Upper St. Clair's Mackenzie McGuire was one of the most successful freshmen in the WPIAL during the past wrestling season, as he posted an impressive 26-2 record, but his two losses are the ones he remembers the most.

"It hurt to get that far and come up one point short of a PIAA berth," said McGuire, who finished fourth in the WPIAL Class AAA tournament.

McGuire finished the regular season with a perfect 20-0 record. He picked up three more victories in the Section 4-AAA tournament, including a 6-4 victory against McGuffey's Alex Dunaway in the title match.

McGuire was seeded second in the 20-man WPIAL Class AAA bracket and needed to finish among the top three to qualify for a trip to Hershey for the state championships.

A pair of impressive victories in the first round and quarterfinals advanced McGuire to the semifinals, thus earning him a rematch with Dunaway, who was seeded third. Unfortunately for McGuire, things didn't go the way he had hoped, as he dropped a 7-2 decision to Dunaway.

"Mackenzie had a bad day and it couldn't have come at a worse time," Upper St. Clair coach Emil Deliere said. "I really felt bad, because he did such a great job in his freshman year."

The loss to Dunaway dropped McGuire to the consolation bracket. He posted a 3-1 victory in the consolation semifinals against Canon-McMillan's Dario Dobbin, then dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Hempfield Area's Paul Bewak in the consolation for third place and a trip to Hershey.

"That loss showed me that I need to work more on my riding," said McGuire, referring to the deciding point Bewak scored with an escape. "I just have to work harder."

With that in mind, McGuire has been working out at the Quest School of Wrestling in Canonsburg.

"The workout partners I have at Quest are much better than I have in the practice room at Upper St. Clair," McGuire said. "Some of the best wrestlers in the WPIAL work out at Quest."

McGuire and his Quest teammates traveled to Orlando, Florida on Fathers Day (June 21) to compete in the Disney Duals.

"We wrestled 12 matches in four days and finished fourth in the standings, even though we didn't have a 215-pounder," McGuire said. "It was a great experience. I got to wrestle kids from all over the country."

McGuire posted a 10-2 record in the 103-pound weight class.

"Everybody received a5-pound weight allowance, so I only had to cut to 108," McGuire said. "I could have had a 13th match, but we forfeited the consolation for third place after a few of our kids suffered injuries."

It was McGuire's first trip to Disney.

"We went to the MGM Studios the first day, then went to the water park and Magic Kingdom after the tournament. It was a great time, both on and off the mat."

McGuire plans to compete in the 112-pound weight class for his sophomore season.

"I didn't feel like I wrestled enough matches during the season," McGuire said. "Almost everybody in my WPIAL bracket had more matches than I did. Some had wrestled more than 30 matches. I'm glad to see that we've added a couple tournaments to our schedule for the upcoming season."

McGuire comes from a family of wrestlers.

"My father [Mike Sr.] wrestled at Chartiers Valley and my brother [Mike Jr.] is my teammate at Upper St. Clair," McGuire said. "I grew up loving the sport of wrestling."

Mike McGuire Jr. is a three-year starter who enters his senior year with a 77-17 record. He is also a three-time WPIAL qualifier at 112, 119 and 125 pounds.

"My brother was a big help during my freshman year," Mackenzie McGuire said. "Whenever I'm down, he knows what to say."

Mike McGuire Jr. had planned to wrestle in the 119-pound weight class during last season's postseason tournaments, but was forced to compete at 125 after a mixup with the time required for a drop in weight.

"It was too bad, because Mike would have finished in the top three at 119," Mackenzie McGuire said. "He's hoping to compete at 119 this season."