Stratford’s Duhancik Earns All-American Wrestling Honors

STRATFORD, CT — James Duhancik capped a stellar senior season, and career, by becoming Stratford High School’s first All-American wrestler over the weekend.

Duhancik placed eighth at 220 pounds at the National High School Coaches Association Wrestling Nationals in Virginia Beach to attain All-American status.

Duhancik said becoming an All-American wrestler “means everything” to him.

“It was one of my first goals when I started wrestling and to finish my career with completing that goal means a lot,” he said.

Stratford High School wrestling coach Brandon Tomlinson said Duhancik had an “amazing career” for the school.

Duhancik went 48-9, winning the Class L divisional, State Open championship (the school’s last champ was 21 years ago, according to Tomlinson), and placing sixth at the New England Regional to go along with the All-American finish. Duhancik and teammate Jake Kszywanos were the first in school history to place at New Englands, according to Tomlinson.

For his career, Duhancik finished with a 97-21 record. His career accomplishments also included a 2019 Class M third-place finish, becoming a two-time South-West Conference champion(2021-2022), and Class L and State Open runner up, according to Tomlinson.

“I speak for the entire coaching staff when I say that we are grateful that we got to be a part of James’s journey,” Tomlinson said. “Watching his success and progression from the time he was a freshman when he told us that he would win the CT State Open, has been a pleasure for us all to witness. Obtaining the status of All-American is not easy, we are extremely proud of everything James has accomplished in this sport, and what he will continue to accomplish outside of it.”

After graduating, Duhancik said he will begin pursuing his career as a firefighter. He will also be the head coach of Stratford’s first youth wrestling program, alongside Tomlinson.

Looking back at his senior season, Duhancik said he accomplished three of his four goals – winning Class L, State Open, and becoming an All-American. The only one he didn’t complete was winning New Englands, but there was a valid reason for not making that goal.

“Unfortunately, the week of New Englands I got into a car accident, totaling my car,” Duhancik said. “I also was in the hospital for two days because of a bad asthma attack. I got out of the hospital Thursday at 5 p.m. and left for New Englands Thursday at 6 p.m. Which made getting a New England title difficult.”

Overall, Duhancik said his senior season was “fun.”

“We traveled more than we usually do and everybody had fun together and me and my teammates brought home some hardware while doing it,” he said.

Among the highlights for the Stratford wrestling team were six wrestlers being named to the All-SWC team, with James Duhancik, Justin Duhancik and Jake Kszywanos being named First-Team. Marcus Cavallo, Paul Mushala, Jahmari Figaro were honorable mention. Stratford placed fourth as a team.

At the Class L divisional championship, the Red Devils qualified five wrestlers for the State Open, James Duhancik and Kszywanos both placed first, making them All-State at their respective weight class, according to Tomlinson. Justin Duhancik and Nathaniel Nagel both placed third and Marcus Cavallo placed sixth. Stratford placed fifth out of 24 teams.

Stratford placed 13th at the State Open as a team. Duhancik won the tournament, being named the State Open champion while Kszywanos took third place. Stratford also had two wrestlers in the girls State Open championship with Shyna Rolle placing third and Lindsey Rywolt finishing fourth, according to Tomlinson.

Tomlinson said that Duhancik attaining his All-American status is “huge for the future of Stratford High School and the sport of wrestling.”

“James has set the precedent for athletics in Stratford at such a high level that I believe will encourage kids to compete at the highest level,” Tomlinson said. “James is also dedicating his time this spring to coaching the next generation of wrestlers for Stratford, with a brand new youth program being run though Stratford Parks and Recreation that starts Apr 17.”