Butler junior Justin Stewart, front, tries escaping a hold by Hunter Vokes in their 152-pound match Wednesday night. Stewart escaped with a 3-2 deciasion in the Golden Tornado's 47-21 dual match win.

BUTLER TWP — When they were needed, Butler's heavier weights became heavy hitters Wednesday night.

The Golden Tornado won six of the evening's final seven matches — four via pin — to pull away from Seneca Valley for a 47-21 dual wrestling match victory. The win improved Butler to 7-0 in dual matches this season and enables the Tornado to host the Section 3 team championships next Wednesday night.

“My team surprised me a little bit tonight,” Butler coach Scott Stoner admitted. “We came out and wrestled aggressively from the very first match and finished off a lot of pins.

“All of the swing matches went our way. That made a big difference. I thought this match would be a lot closer, maybe even go the other way.”

Cameron Weisenstein (8-6) opened with a pin for Butler at 106 pounds.

“Cam set the tone, set the pace,” Stoner said. “He scored a couple of nice reversals and controlled the match.”

The Tornado won “swing” matches at 132 pounds, a 15-9 decision for freshman Nate McDonald (5-6) and a 3-2 decision by Justin Stewart (7-8) at 152. Stewart's decision increased a two-point Tornado lead to 20-15.

Stewart scored an escape in the final period for the deciding point in his match.

Pins by Caleb Baxter at 160, Christian Sequete at 182, Tom Greaves at 195 and Seth McCrea at 285 helped Butler pull away.

“They (Raiders) put the better of two kids up against Nathan and he got it done,” Stoner said. “That was a nice win for a freshman ... props to Nathan.”

Greaves agreed.

“That was a big one,” the Butler senior said. “It was a turning point. We built a lot of momentum from his win.”

Sequete wrestled his first match of the season after tearing the MCL in his left knee prior to the team's wrestling opener. He secured his pin in 1:18.

“That felt awesome to get back out there,” Sequete said. “I'm good to go now. I feel like I can beat just about anybody.”

Greaves' pin clinched the team win for the Tornado. When he put Patrick Johnson's shoulders to the mat 44 seconds into the final period, the overflow crowd erupted.

“To get the mat-clinching win felt great, with everybody screaming like that ... As the pins were piling up for us, we were stacking momentum,” Greaves said.

Greaves improved to 14-3 on the season with eight pins.

Seneca Valley coach Kevin Wildrick said he had to move some wrestlers around in his lineup due to some ailments. He was missing 132-pounder Nick Montalbano (14-7) due to illness.

“Patrick Johnson is a 170-pounder and we asked him to face (Greaves) while giving up 20 pounds,” Wildrick said. “That was a tough task.

“Butler controlled the swing matches tonight. They wrestled very well. They came out determined and got revenge on us from last year.”

The Raiders (6-4, 4-1) defeated the Tornado in their dual match last season.

Jason Geyer (22-6) at 113, Louis Newell (23-1) at 120 and Ty Gross(17-9) at 170 had pins for Seneca Valley.

The packed gym and enthusiasm in the stands was not lost on Stoner.“I applaud the Seneca Valley fans who came up here to support their team and this great sport, along with our fans” Stoner said. “Believe me, that vocal support means the world to these kids.”And Wednesday's win may mean just as much to Butler's wrestling season.“Everyone pulled together tonight in a manner I have not seen before,” Stoner said. “The guys were wrestling for each other, not just for themselves.“When that team aspect kicks in, it can go a long way.”Butler 47, Seneca Valley 21(Match started at 106 pounds)106-Cameron Weisenstein (B) pinned Caden Leighty, 3:20; 113-Jason Geyer (SV) pinned Takoda Gerlach, :27; 120-Louis Newell (SV) pinned Colton Spohn, 1:10; 126-Jack Codispot (B) tech. fall (16-0) over Dom McGill, 3:43; 132-Nathan McDonald (B) dec. Gavin Jackman, 15-9; 138-Scotty Dietrich (B) dec Drew Vlasnik 9-5; 145-Alex Fischer (SV) dec. Sammy Dietrich 8-4; 152-Justin Stewart (B) dec. Hunter Vokes 3-2; 160-Caleb Baxter (B) pinned Gavin Funovits, 3:32; 170-Ty Gross (SV) pinned Robert Hays, 3:40; 182-Christian Sequete (B) pinned Casey Becker, 1:18; 195-Tom Greaves (B) pinned Patrick Johnson, 4:44; 220-Saavon Mosby (B) dec. Drake Church 5-2; Hwt.-Seth McCrea (B) pinned Kevin Meeder, 1:56

Nathan McDonald, Butler's freshman 132-pound wrestler, takes Gavin Jackman to the mat en route to a 15-9 decision. The win was a key match in the Golden Tornado's 47-21 team victory.