Chartiers Valley wrestlers share common bond
Chartiers Valley wrestlers Dylan Evans and Christopher Beatty are not related.
They are bound together, however, by Colts wrestling coach Billy Evans, who parents one and mentors the other.
Though Dylan is a sophomore and Beatty is a junior, the pair have wrestled together since they were 5. They traveled to tournaments together with the elder Evans and his wife serving as chauffeurs and coaches.
“C.C. is very special to me,” Billy Evans said of Christopher Beatty. “He’s like a member of our family.”
While C.C. actually is one of 13 children in the Beatty family, he impressed his coach when he finished runner-up in the Section 4 tournament and punched his ticket to the WPIAL championships held Feb. 27 at Canon-McMillan High School.
“Super proud,” Evans said. “I am so blessed to have coached C.C.”
According to Evans, Beatty is a special athlete, who maintains a 5.25 GPA and only takes advanced placement classes. Columbia and Cornell have already expressed interest in his academic and athletic talents, which also includes playing football for the Colts.
“C.C. has the greatest demeanor in the world. He always has a smile on his face. He’s the most humble kid,” Evans said.
“He’s almost like Captain America in that he has strong character and abides by a moral code. He never does what he’s not supposed to do.”
In a weight class that features Cole Spencer (17-1) from Pine-Richland, Enzo Marlacci (21-1) from Kiski (21-1), Nate Stephenson (20-3) from Waynesburg, Chase Kranitz (21-3) from Norwin and Collin McCorkle (22-6) from North Allegheny, Beatty (19-4) isn’t favored to emerge from the district as a regional qualifier.
“It’s a tough road,” Evans admitted, “but C.C. is unbelievably tough.”
Noting Beatty once wrestled with a broken nose and still won matches, Evans said he has not coached a kid with that level of “toughness and heart.”
Beatty showed plenty of grit when he secured the silver medal during the Section 4 finals held Feb. 20 at Canon-McMillan. He pinned Jaden Brown from Central Catholic in 53 seconds before he dropped a 5-2 decision to Stephenson in the 160-pound final.
“C.C. was aggressive and more physical in the match but he walked into a shot and gave up a takedown,” Evans said of the championship loss.
As he advances in his career, Evans said Beatty will gain more mat awareness and gamesmanship.
“This will be a kid, that at whatever weight he wrestles, he’ll be at the very least top 8, if not top 4, in the state,” the coach said. “That’s not out of the question and that would be fantastic.”
Evans’ own son, Dylan, had an impressive showing in his sectionals, earning his spot in the WPIAL championships, where the top three place winners advance to the Super Regional with the hopes of qualifying for the PIAA championships set for March 12-13 at the Giant Center in Hershey.
Dylan fell 3-2 to his long-time rival, Waynesburg’s Cole Homet, in the 138-pound championship match in the Section 4 tournament. Dylan had previously upended Homet in the sub-section final.
According to Billy Evans, Dylan and Homet have wrestled each other since they were 5 years old.
“They have always been great matches and if they wrestle 100 times, it might be 50-50,” the coach said. “They are two fantastic wrestlers and they are fun to watch and I have the best seat in the house to watch.”
Evans has witnessed how his son has progressed both as a student and an athlete.
An honors student, Dylan is being recruited by the University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Lehigh.
“Dylan gets his wrestling from his dad,” the coach said. “Smarts and all the rest from his mom.”
Since he finished second in a youth tournament as a 10-year-old, Dylan has risen before 5 a.m. to workout at the gym. When he travels to tournaments with his mom, Mary, and two discuss strategies and competitions.”Until I got him in ninth grade, she kept him centered on grades and wrestling. They put the sweat equity in,” Billy Evans said.
“Second was not good enough for him so Dylan developed into this hard-working, good kid. But, he’s not one-dimensional. He does a lot of things right. He does well in all aspects of his life. Win or lose, I could not be any prouder of my son and his work ethic. He shows up and works hard every day.”
Dylan trains at the Quest Wrestling Club. He has improved his rank to No. 3 in the WPIAL. He was 26-4 heading into the WPIAL championships, trailing only No. 1 Finn Solomon (27-1) from Franklin Regional and Homet, who is No. 2 with a 22-1 record.
“It’s a great bracket, so many good wrestlers,” Evans said. “Anyone can win it. It just depends on who shows up that event.”
Something that has crossed the pair’s mind is who would win a “fantasy” match between father and son. Billy Evans was a WPIAL runner-up when he wrestled at 140 pounds for CV in the early 1990s.
“We talk about it all of the time,” the coach said. “Could I beat him? Maybe. It probably would be a really good match. This time next year, I seriously doubt it.”
Evans sees Dylan moving up to 152 next year and to 160 as a senior. In college, he would likely wrestle at 165.
“College is in his future for sure. Dylan’s gotten a lot of inquiries already. Some of them top 15 schools,” Billy Evans said. “How he finishes his career is how he will be viewed. Right now, he’s doing pretty well, competing against some of the best wrestlers in the state because in our crazy little section that’s where they are.”