in tournaments.
“I was loving it,” he said. “I got a few matches in when I was 4, and I never looked back.”
Over the years, O’Connor won five Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation titles with the Tinley Park Bulldogs, four Illinois High School Association state championships with St. Rita and a pair of NCAA national championships with North Carolina in 2021 and 2023.
North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor, right, squares off against Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso during the 149-pound championship match of the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis on Saturday, March 20, 2021. (Jeff Roberson / AP)
He’s slowly carving out an MMA career while working at Illinois as an assistant wrestling coach.
His first bout was June 9 at 145 pounds. He beat Camden Fontenot with a technical knockout at 1:52 left in the third period.
Could O’Connor have put Fontenot away earlier?
“I could have focused more on trying to get a submission, but for my first fight, I really wanted to get better at striking,” O’Connor said. “I was just trying to learn from the experience.
“I felt like I could have ended it quicker if I wanted to, but I wanted to get a little more cage experience.”
St. Rita’s Austin O’Connor, right, competes in 152-pound championship match at the Class 3A state meet in Champaign on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. (Gary Middendorf / Daily Southtown)
Taking things slow is going to be a theme early in his MMA career. He’s in no hurry for his second match, although there is talk about him fighting in September. But he said nothing is finalized.
“I’m taking it slow and working to get better,” he said. “I’ve seen wrestlers who have kind of rushed it a little bit and it’s taken them time to rebound back after taking lumps at the beginning.
“I just want to learn all of the martial arts to get as good as I can with striking. We’re drawing it out a little bit. I could be going a little faster, but I don’t want to be in a position where I have to hit the ground running.”
While O’Connor hasn’t signed with an agent yet, he has been studying under the wings of fighting legend Daniel Cormier.
After winning the NCAA title at 149, O’Connor tore his ACL in 2022. He rebounded in 2023 with a title at 157.
“When he was heathy, he won it and it wasn’t hard,” Cormier told On3.com about O’Connor. “He won in a way that showed you he was the absolute best.”
North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor, right, tries to maneuver around Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso during the 149-pound championship match of the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis on Saturday, March 20, 2021. (Jeff Roberson / AP)
O’Connor wanted to keep competing in wrestling, with the allure of being a potential champion in the Olympics. The weight classes, however, were not in his favor.
“When you grow up, you always want to be an Olympic champ — that’s the end goal,” he said. “But that wasn’t in my cards. My weight class … I wasn’t really going to fit in.
“There were just more positives of me going the MMA route than sticking around with wrestling.”
Either way, O’Connor enjoys full-contact sports.
“I’ve always liked the grittiness of wrestling and pushing the pace,” he said. “I like the combat aspect of MMA and going out there and trying to break the other guy.
“It’s a very fitting sport for me.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
