Connor Frey has vastly expanded the arsenal inside of his wrestling tool box over his four years with the Lehighton program.

Now, his relentless effort and blue-collar work ethic is helping him extend his athletic and academic careers at Dividion 1 Old Dominion University."I'm definitely more aggressive on my feet," Frey explained. "I was wrestling 160 and it's hard as a freshman. I was tentative and now I haven't really been taken down all year. I can take all of the shots now.Frey, who is wrestling at 195 pounds this season after being a two-way starter for Lehighton's Anthracite Football League championship grid squad, said the hardest part of the transition between the two sports was getting his weight down after playing football at 216 pounds."I try to run eight to 10 miles a week," Frey said. "During the first month (of wrestling) I'd struggle in the third period, but that's not the case now."The Lehighton senior went on quite a tour of schools during his quest to find the right fit for his future. ODU has a few qualities that made his decision a bit easier."It really came down to the fact that ODU is a good academic fit for me. They have a good engineering program, a top-20 wrestling team, and three All-Americans right now - and it's about ten minutes away from Virginia Beach. I really connected with the team too."Frey mentioned of his great support system that he's had through his senior season."I've been blessed to have a lot of great influences in my life. Fred (Kemmerer) has been teaching me to wrestle since first grade. My aunts, uncles, great grandparents, and the Brownmiller family have always helped me along the way. Jared Brownmiller and I used to wrestle everyday from seventh to tenth grade.Frey's hard work on and off the mat has turned him into the "ultimate kid to coach," said Indians' head coach Danny Williams."By the time he got here until his senior year, it's like having a third coach in the room," Williams said. "To get to the level that they're at now, it's less of what I do as a coach and more about what they do as an athlete. They do all of the extra stuff. Their parents have been tremendous for us, doing whatever they need to do to have them compete at the next level."Frey and his senior classmates took their lumps in the early years. But they have helped turn the Indian program around, although they still have some business to take care of in their final season."It's a lot more enjoyable when you're successful as team," Frey said. "I feel like I'm doing pretty well right now and I'm right where I need to be. I have all my goals still set in place. We're now 15-3 after being 3-15 my freshman year. We're just trying to leave with a boom and make our mark as the best team ever."