Aug 2, 2016 3 min read

McMURRAY – The shock and pain will never wear off from that February day in 2015.

That was when Nick Gavazzi, who just eight months earlier had graduated from Charleroi High School as class valedictorian, was killed in an automobile accident in Armstrong County.

Gavazzi, a promising wrestler who had his varsity career interrupted by injuries, was just 18 years old.

In an effort to keep his memory alive, Quest Wrestling Club organized a fundraising effort in his name, called the “Too Sweet Memorial Fund.”

The fund is to help expand opportunities for wrestlers at the club, where Gavazzi trained for nine years.

Jim Akerly, who heads Quest, said the initial thrust was to raise money for funeral costs. But the Gavazzi family asked that the money be used to create the foundation to advance the sport Nick loved.

“I didn’t want that money,” Gavazzi’s father, Bob, said Tuesday. “I told Jim to put it in a fund for kids who need it to go to camp or go to his club. Maybe we can help them out. It was Jim’s idea to do (the fund). For me, it’s bittersweet. It’s nice to know that Nick’s remembered but it also reminds me he’s not here. It’s really hard.”

Akerly said the generosity of the Gavazzi family was appreciated.

“When this happened, we started selling T-shirt to help with the funeral costs,” said Akerly. “His dad said he wanted us to take the money we made from the T-shirt sale to help guys who don’t have the money to go, to help kids who probably can’t afford it. It’s a way to honor someone who is near and dear to all of us.”

Akerly said Gavazzi was dedicated to the sport and spent a great deal of time at Quest.

“When someone is around that long, you watch him go through his ups and downs, deal with things every kid deals with, you get very close,” said Akerly. “He was so easy to like. He affected a lot of people’s lives.”

Quest is holding a camp this week and some of the former greats in the sport – including Kenny Monday and Nate Carr – were planning to attend.

Gavazzi was a WPIAL champion and a state qualifier at Charleroi. Shoulder injuries wrecked his senior postseason but not his career. He was red-shirting at Clarion University at the time of the accident and was just getting ready to return to the mat.

One of Nick Gavazzi’s closest friends was Tyler Buckiso, a Peters Township graduate who is a junior at The Citadel. Buckiso’s father, Mike, hosted the event at his home.

“Ty and Nick wrestled against each other since they were 5 or 6 years old,” said Mike Buckiso. “They traveled together and up in Ty’s room, he has pictures of Nick all over the wall. So when Jim came up with this idea, it was right up my alley because I had the (place) to do it. If there was one kid in the whole Mon Valley and South Hills that you wanted your kid to be like, it was Nick Gavazzi.”

To donate to the fund, go to https://questschoolofwrestling.com.