BUTLER TWP — On Senior Night, leave it to a senior to lead the way.

Butler 160-pound wrestler Hank Finan had one of four Golden Tornado pins Tuesday night — recording his in 31 seconds — in helping his team post a 52-16 dual match victory over Armstrong.

“For a while now, I’ve been hyping to our kids the importance of coming out aggressive and getting the first takedown,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “The numbers show that whoever gets the first takedown in a match wins 65 percent of the time.”

Finan took that advice to heart Tuesday.

He took down Garrett Kelly almost immediately and never let him escape.

“I’ve been working hard at going hard right at the first whistle,” Finan said. “I’ve been working hard at my wing, too. I got him in it and it worked.

“Getting a quick pin tonight ... This was the best thing I could possibly do.”

The win improved Finan to 15-14 on the season. The pin was his ninth of the year.

Braydon Hoffman at 106 pounds, Scott Dietrich at 138 and Christian Sequete at 170 also recorded pins for the Golden Tornado (13-8). Sequete’s pin was his team-leading 16th of the campaign as the sophomore improved to 28-4.

Finan and fellow seniors Mike Vought, Levi Spohn, Luke Hyde and Justin Johnson were recognized in a brief ceremony before the match. Johnson scored an 8-4 decision at 195 pounds to improve to 24-6 on the year.

Johnson’s career varsity record was 31-24 coming into this season.

“It’s my final year and I want to get to states,” Johnson said. “I had to step my game up.

“Coach has been emphasizing that first takedown and it meant a lot to me to do that tonight. He (Armstrong’s Ogden Atwood) was a tough kid to put away.”

Stoner described Johnson’s mat skills as having “plenty of speed and explosiveness,” but stressed that his senior needs to use that skill set to his advantage more often.

“It’s like you have a thoroughbred and a Clydesdale racing alongside each other and the thoroughbred is just keeping pace, jogging alongside rather than just blowing his doors off,” Stoner said.

No Tornado wrestler was pinned Tuesday night. The only time Butler surrendered six points was in choosing to forfeit to Armstrong standout heavyweight Jacob Robb (26-1) at heavyweight.

Robb is ranked No. 2 in the state at his weight class.

Butler’s Caleb Baxter improved to 24-5 with a 3-0 decision at 152 pounds. Dietrich moved to 19-7 with his pin at 138 and Saavon Mosby improved to 16-13 with a 12-4 major decision at 220.

Tom Greaves slipped to 9-9, but wrestled a strong match against Armstrong’s Nate Vukovich (19-5) at 182. Greaves took Vukovich down with 20 seconds left, but couldn’t follow up with any back points in dropping a 4-3 decision.

Armstrong slipped to 6-7 with the loss. Coach Brandon Newell refused comment after the match.

“We’re near the end of the season here and we’re trying to peak everybody at the same time,” Stoner said. “Overall, we did pretty well.”

The Tornado wrestle at Bethel Park Thursday night before hosting Hampton Feb. 18 in their final dual match of the season.

Butler 52, Armstrong 16

(Match started at 132 pounds)

106-Braydon Hoffman (B) pinned Tyler Malia, 1:48; 113-Isaiah Christy (B) by forfeit; 120-Jack Codispot (B) by forfeit; 126-Shane Culp (B) pinned Matt Reitler, 2:43; 132-Brendon Malia (A) dec. Sam Dietrich, 2-0; 138-Scott Dietrich (B) pinned Austin Pinkerton, 3:31; 145-Matt Vukovich (A) dec. Mike Vought, 10-1; 152-Caleb Baxter (B) dec. Nick Croyle, 3-0; 160-Hank Finan (B) pinned Garrett Kelly, :31; 170-Christian Sequete (B) pinned Kain Acierno, 5:22; 182-Nate Vukovich (A) dec. Tom Greaves, 4-3; 195-Justin Johnson (B) dec. Ogden Atwood, 8-4; 220-Saavon Mosby (B) dec. Joel Tack, 12-4; Hwt.-Jacob Robb (A) by forfeit