Sweet Revenge: Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson erases POWERade loss, flips script on Enriquez at States

HERSHEY: Waynesburg’s Wyatt Henson was drenched in sweat and could barely catch his breath … And that was five minutes after his match was over.

It was understandable. Henson just finished an eight-minute marathon and secured a measure of satisfying revenge on Day 1 of the PIAA Class 3A Wrestling Championships at Hershey’s Giant Center.

Henson dropped a disappointing 12-4 decision to Stroudsburg’s Cameron Enriquez during the Powerade Tournament. But that was a little over two months ago, and the Raiders freshman had plenty of time to chew on the loss.

It left a lasting impression. Henson, ranked sixth in the state at 120 according to PA Power Wrestling, pressed Enriquez from the opening whistle and pulled off a wild and exhausting 5-4 overtime decision in what was one of the more entertaining bouts of the tournament thus far.

“It gave me motivation,” Henson said. “I just wanted to beat him, and that gave me more confidence coming into the match.

“I know I got a lot better since Powerade, so I’m going to go out there and wrestle as hard as I can. I’m not going to relax, and I’m going to go out there and get the next kid.”

Turning an eight-point loss into a narrow win isn’t an easy task. Especially for a freshman making his first state tournament appearance.

Henson did it with preparation. Then, he ramped up the intensity and unleashed it on Enriquez, who entered the bout ranked fifth in the state, over the match distance.

It started in the opening period with a quick takedown. The lanky Enriquez escaped and scored on a takedown of his own to go up 3-2, but Henson escaped near the end of the period to lock the match up at 3.

Enriquez was still in good shape in the second. He escaped 10 seconds in and held a 4-3 margin heading to the third.

But Henson never got down. He kept coming, escaping 25 seconds into the period and going on the attack. He took multiple shots on the right leg of Enriquez, who was wearing a brace. Even though Henson didn’t score, he wore his opponent down, which paid dividends during sudden victory and two 30-second overtime periods.

“I got a better warm up in this time,” Henson said. “Last time, I took a nap before the match and went there and wrestled. This time, I got my mind set beforehand to go get it and have fun.

“I just feel my conditioning is better than anyone else’s, because I work hard. I just had the mindset that my conditioning was better than his and went out there to have fun.”

Both wrestlers were exhausted during sudden victory. Henson had the best chance to score when he got in on a single. Enriquez did his best Gumby impression to keep the match gridlocked.

Henson rode Enriquez out in the first 30-second overtime period. Enriquez couldn’t do the same, and Henson escaped 10 seconds in and held on the final 20 seconds to earn a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal round.

“I just worked as hard as I could to get the result I did,” Henson said. “I just wanted to put more pressure on this time, and that helped me a lot.

“I’m pretty exhausted, but this gives me a lot more confidence heading into the next round.”