Henderson clinches first Ches-Mont National title since 2011
WEST CHESTER—The Warriors have done some big things since Rob Beighley took over in the 2013-14 season, with a handful of state medalists including a runner-up finish from Killian Delaney a year ago, and winning any number of duals tournaments they’d enter. But one thing has eluded Henderson, despite some oh-so-close finishes—the league title.
That drought ended emphatically Wednesday night, as the Warriors celebrated senior night with a 67-6 rout of visiting Coatesville. With the win, Henderson clinched the Ches-Mont National division, a little over a month after picking up the team title at the Ches-Mont individual championships.
“For whatever reason, we just couldn’t get over that hump,” said Beighley. “Usually it was one of the Downingtown schools, East in particular, that would trip us up. It feels really good to win the division. I’m really happy, especially for these kids.”
The Warriors made do without one of its stars, senior Luke Phayre, who sat out with an injury. While Phayre is hoping to heal by the time the post season rolls around, he was nonetheless excited to be a part of a championship season already.
“We got some news today that lets us feel a little more optimistic about his return,” said Beighley. “We have 20 days s until the start of the post-season, so we’ll see what happens.”
Even without Phayre in the line-up, the Warriors were on fire right out of the gate, jumping out to a 61-0 lead before the Red Raiders even got on the board.
After Brett Patton collected a forfeit at 120 to start the match, Henderson reeled off three straight pins from Delaney (126), Justin Tran(132), and Connor McMonagle (138).
Gavin O’Hara picked up another forfeit at 145, and then Bobby English, filling in for Phayre at 152, broke open a tight match with Nathan Meyer by scoring 11 unanswered points to come away with a 13-3 major decision.
Koh Bauman kept the win streak alive, scoring on a pair of double leg takedowns to edge Matthew Evans 5-2 before the Warriors kicked off another pinning streak.
At 170, Mason Baldwin led Caleb Henson just 4-3 deep into the third period when he hooked up a bar and wrist combo to get the fall at the 5:56 mark. Cash Artis followed with a late third period pin at 182, and then Mike Pawecki used ran the bar and wrist to get a first period decking at 195. Gavin Range capped the pin streak with a quick, 17-second fall at 220 to put his team up 61-0.
“We have a really good team and I couldn’t be happier,” said Range. “We all worked really hard to get here, and it feels great to win a title.”
Coatesville finally stopped the bleeding with a win at 285, when Ayden Geter took Wyatt Hampton down to his back and got the slap of the mat with just 34-ticks off the clock.
At 106, Billy Wilson was up just 5-4 over Eli Lavalais headed into the third, but hit a switch for a reversal and then ran a bar to tack on three near fall points to win going away, 10-4.
A fitting way to end the dual, 113 was the marquee match-up of the night, with Henderson’s Sam McMonagle squared off with Coatesville’s Nathan Lucier. The two are ranked second and third in the district respectively, according to PA-Wrestling.com, and know each other well, having trained together in the offseason for years.
Following a scoreless first, McMonagle broke loose for an escape midway through the second period, the hit a sweep single for a takedown and a 3-0 lead. Lucier got an escape of his own to cut the lead to 3-1, but McMonagle was able to stave off Lucier’s offense the rest of the way, and match ended 3-1.
“I just tried to get out there and get on my offense as quickly as I could, like it was just another practice,” said McMonagle. “I managed to get in on the one single for the takedown, and that was all I needed. After riding him out the rest of the period, I was pretty confident headed to the third. I’m just really happy to win the Ches-Mont. Most of this team trains together year round.”
Henderson 67 Coatesville 6
120—Patton (Henderson) by forfeit 6-0
126—Delaney (Henderson) pinned M Lavalais 0:53 12-0
132—Tran (Henderson) pinned Florian 1:28 18-0
138—C McMonagle (Henderson) pinned Martinez 1:27 24-0
145—O’Hara (Henderson) by forfeit 30-0
152—English (Henderson) major decision Meyer 13-3 34-0
160—Bauman (Henderson) decision Evans 5-2 37-0
170—Baldwin (Henderson) pinned Henson 5:26 43-0
182—Artis (Henderson) pinned Ayoub 5:52 49-0
195—Pawecki (Henderson) pinned Chmielecki 1:37 55-0
220—Range (Henderson) pinned DeShield 0:17 61-0
285—Geter (Coatresville) pinned Hampton 0:34 61-6
106—Wilson (Henderson) decision E Lavalais 10-4 64-6
113—S McMonagle (Henderson) decision Lucier 3-1 67-6
