Michael Duffy

November 27, 1973 - Present

Michael Duffy began his life in wrestling at Loch Raven High School, graduating in 1991. After completing his education at the University of Maryland, Michael began his coaching journey at Mt. Hebron High School in 1997. He inherited a struggling program that went 1-9 in his first year. Each year that program improved, however, and in 2002 Mt. Hebron reached the pinnacle of MPSSAA ranks by posting an 18-0 dual meet record and winning the 4A-3A State Dual Meet Championship. Duffy received Howard County Coach of the Year awards from the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post. He also received the Baltimore Sun’s coveted All-Metro Coach of the Year Award.

In addition to coaching, Michael was the Athletic Director at Mt. Hebron from 2001-2006 and served as the District V representative to the MPSSAA Wrestling Committee. After stepping down from coaching following the 2006 season, Duffy moved to Howard High School as the Athletics and Activities Manager, where he served for 13 years. Michael became the Director of the MPSSAA’s State Tournament in 2011. In 2019 he became the Carroll County Supervisor of Athletics. Among the many initiatives he spearheaded, Michael helped modernize the State Tournament by adding Track Wrestling to manage and score the event and helped find a new home for the State Tournament at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro when the University of Maryland decided to repurpose its previous location, Cole Field House. In the 2019-2020 season, Michael worked to add Girls’ Interscholastic Wrestling to the MPSSAA docket of varsity sports, helping grow state participation exponentially in three seasons thus far. 

Michael has received numerous accolades for his work as an athletic administrator, including being named Maryland Athletic Director of the Year by the Maryland State Athletic Directors Association in 2009. As the Maryland state coordinator for professional development and certification for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), Michael promotes and provides training for athletic administrators in the state. He serves as the national chair of two NIAAA Leadership Training Courses.  He also has been a frequent presenter at the National Athletic Directors’ Conference.

Michael served as the President of the MPSSAA from 2020-2022 helping to lead the association through the restart of athletics following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards:

Year
2023
Award
Lifetime Service to Wrestling
Chapter/Region
Maryland

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