Faces in new places win early rounds
Blackhawk’s Duschek, Laurel’s MacKay among quarterfinal qualifiers
The closing of Quigley Catholic was a double disappointment for Kenny Duschek. It meant Duschek would have to attend another high school in his senior year.
“It was so disappointing to see the school I attended the last three years close,” Duschek said. “It was sad to hear that I wouldn’t be spending my senior year with the kids who I had become so close to.”
The closing also ended Quigley’s cooperative agreement with Freedom High School, which meant Duschek could no longer wrestle for the Bulldogs.
“I had wrestled for Freedom the past three years and loved coach [Jim] Covert and my teammates,” said Duschek, who was a three-time PIAA qualifier for Freedom. “It’s was disappointing, but you have to roll with the punches of life.”
Duschek enrolled at Blackhawk for his senior year and has continued his success on the wrestling mat.
“We live in the Blackhawk School District and I wrestled for them in junior high, so it was the obvious choice,” Duschek said. “It’s a new experience with new teammates. I miss my old teammates, but I’m making the most of my opportunity to wrestle at Blackhawk.”
Blackhawk made its first appearance at the prestigious Powerade Wrestling tournament Friday at Monroeville Convention Center, with Duschek as the Cougars’ only entry. Duschek advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals with two victories in the 145-pound weight class.
Duschek, the No. 4 seed, posted a 17-2 technical fall in his opening match against South Park’s Noah Pritchard. He then pulled out a 4-3 decision over Trinity’s Bodie Morgan in the Round of 16, with the deciding points coming on a takedown with 1:01 left.
“This tournament is one of the strongest in the country,” Duschek said. “My goal is to make it to tomorrow’s finals. It will not be easy, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Laurel sophomore Grant MacKay is another transfer who advanced to the quarterfinals. MacKay transferred from
North Allegheny over the summer.
“My parents have always wanted to buy my grandparents’ farm in Laurel,” MacKay said. “Last year, they said they were ready to sell, so we jumped on it. It was a bit of a culture shock coming from a big school like North Allegheny to a tiny school like Laurel.”
MacKay pinned Mount Pleasant’s Lucas Eicher at 1:29 in his Powerade debut, then registered a 16-1 technical fall against Burgettstown’s D.J. Slovick in the Round of 16 to easily advance to the quarterfinals.
“I was really pumped coming into this tournament,” MacKay said. “It’s a perfect opportunity to prove to myself and everybody else how good I am.”
MacKay was seeded No. 5 in the bracket despite beating the No. 4 seed, Hempfield’s Ty Linsenbigler, two weeks ago in the semifinals of the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament.
“I was a little surprised by that, but I don’t worry about seeds too much,” MacKay said. “Seeds are just numbers. Everybody has to go out there and wrestle every match.”
MacKay will get another chance to face Linsenbiger in Saturday’s quarterfinals. The winner will most likely face Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, a two-time PIAA champ who is seeded No. 1.
“I’m looking forward to the rematch,” MacKay said.
Another transfer got off to a good start, but didn’t fare as well in his second match.
Waynesburg junior Zander Phaturos, a two-time Arizona state finalist and one-time champ, posted a 15-0 technical fall of Walsh Jesuit’s Brian Crevar in the opening round at 126 pounds.
In the Round of 16, Phaturos, the No. 5 seed, dropped a 2-1 decision to Blake Reihner, a freshman from Trinity. Reihner recorded a takedown with 11 seconds left to pull out the victory.
“I knew I needed my best shot,” said Reihner, when asked about the takedown. “I faked to one side and went to the other. That was my game plan and it worked to perfection.”