Church’s success a matter of routine
Joe Tuscano/Observer-Reporter
Mac Church, right, of Waynesburg has Matt Repos of Central Dauphin in the air during their 132-pound bout in the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Mac Church, left, of Waynesburg tries to slide out of the hold of Matt Repos of Central Dauphin during their 132-pound bout in the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championship at the Giant Center in Hershey Saturday.
HERSHEY – Mac Church admits to being a little bit particular about some things.
“I’m pretty high strung,” said Church. “I’m probably too hard on myself. Last year, I was so tight. This year I was a little more open.”
Church had just wrapped up his second straight state title Saturday night with a 3-1 win over Matt Repos of Central Dauphin in the 132-pound finals of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at the Giant Center.
His best friend, teammate Rocco Welsh, would win his first title an hour later with a 24-8 technical fall over Dom D’Agostino of Interboro at 172 pounds.
“He’s my best friend so I can mess around with him a lot,” Welsh said with a smile. “He eats super clean so we mess with him about how he won’t eat candy and we mess around with him about that and he gets angry.”
While Welsh watches video of his upcoming opponents, Church will go over and over the film then go over what could happen in the match hundreds of times.
“Mac is very routine based,” said Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk. “He likes things to be in order. That means his morning routine, what he eats, what he drinks. That makes him a better wrestler. He’s very meticulous. Which means he pays attention to details. And you have to when you are an elite wrestler. They all do that.”
Szewczyk said lose that ability to pay attention to detail can put a wrestler on the losing end of a close score.
“Sometimes, pressure can build when you’re a freshman,” Szewczyk said. “And you have to remember that kid is from Central Dauphin and the school is like five miles away (from the Giant Center). So it’s almost like a home dual meet or a home tournament because those kids bring a lot of fans”
Szewczyk said Church is not the only person in Waynesburg’s program who feels pressure to find success.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Szewczyk said. “The program also has high expectations. That was the goal.”