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Sports

Amanda Hendey Wins National Wrestling Title

Beaumont High grappler achieves her biggest goal.

Amanda Hendey of Beaumont High School reached the top of the mountain on Saturday.

Hendey put the final touches on what has been a historic run by winning her weight class at the USAW Girls Folkstyle National Championships.

The national title is Hendey’s crowning achievement in a career stacked with milestone moments.

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“It was like ‘it finally has happened,’” said Hendey, who won the title at Oklahoma City University. “It was like now things felt complete for me.”

Hendey won her national title in dominating fashion. The top-seeded Hendey, competing at 130 lbs, pinned her three opponents to make it happen.

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Hendey received a first round bye and then recorded a quarterfinal pin over Stephany Mix (1:58), a semifinal pin over  Alyssa Wong (:38) and won it all with a third round pin of Anna Mcaleavey in the final.

“I went in and wrestled real hard,” Hendey said of her championship final. “I kept the pressure on and didn’t give up anything.”

Getting the pin fall in the championship match was an exclamation point for Hendey.

“She was strong and flexible,” Hendey said. “She was hard to turn. But I got her in the third.”

While there is a sense of relief by Hendey, this isn’t the end of her wrestling career. Hendey accepted a wrestling scholarship from Oklahoma City University late last year and will return there in the fall as a student-athlete.

“This, technically, is my last high school event,” Hendey said. “It’s the way I wanted it to be.”

Hendey is undefeated at 25-0, with 23 of those wins coming by pin fall. Hendey won the two other matches by injury default.

Hendey will have plenty to look back on. She is Beaumont High’s first state champion. And she did that twice by winning the California CIF State title as a junior and senior.

Hendey is a 3-time boys CIF qualifier and 4-time All American. Hendey started the high school season by helping the Cougars win a share of the Mountain Pass League tile, qualifying for the CIF boys individual championships and winning her CIF Regional title in front of family and friends at Beaumont High School.

“I just feel like I’ve been waiting for this for such a long time,” Hendey said. “Finally it has happened. I have worked so hard for this.”

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