This was one of the strongest male rookie classes Binghamton has seen in a long time. All five players put up good numbers, present hope for their teams’ futures, and four of them have already made their mark on the America East.

Oddly enough, it’s the one who doesn’t even compete within the conference that Pipe Dream decided on as male Rookie of the Year, and that’s Josh Patterson of the BU wrestling team.

The youngest of the three Patterson wrestlers featured on the Binghamton wrestling squad, which competes in the Colonial Athletic Association, Patterson was the big stud on a team that went from exactly zero wins last year to 10 this year.

The wrestling program needed someone big to come along after its reinstatement last year, and that didn’t happen quickly. After head coach Tony Robie departed in the offseason, new coach Pat Popolizio put his faith in the newest Patterson to arrive in Vestal.

Patterson got off to a good start and never slowed down. With every match there was another victory for Patterson, and he excelled all season long. He capped it off by placing third at the CAA championships, and received a wild card entry to the NCAA Tournament.

We chose Patterson not just based on his accomplishments, but based on how his impact affected the entire team. The wrestling squad was the subject of a feature article on ESPN.com, and the team garnered a new sense of respect after what felt like a wasted 2005-06 season.

The other nominees for rookie of the year all had great seasons, great enough that we considered having six nominees because we had such a hard time eliminating people.

Joe Charron is still tearing the cover off the baseball as the Bearcats continue to rip apart the competition, while Chris Gaube flew like a flash and had a great cross country season. Lazar Trifunovic became a critical part of the Bearcat offense as the basketball season wore on, and Jason Stenta stepped in because of injury, going from red-shirting to being one of the heroes on a soccer team that went to the NCAA tournament.

But these four did not have to take as much on their shoulders as Patterson did. He carried his team through meets, leading them into battle as he and the entire team got better as the season wore on. It was Patterson who carried his team all season long.

The wrestling team was coming off a season where they got as close to a win as the Knicks would get to the playoffs in the Western Conference. But Patterson’s season was extraordinary; he was mature beyond his years, and handled the increasing attention as the year went on like a consummate professional. The overall impact he had on the improvement of BU wrestling was unmatched, and it’s with this in mind that we name Josh Patterson as Pipe Dream’s 2007 male Rookie of the Year.