Brayden Wenrich is one of the quickest, slickest wrestlers you will see on his feet, but it was his strength in riding that secured his first state championship.

After a scoreless first period, Wenrich made the bold choice to take neutral in the second.

“We talked about it this morning in the lobby. Either way you need a takedown, so give yourself more time to get that takedown instead playing around on the bottom,” Wenrich explained.

Strategically, it made sense. His opponent, Gabe Benyo of Hazleton, had ridden him out in the second period the previous week in the Northeast Regional final. Wenrich had won that match on his feet, scoring three takedowns while posting a 9-1 major decision.

At Hershey, the two sophomores went the final period scoreless. Benyo elected to take bottom, needing only an escape to possibly take home the title. Five of the state titles across AA, AAA, and Girls last weekend were 1-0 decisions where the only score was a single escape.

The match ended 1-0, but it was the Northampton grappler that took home the gold medal.

Benyo had picked up a stalling warning in the first period trying to slow down Wenrich’s offense and the referee justifiably dinged him again in the third for lack of activity.

“I didn’t really feel him working for escapes down there. He was kind of sitting down there defending. I’m pretty confident on top riding people out,” stated the newly-minted state champion.

Wenrich only allowed four total points during his four matches on the way to the gold medal. He opened with a 10-1 major, followed by decisions of 6-2 and 8-1 in the quarterfinals and semis respectively.

With two years to go in his Northampton wrestling career, he has the opportunity to become the first 4-time finalist in Konkrete Kids’ history.