The Kiski Area wrestling program boasts a storied history marked by consistent success, dedicated coaches, and talented athletes. The dozens of banners hanging in Kiski Area High School's wrestling room tell the full tale.
The Chuck Tursky Era: A Foundation of Success
Former Kiski Area coach Chuck Tursky is the WPIAL's all-time winningest wrestling coach. He stands alone in the WPIAL record book, having won more matches than any other coach in league history.
Tursky's coaching career began with a 7-year stint at Burrell, where he posted a 50-66-1 record. He took over at Kiski Area in 1987 and led the Cavaliers to a 455-77 record in 29 seasons. Tursky compiled a 505-143-2 record in 36 years.
He led the Cavaliers to two WPIAL Class 3A titles in 1997 and 2003, and was named WPIAL Coach of the Year both years. He was also voted PIAA Coach of the Year in 2003. The first year we won was 1997. That title pushed the program to the next level. Our second WPIAL title was in 2003.
Tursky celebrated more than 500 wins, 16 section titles, and two WPIAL team championships in a 36-year career as a head coach, including 29 years at Kiski Area. More than 80 of his former wrestlers went on to become coaches themselves.
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Tursky’s teams won 102 consecutive section matches in one stretch from 1993 to 2006, and they qualified for the playoffs 26 years in a row. His career record against section opponents was 214-25-1. Six times his teams won the Westmoreland County Coaches Association title.
His peers recognized him as the section’s top coach 16 times, he was named WPIAL Coach of the Year twice (1996-97 and 2002-03), and PIAA Coach of the Year once (2002-03).
As a high school athlete, Tursky was a two-time state qualifier for Riverview as a heavyweight. He went on to become a four-year letterman at Slippery Rock University, where he wrestled for coach Fred Powell, and also played football.
He has been inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Southwestern Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame, Slippery Rock Athletic Hall of Fame, Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame, Kiski Area High School Hall of Fame, and was recognized with a Lifetime Service to Wrestling Award from the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Tursky, a graduate of Riverview High School and Slippery Rock University, is now serving as Chris Heater's assistant at Kiski Area.
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When Tursky resigned as head coach in 2015, he didn’t leave the wrestling room. Instead, he switched roles with a longtime assistant and coached a few more seasons before officially retiring.
Tursky was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wresting Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005. He received a “Lifetime Service to Wrestling” award from the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted that same year into the Slippery Rock University Hall of Fame.
Charles Tursky is the head wrestling coach at Kiski Area High School, and has been there for 26 seasons. Prior to his years at Kiski, he coached seven years at Burrell High School.
Tursky has been an inspirational leader to his team, and has been on the winning side of the mat 490 times while suffering only 142 losses in his career. His Kiski Cavaliers rolled to a streak of 68 consecutive dual meet wins in the late 1990s.
He was sectional coach of the year for 10 consecutive seasons, and was the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Coach of the Year in 1997.
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2003 was a great year for Tursky as he was named Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State Coach of the Year, was elected to the Southwest Region Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Very possibly, the most remarkable statistic for Chuck is that 80 of his former wrestlers have gone on to become coaches themselves, which is quite a legacy to a great coach and an exceptional leader of student athletes.
That was our first appearance in the PIAA Team Tournament. We faced State College in the semifinals. Everybody expected State College to be in the finals, but we pulled the upset. We were still celebrating in the locker room when the PIAA officials told us we had to wrestle in the title match. We just were not ready to wrestle that quickly and lost to Easton in the finals.
Tursky stands alone in the WPIAL record book, having won more matches than any other coach in league history. Tursky celebrated more than 500 wins, 16 section titles, and two WPIAL team championships in a 36-year career as a head coach, including 29 years at Kiski Area.
But arguably the most impressive statistics are the ones that capture his consistency. Tursky’s teams won 102 consecutive section matches in one stretch from 1993 to 2006, and they qualified for the playoffs 26 years in a row.
“It is a great feat. I never had goals like this when I started coaching and never thought I would be coaching this long. I just kept on accumulating more and more wins. I was suprised to see that I reached 300, then 400, and then 500. I really enjoy coaching the kids. This is my 40th year of coaching. I've enjoyed it so much. I've been so lucky and blessed to be in this sport."
"I never got into coaching for the wins," he says. "I got into it because I love wrestling and I love coaching. And I've really been honored by coaching with long time assistants. They keep it fun and keep me motivated. And it's really been a great adventure with a lot of great wrestlers that I've had.
The Modern Era: Building on Tradition
Chris Heater saw trophies and other commemorative artifacts from Kiski Area's wrestling history scattered around the high school halls. He had them collected together and displayed in a much more conspicuous place: right outside the Cavaliers' wrestling room.
Now any time a wrestler leaves the room, he can see proof of Kiski Area's accomplishments, including one case filled with evidence of what the Cavaliers achieved the past two seasons: a 2017 WPIAL Class AAA title, the program's third, plus two top-five PIAA finishes.
“There's some pretty high-level stuff in there, which we're happy about,” said Heater, entering his third season as coach after 20-plus years as an assistant.
Heater is doubling down on Kiski Area's history, making this team's motto “built on tradition” after the Cavaliers rode the mantra “band of brothers” to their WPIAL title and third-place PIAA finish last season.
And proof of the success also can be found inside the wrestling room, where championship banners and team photos cover the walls.
“The group that comes in (wants to see) how many of them can we put up this year?” Heater said.
Kiski Area wants one more banner than any other - one that commemorates a PIAA title. The Cavaliers have a pair of runner-up finishes, but no top prizes.
However, with 12 returning wrestlers who have extensive varsity mat time, this could be the year Kiski Area changes that.
“I see a WPIAL title and a state title (when I look around the room),” senior Noah Levett said. “Everyone's in there working hard, pushing one another. No one's really slacking. Everyone wants to get better.
The past two seasons, Kiski Area experienced heartbreak in Hershey at the PIAA team championships. The Cavaliers dropped into the consolation bracket in 2015 after losing a way-down tiebreaker to Nazareth - “Criteria I,” Heater remembered.
Last season, a hard-fought loss to Bethlehem Catholic, where nine of 14 bouts were decided by a point, forced Kiski Area to win its way through the consolation matches to take third in the state.
“Going up there, knowing that we've been up there already, that relieves a lot of pressure for us wrestling,” Levett said. “There is such thing as stage fright, so kids get it, but since we've been up there almost every year of my high school career, I feel comfortable wrestling there. It's like a second home for me there.
Ten wrestlers who started much of last season return for Kiski Area - seniors Levett (138 pounds), Logan Pollick (182), Danny Starr (195) and Isaac Reid (285); juniors Julian Jones (106), Darren Miller (120) and Cam Connor (145); and sophomores Jared Curcio (132), Jack Blumer (152) and Nick Delp (160).
Senior Bobby Lawrence (126) and junior Colin Murray (170) started in previous seasons, leaving the Cavaliers with just two newcomers in their lineup - freshman Sammy Starr (113) and junior Troy Kuhn (220).
Miller, Levett, Connor and Reid all qualified for the PIAA individual tournament last season. Levett (Bucknell) and Reid (Lock Haven) are two-time state placewinners and Division I recruits, and Miller also medaled last season.
“They're all hard workers,” Miller said. “It doesn't matter if you're on the starting team or if you're on JV.
With its championship pedigree, Kiski Area opens the season ranked No. 1 - but Heater said he doesn't exactly feel a target.
“I think there's teams out there that respect us for what we do year-in and year-out, and I think there's teams that hate us for what we do year-in and year-out,” he said. “So I'm not really sure if this year is much different than last year or any of the other years that we've been able to put together some high-level teams. It's just kind of what comes with the territory a little bit.
“Chris Heater has done a great job as the head coach. We've been together for 29 years. The two WPIAL titles we've won with me as an assistant (2017 and 2018) mean just as much to me as the other two titles. All four have special meaning. And I'm sure Chris would say the same thing. I also want to recognize Don Toy, who has been a loyal assistant for 26 years.
Kiski Area Wrestling: Key Stats
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Chuck Tursky's Total Wins | 505 |
| Tursky's Wins at Kiski Area | 455 |
| WPIAL Team Titles | 2 (1997, 2003) |
| PIAA Runners-Up Finishes | 2 |
State-of-the-Art Facilities: The Chuck Tursky Training Center
Members of the Kiski Area boys wrestling team worked out Wednesday in their spacious new wrestling room at the high school.
“I’ve seen nice (practice) rooms, but nothing like this. My first thought was that I couldn’t wait to practice in here. I get to spend my entire senior season in here. It is a great feeling to know that the school, the administration and the coaches back you the way they do that they would build a facility like this.
“With all construction projects, there are things that take longer and things that cost more money. There was the discovery of things that we originally didn’t think we had to do. There were a lot of things to navigate. It was challenging at times, but we knew it was going to be worth it in the end.
The new wrestling rooms, coaches’ room and surrounding amenities were unveiled to the donors and the people who worked on the project in a ceremony and ribbon cutting Nov. The first practices in the new rooms were Nov.
“We were all navigating all of the workouts, all of our girls and boys teams,” Heater said. “We all had to kind of scale back things because of our numbers. Our numbers are pretty good right now. It was OK because they were just preseason practices where we didn’t have our full numbers before the official practices started (Nov.
“Champions were made in that room. We came in and took all the stuff off the walls, and then we cleaned it, repainted it, installed a new mat and put up a new speaker. So that room also has a new feel to it.
“There were so many people who were just super excited for the rooms to be open,” Heater said. “It was a long time coming. We all worked really hard on this and raised a lot of money and put a lot of time into it.
“It was a culmination of all of that to be able to give the kids a first-class facility that can give them an advantage and help them strive to be their best.
“(Kiski Area girls coach) Justin (Tresco) was the general contractor, and I was the project manager, and we brought Chuck in and he was speechless for a little bit. He was emotional, but I kind of wanted him to have a chance with some quiet reflection. A lot of memories came flooding back when he was able to see everything. He was glad he had that time.
One wall features banners recognizing individual section, WPIAL and PIAA accomplishments. A kiosk in the hallway outside the new facility allows users to navigate the rich history of Kiski Area wrestling.