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CLARION'S KYLE CATHCART NAMED D9SPORTS.COM DISTRICT 9 ATHLETE OF THE YEAR |
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CLARION -- Clarion Area’s Kyle Cathcart, a junior, is the runaway choice for the first-ever D9Sports.Com District 9 Male Athlete of the Year after a stellar three-sport performance in 2000-2001. Cathcart was a standout in football, wrestling and track and field during the 2000-2001 school year winning state titles in both wrestling and track and field and achieving state honors in football. Cathcart’s best sport is probably wrestling where he won the 2000-2001 PIAA Class AA title at 189 pounds with an outstanding 38-0 record. His 13-6 win over Maplewood’s Matt Wilcox in the PIAA championship match was his 72nd consecutive win and his second PIAA Class AA title, with the other one coming in his sophomore year when he went 34-0 at 171 pounds. Cathcart set Clarion school records for wins in a season (38) and in a career (97) this season, as he holds a career record of 97-4 with three District 9 Class AA titles, two Class AA Northwest Region titles and two PIAA Class AA titles. His third District 9 title came this season with an impressive pin over Port Allegany’s Alan Lovell in 2:53. "I am proud of what I have done in wrestling," Cathcart told D9Sports.Com earlier in the season. "But at the same time it is real nice to go and set school record and stuff, but you can’t be too proud. There is still unfinished business to take of. I have one more chance to prove myself. I am definitely going to try it again." As good as Cathcart is one the mat, he nearly matches that on the gridiron. Named a second-team Associated Press Small Schools performer as a defensive specialist in 2000, Cathcart helped the Bobcats to a 10-1 record a second-place finish in District 9 Class A. His 124 tackles, 84 of which were solo tackles, one sack and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown, helped anchor a Clarion defense that was ranked second in the entire state of Pennsylvania regardless of classification in points allowed in 2000 allowing a meager 4.364 points per game. On offense, Cathcart carried the ball 160 times for 1,277 yards (8.0 yards per carry) and 27 touchdowns giving him 28 touchdowns and 168 points on the season. Despite being limited to playing in barely half of each game because of Clarion’s dominance, he rushed for over 100 yards five times and for over 200 yards twice. He also scored four touchdowns in a game twice during the season. Catchart’s top games running the football in 2000 included a 253-yard performance with four touchdowns in Clarion 34-0 win over arch-rival and Class A playoff participant Clarion-Limestone in Week Four of the season, a 262-yard performance with three touchdowns in a 37-6 win over St. Marys in Week Nine in a game in which Clarion was playing with mostly a back-up offensive line, and a three-carry, 110-yard performance with two touchdown in a 62-6 win over Moniteau in Week 6 with all three carries coming in the first half. Cathcart, who was also named the D9 Sports.Com District 9 Co-Player of the Year along with Brockway’s Aaron Cantafio, was the KSAC "Back of the Year" as well as being named to both the first-team offensive and first-team defensive KSAC teams. He was also a first-team Tri-County Sunday choice at running back. For his career, Cathcart has rushed for 2,541 yards and 46 touchdowns. With 47 total career touchdowns, he is only 10 shy of tying Cantafio’s District 9 record. Cathcart didn’t just limit his athletic prowess to the wrestling mat and the football gridiron, though, as he has also been a member of the last three Clarion track and field teams, all of which have won District 9 Class AA titles and two of which, 2000 and 2001, have won PIAA Class AA state titles. Cathcart has been an integral part of both the District 9 titles and PIAA titles having run a leg in the two-time defending PIAA Class AA champion 400-meter relay team. The team, which was also the District 9 champion, won the 2001 title in a time of 42.59. So for the year, Cathcart has won two individual state championship medals and one team state championship medal, while being a part of two KSAC Championship teams and two District 9 championship teams. |