Meeting The Challenge
BUTLER TWP — Reagan Donahue began life facing major challenges.
Now he's answering them — and looking for more.
A senior on the Butler Area High School wrestling team, Reagan suffered a brain injury from an illness he incurred as an infant. He was diagnosed with an autistic special disorder.
After Reagan was re-evaluated in second grade, his mother — Kellie Donahue — and school officials decided to send him to ACLD Tillotson, a school specialized in helping special needs children, in Baldwin.
He attended school there from third grade through seventh.
“It was a good choice,” Donahue's mother said. “Reagan received the emotional and learning support he needed there. He was with his peers in the classroom.
“There were no athletics at that school, but he participated in school-related activities.”
With the school's South Hills location, Mrs. Donahue met his bus halfway at times in helping with his transportation to and from school.
“We made it work,” she said.
During Reagan's seventh-grade year, his mother decided it was time to return him to his hometown school district.
And get him involved in a sporting activity.
Aaron Royhab is Director of Special Education in the Butler Area School District — and a former North Allegheny High School wrestler.
“I've known Reagan for a long time,” Royhab said. “Once he came back, it was important for him to find his niche. I worked with his family to help in that regard.
“I know Scott (Stoner, Butler wrestling coach) and how he runs his program. In terms of self-esteem and friendship, I knew wrestling could do a lot for him.”
Reagan's mother agreed.
“I was looking for a sport that could be good for Reagan,” she said. “Wrestling is an individual sport, yet you compete as a team. With the discipline that goes with it, I thought it was perfect.”
So she met with Stoner.
“At first, I didn't know how this would work,” Stoner admitted of Reagan and wrestling. “The sport is all about routine and repetition. Would we be able to keep him focused? Would he wander off?
“But I found a kid who was willing to learn, who was patient to learn. He had a rough time of it on the mat for a long time, but he never quit. Reagan is a guy who can overcome adversity.”
Reagan wrestled for the junior high team as a freshman and won one match. He wrestled junior varsity his sophomore and junior years, finishing 0-10 and 1-10.
“He was pinned in every match his sophomore year,” Stoner recalled. “Honestly, I wondered if he was coming back. I was a little surprised he did.”
“I got pinned almost every time (as a freshman),” Reagan said. “But I felt myself getting better. I even pinned a kid myself.
“As I went on, I was still losing, but I was lasting the whole match. The team was cheering for me and I cheered for them. I love being on this team.”When he first joined the team, Reagan said “I didn't know I needed wrestling shoes. I just thought you wore regular shoes.“My first partner in the room was Hunter Neff. He put me on my back a lot. It forced me to learn moves to stop that.”Reagan had to adjust to locker room humor as well.Former teammate Jack Codispot, now a collegiate pole vaulter, helped with that adjustment.“Reagan took everything people said seriously,” Stoner said, smiling. “He had trouble differentiating between serious conversation and kidding. Jack took the time to explain the difference and now he's fine with it.”Wrestling at 160 pounds, Reagan would rarely get a junior varsity match. Stoner would try to alert his family of nights it appeared he'd be on the mat.One of those nights was at Sharon during Reagan's junior year. As soon as his mother and sisters got the word, they jumped in a car and headed up there.“I didn't know if we'd make it in time, but we did,” Mrs. Donahue said. “His sisters and I are his biggest cheerleaders.”And they cheered a win that night — Reagan's only win at the junior varsity level his sophomore and junior years.“He put a combination together and held it,” Stoner said. “That was quite a scene. Our entire team went nuts. People were crying.”Including his mother and sisters.“I'm sure the Sharon people in the gym that night had no idea why we were carrying on like that in a JV match,” Mrs. Donahue said.Victories became commonplace for Reagan in his senior year.Still wrestling at the JV level this season, Reagan put together a 16-6 record. Nearly all of his wins were by pinfall.He placed third in one junior varsity tournament, second in another.“We put a couple of tools in his shed and he learned how to use them to find success on the mat,” Stoner said. “Talk about a kid who stuck with it.“This is a kid who got beat up every day in practice, who suited up with the team on match nights even though he rarely got a match. Yet he kept working, kept improving.“I'm as proud of Reagan as any wrestler I've ever coached,” Stoner added.Reagan wrestled one varsity match in his high school career. He lost by decision.“But I wasn't pinned,” he said. “Coach Stoner said I saved the team three points.”That's what he cared about. Reagan Donahue became all about the team.And the team became all about him.“On Senior Night, (senior wrestler) Nate McDonald said the fondest memory of his career was watching Reagan pin that kid up in Sharon,” Stoner said. “Those words touched everybody in the gym.”Reagan's mother said that wrestling “challenged him mentally, physically, emotionally and socially ... and he met every challenge.“You have to look at the big picture. When I decided to have Reagan wrestle, it was only for home matches. He's gone from that to traveling with the team to Virginia for four days this season.“Failure is a gift. Those failures (on the mat) helped him grow in so many ways,” she added.Reagan's not done growing.He is into running.“He's tireless that way,” Stoner said.And he wants to join Butler's track and field team in the spring. He's thinking about attending college and possibly running track there.“People used to tell me I can't do certain things,” Reagan said. “Not anymore. I'll decide what I can and can't do.”
