Henckel finishes fourth at U23 national championship meet

Southbury’s William Henckel, who will be a sophomore at Penn State in the fall, finished fourth in the U23 nationals in Ohio on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)

Southbury’s William Henckel won eight matches at USA Wrestling’s U23 national championship freestyle tournament this weekend in Geneva, Ohio at the SPIRE Academy.

But he couldn’t get past Iowa State All-American M.J. Gaitain.

On Saturday, Gaitain, a three-time NCAA qualifier who finished eighth at 174 at this year’s NCAA national championships, beat Henckel by pin in the fifth round of the 79 kilogram (174.1 pounds) tournament in 2:39. Guilford’s Christopher Murphy finished fifth in Greco Roman at 97 kg.

Henckel won four straight bouts in the consolation round to meet Gaitain for a second time in the consolation final on Sunday. But Gaitain held off a strong second period rally by Henckel to prevail, 10-8 and finish third. Henckel, who finished 8-2 in the tournament, took fourth place.

Gaitain built a 7-0 lead after a takedown with 2:32 remaining in the match. Henckel responded with a takedown and a two-point near fall with 1:51 remaining to cut the lead to three, 7-4. Another takedown with 1:22 left cut Gaitain’s lead to one, 7-6.

Gaitain got a quick takedown with 58 seconds left to extend his lead to three before Henckel cut the lead to one with another takedown with 17 seconds left, 9-8.

Henckel was driving for another takedown as time ran out. His coaches challenged the final call and went it wasn’t upheld, it cost Henckel another point.

After losing to Gaitain on Saturday, Henckel, who will be a sophomore this fall at Penn State, beat New Jersey’s Holden Garcia, 8-5 to remain alive in the tournament.

On Sunday, Henckel beat California’s Luke Gayer, 13-1 in 5:46, Illinois’ Collin Carrigan, 5-0 and Missouri’s Brett Smith, 12-5.

In the consolation semifinal, Henckel had to rally to win and remain alive.

Georgia’s Gunner Filipowicz had a 5-2 lead with 2:34 remaining in the match. Henckel got a takedown with 1:31 remaining to cut the lead to one, 5-4. Henckel drove Filipowicz off the mat with 39 seconds left to tie the bout at 5-5.

Henckel got a match-winning takedown with 12 seconds remaining to secure a 7-5 decision.

The last state wrestler to win a medal in the U23 tournament from Connecticut was Danbury native Ryan Jack (North Carolina State), who was second at 65 kg in 2023.

Murphy fifth in Greco Roman
Guilford’s Christopher Murphy, representing South Side Wrestling Club out of Bridgeport, competed in the U23 tournament in freestyle and Greco Roman.

Murphy want 2-2 in the freestyle tournament at 92 kg but in Greco-Roman, he finished fifth with a 4-2 record.

Murphy won his first three Greco Roman matches by technical fall in 1:40, 3:20 and 56 seconds, respectively. He gave up just two points in his first three bouts.

In the semifinals, Murphy lost to eventual U23 champion Soren Herzog of Air Force Regional Training in 4:19 by technical fall (8-0).

After dropping is consolation semifinal, Murphy beat Wisconsin’s Cody Kuak to finish fifth.

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