Apr 30, 2018 By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 7 min read

Sam Mastro has an insatiable appetite at the training table as well as in competition. In fact, the 18-year-old South Fayette senior hungers for success.

“Winning states,” Mastro said eagerly when asked what his career highlight is. When he realized he hadn’t accomplished that feat yet, he quickly corrected himself. “Hopefully, it will be winning states this year.”

By far, finishing fourth in the 2016 PIAA track and field championships for discus is the pinnacle for Mastro. It’s the motivating factor behind his success this spring.

“Even though it was two years ago, it kind of gave me a feeling that I am able to compete at the highest level. It made me realize that I am right up there with the top throwers in the state and that I am able to compete at that level. That’s carrying me through,” he said.

“Now, I want to go in the circle and feel I am one of the best. I am the guy to beat. I’m going to be at states and I have the ability to compete right up there with the top guy, if not be the top guy in the state.”

A year ago, Mastro was hardly the top guy. As a junior, he didn’t even get out of the district competition. He placed 12th in the discus and sixth in the shot put at the WPIAL finals.

“That’s motivating me, too,” Mastro said. “That making me hungry.”

Focusing on technique as opposed to distance provided food for thought for Mastro. He said that during his entire junior year he was concerned with hitting a certain mark to gain the attention of recruiters and attain a scholarship offer.

Mastro ranks among the top throwers in the WPIAL this spring. After winning the discus and shot put at the Butler Invitational, he took home Field MVP honors at the South Fayette Invitational. He won the discus with a throw of 161 feet, 11 inches and captured the gold in the shot put with a toss of 51 feet, 2 inches.

While Mastro has been winning, it hasn’t been as impressive as when he threw upwards of 179 feet last year in the discus. The poor weather has factored into results this spring.

“The weather has been bad but you just have to take the competition you have. Just do the best you can,” he said. “When it’s bad and there is no one who is outstanding, it’s hard to push yourself. But when the weather is good for nice throws and you get good competition to push you a little bit, then you can get over that edge to keep decent throws going.”

In the past, Mastro and the rest of the district and state had Jordan Geist to push them to the limit. The Knoch graduate, who won multiple WPIAL and PIAA titles and set national records, is already shattering NCAA records in his freshman season at the University of Arizona. Mastro and Geist trained together as members of the Long and Strong Elite Throwers Club, based in the North Hills and operated by North Allegheny teacher Michael Hambrick.

“This is the first year throwing without him and for me, personally, it has been harder because I would practice with Jordan. When you watch the best thrower in the country and you are around him, you just pick up so much.”

Mastro did not become one of the better throwers in the WPIAL overnight. In fact, it took a friend to convince him to come out for track and retire his baseball mitt. Once, he did, Mastro was hooked. Through diet and weight lifting, he improved by leaps and bounds. Plus, he honed his technique.

“At first, I really didn’t consider track because I loved baseball but after my first year, I loved it. I got pretty decent at it but I was still pretty small because I didn’t lift any weights. So I did a lot of lifting and a lot of throwing,” he said of developing into one of the top throwers in the district.

“It sounds kind of obvious, but when you first start out, you can have all the technique, and once you get that down, it can only take you so far. Technique goes a long way but you’ve got to get the weightlifting down.”

While Mastro “messed” around with the weights with his dad at the gym, he did not get serious until ninth grade when Coach Hambrick introduced him to the weight room, a lifting program and a diet. Mastro has learned to manage a 5,000-calorie a day limit.

For Mastro, it’s been a balancing act with school. He attended Robinson Township Christian School through his elementary years. Though he throws for South Fayette, he is home-schooled. He maintains a 3.7 GPA. He plans to major in computer science when he matriculates to Liberty University, where he will throw for the Flames.

Balancing the discus with the shot put is a tad simpler. Mastro prefers the discus to the shot. At 6-feet-1, 230 pounds, he has a natural build for the event because of his long arms and height.

“For me, it’s always been more fun,” he said. “It’s much more fun to watch something fly 180 feet than a shot put fly 50 feet.”

Mastro also prefers finesse to brute strength.

“You can’t manhandle a discus as much as you can a shot put. You have to get the flight down,” Mastro said. “The shot you just chuck. Discus is all more precise. You have to do a lot more things right to get the result that you want to.”

On May 17, Mastro is looking for championship results. He expects Zach Gehm to provide the stiffest competition. The Seneca Valley senior finished third in the shot and discus last year.

Mastro now has his eye on a WPIAL title and states.

“I think those are realistic goals,” he said. “it’s going to be a battle at WPIALs and at states. So, I can’t wait for that.”

At 179 feet, 2 inches, Mastro already holds the school record at South Fayette. It’s also a personal record. While Mastro relishes the mark, he also can’t wait to see somebody shattered the standard, perhaps even his brother, Michael, who is a seventh-grader in the middle school.

“It was kind of nice to put (the school record) out there that it could be there for a few years. Hopefully someone comes along and beats it though. Maybe my brother,” Mastro said. “I want my brother to beat it. That would be impressive.”

Even more impressive would be a finer ending at Liberty University. First and foremost, Mastro said, he wanted to succeed academically. Then obviously, because he is going to a Division I school, succeed athletically.

Beyond that, Mastro has no plans, not even Olympic endeavors.

“Honestly the whole Olympic thing has never really been a thing that has interested me. I’ve never been like Olympic good but All-American is definitely a goal,” he said. “I don’t know about winning an NCAA championships because there are some monsters out there.”

Age: 18

Parents: Michael and Anna

Siblings: Mariah, 16; Michael, 14; Hannah, 12; Zachary, 7

Class: Senior

GPA: 3.7

College choice: Liberty University

Major: Computer Science

Book: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Movie: The Shawshank Redemption

Food: Hamburgers

Best place to get one: Pine Grill in Somerset. “They have one called the Mountain Burger. My dad and I always talked about it. It’s really big and really good.

Restaurant: “That’s difficult because my mom makes a lot of great food so we don’t have to go out much. Her chicken puffs are my absolute favorite.”

With whom you would like to have dinner: Ben Shapiro, conservative political commentator and host of the Daily Wire. “He’s an outspoken speaker but I absolutely love listening to him.”

What will you be doing after you graduate college: Working in information security. “I want to specialize in cyber security. It’s one of the, if not the fastest growing fields and there is a huge need for ore specialists in that area. That kind of stuff interests me.”