Durango’s Patrick Morrissey has accomplished and overcome a lot in his life, and he was rewarded in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday by being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with the medal of courage.
Morrissey, a 1989 graduate of Durango High School, has been in the news for his work raising money for Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with, and for rowing from California to Hawaii in the World’s Toughest Row. Morrissey and his crew completed the row in July 2024 with three friends to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, raising over $40 million for Parkinson’s research.
But the incredible feat of completing that row isn’t Morrissey’s only athletic achievement. He was an incredible wrestler in high school and college, finishing his high school career with a 62-10 record, including the 1989 AAA state championship at 140 pounds with a 26-0 record as a senior. Morrissey earned all-state honors and also finished seventh at junior nationals in 1988.
Morrissey then wrestled at Division I at California Polytechnic State University. He finished third at the Pac-10 Conference tournament to qualify for the national championships, where he became an All-American.
“Wrestling builds a lot of character,” Morrissey said. “You need a lot of dedication, hard work and leadership. You learn a lot of those skills that move you forward in life. Those skills also helped me through the World's Toughest Row, in some of those times where we were out in the ocean in big waves and big storms. It was that wrestling background that helped me get through those tough times.”
With his excellent wrestling background, his experience with Parkinson’s and raising money for Parkinson’s research, Morrissey was the perfect candidate for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Medal of Courage, with the description for the award being a wrestler or former wrestler who overcame what seemed like insurmountable challenges while inspiring others.
“I’m so honored to be inducted into the hall of fame,” Morrissey said. “It was Saturday and it was a great weekend. The hall of fame put on a first-class induction … the last event on Saturday night was a black tie induction ceremony, where each inductee got up and said some words … I had some family and friends there, great family that took time out of their lives to come celebrate that with me, which meant so much.”
Morrissey first learned about potentially getting into the hall of fame in December 2024. He and the rest of the Human Powered Potential crew, who completed the World’s Toughest Row were in New York for the Michael J. Fox Foundation gala, where there was a big presentation about the team and a short film on their row was shown.
There was a part of the short film where it was mentioned that Morrissey was a wrestler. Andy Barth came up to Morrissey after the film and said he also wrestled. The two former wrestlers struck up a conversation and kept in touch after the gala.
About six months later, Barth reached out to Morrissey and asked if he could submit Morrissey’s name for the medal of courage. Then, in November of 2025, Morrissey got the call that he’d been selected for the medal of courage.
“It was weird because, Human Power Potential, we're doing a documentary … and the film crew was here in Durango doing some filming at our house,” Morrissey said. “I was taking a little break … so I went in the other room, laid down, and I got this call from Stillwater, Oklahoma … I thought, ‘That's weird. I'll answer that.’ Sure enough, I got the call halfway through that day, so it even made the day more special.”
The plan wasn’t for a documentary to be made on the row, but that opportunity came through the exposure the row got with how much money the crew raised for Parkinson’s. The short film at the gala was only 12 minutes long, and the crew realized that they couldn’t tell the whole story in that short of time.
So they went out and looked for funding, and found some. The documentary is set to release in September. Morrissey said it’s a great way to continue to raise awareness about Parkinson’s along with show the friendship that was created in the row and the teamwork it took to complete it.
The Human Powered Potential squad has also created a nonprofit for Parkinson’s, with six women rowing the Great American Loop in coordination with the nonprofit in April. The Great American Loop is a 5,000-mile row that starts in Florida, goes up the east coast on the inner coastal waterways, up through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River and back to their starting point.
One of the rowers, Ashley, has Parkinson’s and Morrissey said all of the nonprofit’s future events will have someone with Parkinson’s and will support the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
“We would like these kind of audacious type of adventure campaigns to help show that you don't have to just stop doing things when you have Parkinson's,” Morrissey said. “You can achieve anything, especially with the help of the Parkinson's community.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
