Chris Henchy, an 18-year-old Galloway Township resident and a football and lacrosse player at Absegami High School, had never wrestled prior to this year. That didn’t stop him from going out and winning his first 13 bouts. Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan caught up with the 220-pound senior during a phone interview earlier this month to talk about what it’s like donning a singlet for the first time, who he would love to go out on tour with, and why the lightweight wrestlers hate him. Sully: What made you decide to wrestle this year? Henchy: Coach (Shawn) Scannell, he nagged me for years and years. He said we were going to put together a really good team and needed a 220-pounder and I was able to fit into that weight class. Sully: Did you have to cut any weight for wrestling? Henchy: No, that’s what I was for football, 220 pounds. I dropped about five pounds just from conditioning. Sully: Did you have any experience with wrestling? Henchy: Nope, zero experience. 
Chris Henchy, a senior at Absegami who had never wrestled prior to this season, has been one of the biggest surprises in the 220-pound weight class, going undefeated through his first 16 matches. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Sully: So what did you think at the first practice? Henchy: I thought it was hell. They whooped up on me and I wasn’t expecting that. The first couple of practices I felt like I was just going to pass out. I’ve never been that tired in my life. Sully: How much different is wrestling practice from, say, an August football practice? Henchy: It’s more high tempo. Football practice is a rough practice, but it’s more of a long, dragging on practice. This is real quick; move, move, move. Sully: Did you feel weird the first time you put on a singlet? Henchy: Oh yeah. I had to check myself out in the mirror. Sully: What about your first bout? What was going through your mind right before that started? Henchy: I was nervous. I didn’t know many things going into my first match. I had just gotten over being sick so I had missed a week of practice heading into that first tournament. Scannell said ‘if you don’t feel good, don’t go out there.’ But I wanted to see what it was like. Sully: Are you surprised at the success you’ve been having so far? Henchy: Yeah. I had no idea how good I would do. Sully: Are you surprised at how long a wrestling tournament is on those Saturdays? Henchy: Oh yeah, I was not expecting that. Early in the morning until late at night. Sully: Have you developed any signature moves yet? Henchy: Um, I just tackle ’em. That’s my signature move, just get them to the ground. Sully: Spoken like a true football player. Sully: Do you have a certain song you listen to when you are warming up? Henchy: No, not really. I just go right into warmups with a couple of my buddies. I warm up with Will Sanz, him and Roman Rudisill. We go pretty hard. I also like warming up with some of the smaller kids, like James Giegold. He’s a real squirrelly kid and that gets me moving. Sully: Do the guys who are cutting weight get jealous of you when you’re eating cheeseburgers? Henchy: Yeah. I love to mess with them. Today somebody asked me what I eat the night before a match. I said, ‘anything I want.’ And they are like, ‘oh, man, I hate you!’ Haha. Sully: What do you think would be the coolest vacation spot to go to? Henchy: I would like to go to Chile or something, where they have real tall mountains where you can go skiing at night and during the day you can go on the beach. Sully: What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been to? Henchy: St. John’s in the Virgin Islands. You can just lay back and sit on the beach. Sully: If you could pick a band or singer to go on tour with, who would it be? Henchy: I’d have to say Eric Church or Jason Aldean. I love those country concerts. Nothing compares to them. Sully: What’s the coolest movie you’ve seen recently? Henchy: I haven’t really watched any movies recently, but I’d love to go see “Lone Survivor.” That looks like a really cool movie. Sully: Any big plans for this summer, your first not being a high school student? Henchy: Just chillin’ on the beach, nothing real big. Hanging out with all my friends before we go off to college. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
I got the mic: Chris Henchy, Absegami wrestling
