Rob Shay has been coaching his 14-year-old son, RJ, for the last eight years.
Rob Shay has seen his son produce at some of the highest levels, with finishes in the top three in both state and national tournaments.
But RJ Shay seemed to hit another level during the 16U National Duals in Farmington, Utah, from June 10-13.
The plight of a December birthday pitted 14-year-old RJ Shay against the best 15- and 16-year-old wrestlers the country had to offer. If that wasn’t enough, RJ Shay was also injured as the weekend advanced.
Whatever the matter, though, RJ Shay was undaunted and played a pivotal role in this 16U team sweeping the national duals titles.
In the Greco-Roman, RJ Shay helped turn the tide against Team Wisconsin in the championship match. With Pennsylvania trailing 27-17 after the first 10 bouts, the 14-year-old was one of two straight tech fall wins to help spark six straight victories to secure the first title of the weekend.
The younger Shay’s best performance, though, came in the Freestyle, as he went a perfect 5-0 through the division, earning an All-Tournament selection at 88 pounds.
“I’ve been coaching RJ for eight years,” Rob Shay said, “And you know, he has placed as high as second in the nation [in the Greco-Roman] and third in the state, and I have never seen him wrestle as good as he did out [at the 16U National Duals].”
When asked about how he felt about his performance, RJ Shay said, “I don’t know. It’s pretty cool going undefeated at the national duals.
“It was exciting to go out there and compete. … And I did not want to lose.”
By the end of it, performances like RJ’s created one of the best runs to a national title Team Pennsylvania had seen in nearly 20 years. The Keystone State lost only one match en route to sweeping both titles.
Seventeen wrestlers across both divisions earned All-Tournament accolades for Pennsylvania.
“This was such a great group of young men,” director of PA USA Wrestling Kyle Martin said in a text message to the team.
“It has been almost 20 years since Pennsylvania has won both the Greco-Roman and the Freestyle at the Cadet Duals. … This TEAM will be HISTORIC! Congratulations!”
Historic indeed, and after such a run-up to his freshman year at Saegertown High School, RJ Shay has a rather simple summer ahead of him.
“I’ll be lifting and doing practices over the summer,” he said. “[As well as] club wrestling.”
Once the school year begins, though, his time will be split between the Panthers’ wrestling team and his club team, Bad Karma Wrestling.
But there will be some time before then. For now, RJ Shay can focus on the fact that he played a major role as the youngest wrestler on Pennsylvania’s 16U team that pulled off its first double in nearly two decades.
