Alex Lynch of Seneca Valley gets control of Butler's Shane Culp in their 126-pound match Wednesday night. Lynch went on to pin Cuilp and the Raider wrestling team posted a 42-32 victory to remain unbeaten in te section.

BUTLER TWP — Early and often.

That was the manner in which Seneca Valley's wrestlers went on the offensive in Wednesday's Section 3-A match against Butler.

Excluding a pair of forfeits at 285 and 120 pounds, the Raiders managed the initial takedown in the first period in four of the first five bouts.

The first five matches competed for all went Seneca Valley's way via pin and the Raiders registered a 42-32 victory over the Golden Tornado at Butler Intermediate High School.

Luke Chieppor (220 pounds), Jason Geyer (106), Louis Newell (113), Alex Lynch (126) and Nick Montalbano (132) each earned a fall as the Raiders jumped out to a 36-6 lead. Butler's lone win in that span was a forfeit victory credited to Seth McCrea at 285.

“You have to caution kids against being too aggressive,” said Raider coach Kevin Wildrick, “but in theory, we tell our guys to attack. We want them to have that aggressive nature and to go after pins.”

SV's win clinches for the Raiders (7-3, 5-0) first place in the sub-section. They will compete in the Section 3 team tournament, facing North Hills Wednesday at Shaler High School.

“The top two teams from each subsection go and we already had clinched at least second place,” said Wildrick, “but going with a 5-0 record helps give us more confidence.”

Chieppor started the Raiders off on the right foot when he pinned Butler's Saavon Mosby in the second period of the 220-pound bout.

“I didn't know anything about him,” said Chieppor of his opponent, “but I like going in to a match blind and just wrestling.”

The action soon turned to the lightweights, which includes most of SV's top wrestlers. Newell's pin of Braydon Hoffman came in 44 seconds and Montalbano ended Sam Dietrich's night in 48 seconds.

“Starting at 106, that is the strength of our lineup,” Wildrick said.

“It's disappointing to see us take a loss like this,” said Butler coach Scott Stoner. “Some of our kids are doing whatever they want to do and you see how it's working. Something has to change.

“As disappointed as I am in my team's performance, I have to hand it to Seneca Valley,” he added. “They kicked our rear-ends tonight. They were more aggressive and beat us up.”

The Golden Tornado (4-3, 3-2) earned victories with Scott Dietrich (138), Caleb Baxter (152), Hank Finan (160) and Christian Sequete (170), the last two coming by pin. Sequete, just a sophomore, improved to 17-2.

The night's closest match came at 145 pounds between SV's Tyler Gross and Butler's Donovan Malovich. The latter scored a pair of takedowns and led 5-2 entering the third period. Gross faced a 6-5 deficit late, but earned a takedown with seven seconds left to pull out a 7-6 decision.

“You could see the momentum shifting toward Tyler,” said Wildrick. “His confidence went up during the match.”

Both teams will compete in tournaments Saturday. The Raiders will travel to the Brooke (W.Va.) Classic while Butler will appear at the Clearfield Duals.

Seneca Valley 42, Butler 32

(Match started at 220 pounds)

106-Jason Geyer (SV) pinned Isaiah Christy, 3:17; 113-Louis Newell (SV) pinned Braydon Hoffman, :44 ; 120-Ben Lynch (SV) won by forfeit; 126-Alex Lynch (SV) pinned Shane Culp, 3:00; 132-Nick Montalbano (SV) pinned Sam Dietrich, :48; 138-Scott Dietrich (B) dec. Alex Fischer, 4-2; 145-Tyler Gross (SV) dec. Donovan Malovich, 7-6; 152-Caleb Baxter (B) tech. fall John Siwiak, 3:52; 160-Hank Finan (B) pinned Gavin Funovits, 3:01; 170-Christian Sequete (B) pinned Zach Cowell, :51; 182-Dustin Moniot (SV) dec. Tom Greaves, 9-2; 195-Justin Johnson (B) won by forfeit; 220-Luke Chieppor (SV) pinned Saavon Mosby, 3:50; Hwt.-Seth McCrea (B) won by forfeit.