Salvaterra sparks late run as Avon Grove tops Henderson

WEST CHESTER — As tournament season morphs into the dual meet portion of the schedule, finding that same level of motivation can be a challenge for some wrestlers.

Wednesday, Avon Grove sophomore Dom Salvaterra was not one of those looking for a spark. Rather, the sparks found him.

As if competing against his head coach, Rob Beighley’s, old program wasn’t inspiration enough, Salvaterra had one of West Chester Henderson’s top wrestlers bump up to wrestle him.

Up a weight from last year, at 189 pounds, Salvaterra used his size advantage to avenge a loss from last year and set his team up for a run to the finish.

“He teched me last year at Ches-Monts, so it was very nice to get this victory as handily as I did,” Salvaterra said.

The 14-0 major decision gave Avon Grove a lead it wouldn’t surrender, and the Red Devils went on to take their Ches-Mont National Division dual meet opener, 40-29, over last season’s division champs.

“It was a very good performance overall, but we can improve and do better and get points we left out,” Salvaterra.

The first six bouts were alternating pins by each team.

Logan Brazell (133 pounds) found himself in a big hole before forcing a defensive pin to get the Red Devils (1-0 division, 7-0 overall) on the board. Colin Wachs (145) and Diego Abreu (160) also pinned early on for Avon Grove.

Warriors’ junior, Alek Belfer (139), was working on a major decision against Noah Parsons before catching him for a fall with six seconds left in the match. Nate Garcia (152) and Peter Mazzagatti (172) worked match-tying pins for Henderson (0-1, 3-6) in the first half of the dual.

“Bonus points are probably the biggest thing in high school wrestling right now,” Henderson coach Joe Gartland said. “It’s turning into whoever doesn’t get pinned will win the match. Avon Grove is a great team. They have very good young wrestlers. It was definitely a heartbreaker. They definitely got a lot better since last year.”

Three hundred, fifty-five days prior, Henderson beat Avon Grove, 39-30, in a dual that came down to the final bout.

This season, the Red Devils have the ability to go on a run or two with their lineup. Salvaterra’s win ignited a streak of five wins in six bouts to clinch the result.

Wyatt Holdren (215) scored a major decision to give Avon Grove its first back-to-back wins.

Henderson’s Faizan Ahmad (285) wasted no time cutting the Red Devils’ lead back to two, with a 38-second pin, but Avon Grove took control from there.

Ben Kamertz shut out Charlie Ball, who made his first appearance at 107. RJ Beighley (114) followed with a 67-second pin, and Noah Smith (121) clinched the dual with a first-period technical fall.

“It’s really nice,” Avon Grove coach Rob Beighley said. “When we had our championship teams at Henderson, we had those stretches where we had two-to-three guys, back-to-back-to-back. If you have two-to-three guys in any part of the dual, who are solid, it makes you so much better of a dual team because they have limited moves. I feel we have that in spots.”

Entering the night, Avon Grove had the second-most pins in District 1. Of the Red Devils’ 137 wins, 65 percent of them came by fall.

That bodes well for the rest of the season, as they also learn how to grind out more close matches with the postseason just six weeks away.

“I think we’re much improved from last year,” Rob Beighley said. “We have a lot of improvement to do yet because we have lofty goals. I thought all in all, we wrestled well, some guys more than others. It was cool to come back and see everyone.

“(Henderson) was the champ last year, so getting the win here means a lot for the program. It means we’re trending in the right direction.”

Avon Grove 40, West Chester Henderson 29

133-  Brazell (AG) pinned Hawkins, 3:46 (6-0)

139- Belfer (WCH) pinned Parsons, 5:54 (6-6)

145- Wachs (AG) pinned Scarani, :55 (12-6)

152- N. Garcia (WCH) pinned Kitchen, 3:52 (12-12)

160- Abreu (AG) pinned Dickens, 2:45 (18-12)

172- Mazzagatti (WCH) pinned Knox, 1:32 (18-18)

189- Salvaterra (AG) maj. dec. Baldwin, 14-0 (22-18)

215- Holdren (AG) maj. dec. S. Ahmad, 10-0 (26-18)

285- F. Ahmad (WCH) pinned Hernandez, :38 (26-24)

107- Kamertz (AG) dec. Ball, 7-0 (29-24)

114- Beighley (AG) pinned Falkowski, 1:07 (35-24)

121- Smith (AG) tech. fall Shah, 1:59 (40-24)

127- Rowe (WCH) tech. fall Ortiz, 2:00 (40-29)