Henson back at Waynesburg, but postseason status cloudy
Wyatt Henson has transferred back to Waynesburg High School, but may not be allowed to wrestle in postseason tournaments.
Henson, a junior, is the son of former Olympic bronze medalist Sammie Henson.
Wyatt Henson and his brother, Jackson, wrestled at Waynesburg during the 201718 season when Sammie was the head coach at West Virginia University. Both qualified for the PIAA tournament.
Wyatt Henson placed third in the WPIAL and fifth in the PIAA as a 120-pound freshman and finished with a 43-12 record. Jackson Henson, who was a 138-pound senior, placed second in the WPIAL and finished with a 36-7 record after losing twice in Hershey.
The family moved to Missouri for the 2018-19 school year when Sammie Henson was fired from his job at West Virginia.
Wyatt Henson attended Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis last season and won a Missouri Class 4 state title at 138 pounds. He had a 33-6 record.
Henson, who recently committed to Iowa, was among two dozen transfers the WPIAL reviewed on Nov. 18.
The WPIAL board of directors ruled that Henson is eligible to wrestle during the regular season but ineligible for the postseason under a PIAA rule that refers to transfers after their 10th-grade year.
The Henson family will appeal the decision to the PIAA. Waynesburg coach Joe Throckmorton and the Henson family have chosen not to comment on the situation until after the appeal.
“An athlete has 30 days to appeal a decision made by a PIAA district,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said. “We have not received an appeal request from the Henson family yet.”
Rule changes
The biggest rule change for the 2019-20 season allows more injury time to evaluate head and neck injuries involving the cervical column and/or nervous system when an appropriate health care professional is present at a wrestling match.
A wrestler can receive an additional five minutes of injury time, added to the current time of one minute and 30 seconds, for the health care professional to evaluate the injury. At that point, the wrestler would have to continue or default the match.
A second injury to the head and neck involving cervical column and/or central nervous system in the same match will require the wrestler to default the match.
If an appropriate health care professional is not present, all injuries to the head and neck would be evaluated during normal injury time. If a wrestler exhibits signs of a concussion, he must be removed from the match.
Other rule changes include:
• Stalling has been removed from the progressive penalty chart and will be penalized separately. The first penalty will be a warning. The opponent will be awarded a match point on the second and third offenses, two match points and choice of position on the next restart for the fourth offense. A fifth offense for stalling will result in disqualification. The change was made to increase the level of offensive wrestling.
• A wrestler can be penalized one point for fleeing the mat during a scoring situation. The new rule reads: “When the referee feels that either wrestler has failed to make every effort to stay inbounds during an imminent scoring situation, the offending wrestler shall be penalized for fleeing the mat.”
• If a wrestler’s shoelaces become untied, he or she will be accessed a penalty for stalling.
Another change
Another rule change allows additional wrestlers to participate in regular-season tournaments.
Tournament directors have the option of allowing two wrestlers from the same team to participate in a weight class if the 16-man bracket is not filled. The second wrestler would be considered an unattached participant and any points he scores would not count toward their team’s scoring total.
“It’s a positive move for the sport,” said Fox Chapel coach Ron Frank, who serves as president of the WPIAL Coaches Association. “It gives more wrestlers the opportunity to compete.”
Frank Vulcano Jr. is the tournament director at the Chartiers-Houston Tournament, which will be held Dec. 6-7, and the Powerade Christmas Tournament, which will be held Dec. 27-28.
Vulcano will allow multiple entries at the ChartiersHouston Tournament, but will not allow them at the Powerade Tournament since it has a separate junior varsity tournament.
Century Club
One goal all wrestlers hope to attain during their career is joining the WPIAL Century Club.
Seven seniors enter the 2019-20 season with 100 or more victories: Canon-McMillan’s Gerritt Nijenhuis (134-6), North Hills’ Sam Hillegas (1182), Kiski Area’s Nick Delp (11330), Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps (112-9), Mt. Lebanon’s Luke Stout (111-16), Kiski Area’s Jack Blumer (111-25) and Burrell’s Trent Valovchik (100-45).