On Thursday, Jan. 23, the West Henderson Falcons routed the Enka Jets by a score of 32 to 25, winning the Western Mountain Athletic Conference title, and maintaining their unbeaten streak up to this point in the 2020 season.

“Our team has performed really well, especially on matches that were important,” senior Alec Baynard said. “The kids who didn’t win even played their part in having a winning season.”

Senior Dillon Blackwell won his match after sustaining an ankle injury during the second period.

“Walking out on the mat after hurting my ankle, I knew it was going to be hard to keep the lead in the match,” Blackwell said. “But hearing my friends and family chanting, ‘Let’s go Dillon,’ during the match gave me the motivation to push through the pain and win for my teammates.”

According to senior Auden Brennan, it was winning key matches like Blackwell’s that enabled the Falcons to maintain the lead going into the final bout, where Brennan took the mat against Enka’s Garrett Pugh in the 170-pound weight class and won 10-4.

“Everything was on the line for this match,” Brennan said. “If I won, the team would go undefeated, but if I lost, Enka could’ve taken the win. I’ve already beat him twice this year, but with a match this big, I knew I had to leave everything on the mat so I could get the win for my team.”

The Falcons, with their 20-win season, have already surpassed the previous win record set in 1996 at 15-0. 

  “Going undefeated with this team felt really good, because going into this program three years ago, we had doubts about how good would be in the years to come,” Baynard said. “But with everyone’s work ethic and determination put in this program, it really paid off for our season as well as the match against Enka. It is amazing to be conference champions while going undefeated with this team.”

By: Johnathan Austin and Lawrence Whittington, Feature Writers