BY HIS SIDE: Owings Mills wrestler Tony Mack (left) said his great grandparents, Carrie (right) and Earl, who have raised him since birth, "mean the world to me."
by Lem Satterfield
(See video interviews below)
When it came to giving thanks to one of his greatest supporters during a recent wrestling workout at Old Mill High in Millersville of Anne Arundel County, Owings Mills of Baltimore County wrestler, Tony Mack, needed to look no further than the far side of the wrestling room.
There sat his great grandmother, Carrie Mack, who, with his great grandfather, Earl, raised him and his siblings from birth in the wake of potential tradgedy.
"My great grandparents got me into wrestling. I was about to quit, but they got me back into it. And then, I won two championships in junior league," said Mack, who won one Class 2A-1A state title in three Class 2A-1A state title bouts. "They [grandparents] mean the world to me. Anything that I need, I've got it."
An Owings Mills senior who competed his senior season at 160 pounds, Mack is Baltimore County's male winner of the DigitalSports Applause Scholarship for the winter.
DigitalSports' Applause Scholarship is awarded in the amount of $500 toward the college education of an outstanding senior student-athlete who has exhibited great courage in overcoming adversity in order to make a positive contribution to his or her team.
In 2007-2008, DigitalSports has named 22 Applause Scholarship winners
in the Baltimore area, representing more than $11,000 in scholarship
awards. Winners have come from
Anne Arundel County,
Baltimore City,
Baltimore County and
Howard County
territories, as well as the
Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association and the
Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland.
"Tony is my son's grandson, but I lost my son at the age of 17. And when he died, his girlfriend was pregnant with Tony's mother. And his mother, later, became pregnant with Tony, and she was really too young to handle the situation," said Carrie Mack.
"So we took in Tony, and we raised him," said Carrie Mack. "And it has been really the greatest thing to happen to my husband and I in our lives."
Mack, to his credit, has done his part as well, excelling both in the classroom and on the mats.
Mack put forth his best effort, academically, with "three A's and the rest B's" on his final report card. Mack also has won a state title in three championship berths while finishing third at states as a freshman.
Mack also ended his high school career by defeating three-time Class 4A-3A state champion and rival 160-pounder, Bubby Graham of Annapolis, in the Senior All-Star Classic.
Click here for Tony Mack in action
Mack likes West Virginia and Delaware among his college considerations.
"I really don't want to have to go too far away," Mack said. "If If I have to go too far, I might end up transferring back. It depends on how I feel about the college that I go to."