Athletes of the Week Jan. 3

Patrick Donahue

Now a senior wrestling 215, Patrick placed second in the 2024 state meet to James Miller of Salesianum. Coach Chris Mattioni said, “Patrick is 12-3 on the season with nine pins. He is the other team captain along with Walker and a tough competitor. He put in lots of work this off-season and is wrestling well right now. He lost in the finals at the Southern Slam on a fleeing-the-mat call that was questionable. He was coming off strep throat when he wrestled at the Beast, falling in the blood round. He wrestled tough at Governor Mifflin,  finishing with three pins and a major decision in the finals. He was named outstanding wrestler by the coaches at Governor Mifflin and won the most pins in the least  amount of time for the tournament. He had three pins in 4 minutes and 2 seconds.” 

Austin Guerrieri

Now just into his sophomore year, Austin was a state champion as a freshman wrestling at 106 pounds, having beaten Clif Bakhsh of Saint Mark’s in the finals. Last weekend, Austin won the 120-pound title at the Governor Mifflin Holiday Tournament. Coach Chris Mattioni said,  “Austin is 13-3 on the season with five pins. He was a runner-up at the Southern Slam, losing in the finals to a nationally ranked wrestler by 7 points. His two  other losses were at the Beast. He dominated at Governor Mifflin; he had two tech falls, a 5-0 decision in the semifinals and was winning 12-2 when he got caught and put to his back in the finals with seconds to go, to win 12-9. Last year he finished third at Governor Mifflin. He has matured since last season and is working hard in practice; he is starting to emerge as a team leader. We need Austin to be a big point-getter for us to be successful this year.” 

Hayden Hudson

Flying under the radar is an ironic way of describing a two-sport academic athlete who is 6-foot-2 and holds the school record in career rebounds with 500. Coach Pat Woods said, “Hayden is always in the right spot on offense and defense, and I guess in rebounding too. She generally flies under the radar because she doesn’t score a ton for us, but has even increased that this year. She is that quiet, consistent type who always celebrates her teammates but rarely gets celebrated. It was nice to honor her for her rebounding feat; 500 rebounds seems kinda crazy.” Hayden is coming off a double-double, having scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase, and followed that with 10 rebounds against Woodson High of Virginia. "We should call her Dr. Dish,” Woods said. “She just rebounds and kicks it back out to the offense.” Hayden's senior No. 1 sport is softball, where she plays first base for the Vikings. 

Nick Walker

A top-tier grappler since he arrived at Cape in ninth grade, Nick is now a junior. He was second in the state at 132 as a freshman, losing to Luke Poore in the finals. Last season after winning the conference title at 144, Nick lost to Dustin Elliott in the state final. Walker has settled in at 150 pounds, and coach Chris Mattioni said, ”Nick is 12-3 on the season with seven pins. He is a team captain and one of the hardest workers on the team. He is a tough competitor who hates to lose; he finished fourth at the Southern Slam and was 2-0 at the Beast when he injured his knee. He finished third at Governor Mifflin after a questionable slam call in the semifinals. He leads by example and never misses practice.”