Mar 25, 2013 3 min read

Quest School of Wrestling will be on the move soon.

The popular club is currently located inside Alexander’s Athletic Club in Canonsburg, but will have a new home in mid-May on Munce Road in Eighty Four. The property is owned by Tim Rohaley, a former wrestler at Canon-McMillan High School, and he is coordinating the construction of the building.

“We needed to get out of there anyway, because Alexander’s is being sold,” said Jim Akerly, 47, who began Quest 12 years ago. “I’m not sure what they’re going to do with the building, but it might not be the same function.”

The new facility will have approximately 5,000 square feet of wrestling space, roughly twice the area available at Alexander’s now. It should be able to comfortably house 75-80 competitors, also about twice as many as at Alexander’s.

“I had (Rohaley) approach me about a new building,” Akerly said. “He’s (having it built), and we’ll rent the space. It’s just a couple miles from where we are now.”

Rohaley said he was motivated to act because he has two sons who go to Quest.

“I didn’t want to see him move from the area,” Rohaley said.

Akerly said there will be ample room to lay three 42-by-42 wrestling mats. Some small offices and a locker room will be included along with storage space.

“It’s been coming for some time,” said Akerly. “I’ve been looking for the past five or six years.”

The new venue also allows for the holding of camps, and the increased membership could mean more famous clinicians.

“We want it to be more than just training, drilling and conditioning,” Akerly said.

Akerly’s wish list for the building is a computer room so that wrestlers can use it for study or prepare for SAT exams.

“Kids need to know the importance of good grades,” he said. “The goal is not just to get into college. It’s to do well once they get in.”

Future use for the building might include Mixed Martial Arts fitness routines or self-defense classes. Akerly would like to offer adult wrestling classes and possibly reach out to women through yoga or exercise classes.

“I have a long list,” Akerly said.

Before establishing Quest, Akerly was the head wrestling coach at American University in Washington, D.C., and also was an assistant at West Virginia, Edinboro, Rider and Virginia.

He originally wanted to start a school in the Washington D.C. area, but the cost proved prohibitive. He was persuaded by friends to try Western Pennsylvania and has built the wrestling school into one of the most prominent in the state.

Many wrestlers from Canon-McMillan’s state championship program belong – including the program’s three most recent individual champions: Connor Schram, Solomon Chishko and Cody Wiercioch.

“We run in three-month segments,” said Akerly. “A wrestler coming for just a month doesn’t do it. We develop the kids. I’m fortunate to have many wrestlers come back and help out. These kids look up to them.”