PENN HILLS — Jeremiah Bortmas leaned against the wall with headgear and warm-up clothes in hand, truly feeling relaxed.

The 160-pound Butler senior wrestler wasn’t worried about seeds or rankings. He was enjoying his 9-1 major decision victory over Ringgold’s Henry Caulfield during the WPIAL Class AAA wrestling championships Thursday night at Penn Hills High School.

Bortmas, who doesn’t plan to wrestle in college, knows this could be his last tournament. He wants to make it a special run.

A win over Bethel Park’s Paul Dunn in the quarterfinals Friday could provide that feeling for Bortmas.

Dunn beat Bortmas in the WPIAL quarterfinals last year and twice earlier this season.

“It’d mean stories for my grandkids,” said Bortmas, who is 30-6. “It’d mean ending on a good note for sure. It’s going to stay with me forever. I know wrestling’s changed my life. I’ve been doing it for so long it’s a part of me now.”

Bortmas is one of six Butler County wrestlers — along with Seneca Valley’s Louis Newell (106), Alex Lynch (113) and Austin Leon (170), Central Catholic’s Tony Palumbo (160) and Mars’ Noah Wright (152) — to reach the quarterfinals.

With the exception of Leon, who is seeded fourth, everyone else will face higher-seeded opponents in the next round.

Wright especially knows what he’s up against.

He will wrestle the top seed, Central Catholic’s Vincenzo Joseph, who is a Penn State University signee and ranked No. 2 nationally by InterMat. Joseph beat Wright 20-5 in the Section 3 finals last week.

“I’m looking to battle against him and do better against him than I did last time,” said Wright, who pinned Moon’s Luke McConaghy in 2:45 to earn his first WPIAL win. “I need to come out of it with a positive attitude. I can’t get down on myself after that match. Whether I win or lose, I will still have more wrestling to do.”

Newell, who is a freshman, also picked up his first WPIAL tournament win.

He held on to beat Belle Vernon’s Jacob Dunlop 8-5.

Newell will take on Waynesburg’s Caleb Morris, who is the top seed. Morris beat Newell 7-5 at a tournament earlier this season.

“After that match I know the competition level, so I feel pretty confident after that,” Newell said.

Lynch moved on to the quarterfinals with an 8-1 win over Latrobe’s Tyler Hughes.

Lynch, who lost in the quarterfinals last year, will face Trinity’s Michael Kalosky, who is seeded fourth.

“I do think I’m better prepared for the challenge,” Lynch said. “I’ve definitely come a long way. I have a strong mentality to keep fighting through every period.”

Leon advanced with a 14-4 win over Mountour’s Colin Funkhouser. Palumbo, a Cranberry Township resident, beat McKeesport’s Keith Rhodes, 8-3.

Eleven other Butler County wrestlers are still alive in the consolation bracket.

Bortmas hopes he can continue to push through to the semifinals.

After watching the WPIAL finals last year, he’s not worried about facing one of the top wrestlers.

“There were three No. 1 ranked guys upset in a row in the finals and that spoke to me,” Bortmas said. “I don’t even look at seeds anymore.”

Butler County wrestler results

Pigtail round

(Losers eliminated)

132: Alex Fischer (Seneca Valley) dec. Michael Standish (Albert Gallatin), 7-5

138: Silas Bender (Mars) dec. Drew Vith (Montour), 5-3; Lawrence Scott (West Mifflin) dec. Caleb Baxter (Butler), 5-2

145: Donovan Malovich (Butler) pin Dave Rubis (West Allegheny), 5:01

152: Turner Gray (Mt. Lebanon) pin Brandon Yobst (Knoch), 3:52

170: Christian Sequette (Butler) dec. Ryan DeLoach (Franklin Regional), 9-5

182: Taylor Anderson (McKeesport) dec. Nick Roth (Butler), 9-7

195: Justin Johnson (Butler) dec. Corbin Bundy (Greensburg Salem), 3-1

285: Gerald Brown (West Mifflin) dec Dante Santelli (Seneca Valley), 1:29; Nicholas Canton (Chartiers Valley) pin Seth McCrea (Butler), 1:41

First-round

106: Louis Newell (Seneca Valley) dec. Jacob Dunlop (Belle Vernon), 8-5; Vince Distefanis (Hempfield) dec. Alex Hornfeck (Mars), 10-7

113: Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley) dec. Tyler Hughes (Latrobe), 8-1

120: Zeke Beatty (Laurel Highlands) dec. Ben Lynch (Seneca Valley), 3-2

126: Luke Kemerer (Hempfield) tech. fall Scotty Dietrich (Butler), 18-2

132: Josh Ridgeway (Norwin) tech fall Alex Fischer (Seneca Valley), 17-2

138: Cameron Coy (Penn-Trafford) pin Silas Bender (Mars), 1:19

145: Jarod Verkleeren (Belle Vernon) pin Donovan Malovich (Butler), :24

152: Noah Wright (Mars) pin Luke McConaghy (Moon), 2:45

160: Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler) dec. Henry Caulfield (Ringgold), 9-1; Tony Palumbo (Central Catholic) dec. Keith Rhodes (McKeesport), 8-3; Zach Mattucci (Greensburg Salem) pin Matt Steinmiller (Knoch), 3:54

170: Austin Leon (Seneca Valley) maj. dec. Colin Funkhouser (Montour), 14-4; Austin Bell (Belle Vernon) dec. Christian Sequette (Butler), 14-7

195: Nathan Barcaskey (Moon) pin Justin Johnson (Butler), 3:44

220: Dylan Davis (Latrobe) dec. JD Bojanac (Butler), 3-1; Derek Berberick (Greensburg Salem) pin Bailey Savage (Knoch), 1:06