Whew! Henson survives to win second gold medal
HERSHEY – Wyatt Henson didn’t realize it at the time but his role changed after being called for an illegal slam against Jon Altieri of Norwin in the subregional of the PIAA Wrestling Championships.
“At first, he thought he was thrown out of the tournament,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Throckmorton.
Henson, who won gold last season at 138 pounds, was disqualified, not given a gross misconduct penalty. But whatever relief came from that quickly changed back to anxiety once the state tournament started.
Instead of wrestling someone with a 13-5 record as the Southwest champion would, he be taking on Dagen Condomitti of Northampton and was on the wrong end of 7-1 score midway through the bout. Only a miraculous rally in which he outscored Condomitti, 10-2, for an 11-9 overtime victory that produced numerous ulcers for Throckmorton.
“I think he wrestled the 2, 3 and 4 seeds,” said Throckmorton. “I think he wrestled all of them. We have some things to work on. The slam bothered him. I think it made him tentative.”
McMonigal of West Chester Henderson, who outscored Henson, 4-1, to slice a big lead into a 5-4 hold-on-tight for the 6-4 victory.
That set up another final against Altieri. After a few nervous moments, Henson came away with a 5-3 decision.
“Yeah, they were all pretty tough,” said Henson. “For a second there, I was pretty scared against Condomitti.
“People don’t get enough credit who medal here. They don’t get recruited enough.”
“That was a gut check,” Throckmorton said. “They say Wyatt has a few more gears and he showed them in his match.”
What made this victory so satisfying was that Henson’s father, Sammy, was in the corner for his match.
“It was awesome,” said Wyatt. “He’s in the corner for most of my matches.”
The win did pay off for Henson.
“My mom said she would give me $100 if I won,” said Henson. “I can get my dad to give me some money, too.”