HERSHEY >> Five local wrestlers will be coming home with medals from arguably the toughest high school wrestling tournament in the country.
West Chester Henderson’s Killian Delaney (120), Downingtown West’s Max Hale (170), Unionville’s Tyler Mousaw (182) and Great Valley’s Ethan Seeley (195) in Class 3A, along with Church Farm School’s Emanuel Lawal in class 2A, will bring home state medals from the Giant Center in Hershey.
Delaney, who suffered a tough quarterfinal loss to eventual state champ Sean Pierson of Nazereth, rebounded with a win to clinch a a spot on the podium, but dropped a close one in overtime to Manheim Central’s Will Betancourt. The defeat put Delaney in the seventh place match at 120, where lost 5-3 on a late reversal, and settled for eighth place.
“You can see how much this gets to him,” said Henderson coach Rob Beighly. “But he’s the kind of kid that will just use this for motivation. He’ll get back to work, and do everything he can to make sure he gets to where he wants to be.”
Hale was a semifinalist at 170, but was dropped to the consolation rounds with a loss to eventual champ Gerrit Nijenhuis. A loss to Chambersburg’s Luke Nichter put Hale in the fifth place match, where he picked up a last-second takedown to win.
“I wasn’t happy with wrestling in this match,” said Hale. “I believe I could’ve wrestled better. But I also knew that I wanted to finish this season with a win. Now I just have to get back to working hard. I know where I need to get better, and I will work hard to get on top of the podium next year.
At 182, Unionville’s Mousaw was relegated to the fifth place bout following losses in the championship and consolation semis. In that bout, Mousaw suffered a little bit of revenge, falling to Brandon Matthews, who he had beaten earlier in the tournament.
“Tyler took that loss in consi-semis hard,” said Unionville coach Bill Taylor. “I told him he has to remember that pain, remember just how bad he felt right then. Hopefully he uses that to realize how hard he has to work if he wants to succeed here.”
Great Valley’s Seeley picked up an eighth-place medal at 195, falling to Luke Montgomery of Bethel Park.
In Class 2A action, Church Farm’s Lawal earned the school’s first-ever state medal, taking home eight-place hardware at 285.
“It would have been nicer to end my season with a win, but I am really happy to get a medal,” said Lawal. “First year, I didn’t qualify. Last year, I didn’t get a medal. But with the help of all my coaches and teammates, hopefully next year I can get up higher on the podium. Maybe even the top.”
