Feb 9, 2022 2 min read

Name: Zander Phaturos

School: Waynesburg

Class: Senior

Sport: Wrestling

Phaturos week: The 126-pounder won all his bouts in the WPIAL Class 3A Team Tournament to help the Raiders to a three-peat of titles.

The tournament started out with Thomas Jefferson giving Phaturos a forfeit and it was followed by a 6-3 decision over Gannon Conboy of Norwin.

In the semifinals, Phaturos won a 7-2 decision over Andrew Binni of Canon-McMillan and followed that with a 9-3 decision over Gabe Ruggieri of Connellsville in the finals.

Waynesburg defeated its heated rival for a third time, 36-22, in the semifinals and and topped Connellsville, 35-18, in the finals.

Those four wins extended his winning streak to 12 straight bouts and moved his record to 19-6.

“It feels good to have two solid weeks of wrestling,” said Phaturos. “It was great to three-peat. I’m grateful to be on this team.”

Phaturos said he is wrestling his best now because it took him some time to get his weight stabilized.

“Now, I can better maintain it,” Phaturos said.

Waynesburg head coach Kyle Szewczyk said the key to Phaturos wrestling well is controlling his weight.

“As everyone knew, his Powerade performance wasn’t good,” Szewczyk said. “His preparation before the tournament wasn’t his best. He always works hard but he let his weight get too high. He’s hitting his stride right now.”

Szewczyk said Phaturos’ quickness makes him a hard wrestler to stop.

“He’s quick and very shifty,” Szewczyk said. “You have to plan for that if you wrestle him. He’s in and out, hard to get a hold of. He’s not very easy to get a hold off.”

Go east, young man: Up until a couple years ago, Phaturos lived in Arizona. When his parents retired, they wanted to move back to Western Pennsylvania, where friends and family lived.

“It was a big change,” said Phaturos. “There is a lot difference. Pennsylvania kids wrestle tougher. They wrestle hard in practice and through the match.”

Compiled by Joe Tuscano