Louis Newell was less than a minute away from winning his second straight Class AAA Southwest Regional wrestling title.

But the final 50-plus seconds belonged to North Hills’ Sam Hillegas.

Newell tallied a takedown in both the second and third period of the 113-pound title bout Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.

The effort gave him a 4-2 lead before Hillegas managed a reversal with 51 seconds left to tie the score at 4-4.

Hillegas then scored a pair of near-fall points in the closing seconds and defeated Seneca Valley’s junior 6-4.

“Louis’ 4-2 lead came after a scramble and it lasted for about four or five seconds,” said Raiders’ coach Kevin Wildrick. “That’s when Hillegas got on top of him.”

Newell reached the final round with a 5-3 decision over Belle Vernon’s Jacob Dunlop. That bout was tied at 2-2 with two minutes left before the former executed an escape just three seconds into the third period. He scored a takedown 50 seconds later.

Newell won a regional title at 106 pounds last year and went on to wrestle in the state final before losing. He will compete at the PIAA event in Hershey later this week.

“He’s as strong as he was last year,” insisted Wildrick. “He just ran into a very strong wrestler.”

Also qualifying for the state tournament was Butler senior Caleb Baxter, who rebounded from an 11-0 semifinal loss to Belle Vernon’s Zach Hartman to win a pair of 2-0 decisions and finish third at 160 pounds.

The first win came in the fourth round of consolations where he met Greensburg Salem’s Jesse Quatse.

Baxter scored the only points of the bout with a first-period takedown. He duplicated that sequence in the bout for third place against Bethel Park’s Jason Montgomery.

“Other than the semifinal loss, Caleb wrestled smart down there,” said Butler coach Scott Stoner. “Being a senior, it’s great to see him get to states. We’re proud of him.”

Mars’ 126-pounder, junior Alex Hornfeck just missed out on extending his season.

Getting pinned by Kiski Area’s Noah Levett in the second period of the semifinal bout dropped Hornfeck to the consolations.

It was there that he suffered a 4-2 overtime defeat to Canon-McMillan’s Matt Oblock.

Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Hornfeck battled back with escapes in the second and third to force the extra period.

But Oblock ended his season with a takedown with 16 seconds remaining.

Class AA Northwest Regional

Slippery Rock’s Mike Doerflinger will carry a 23-5 record into PIAAs after finishing runner-up at 138 pounds Saturday at Sharon High School.

The junior received a first-round bye prior to his pin of Oswayo Valley’s Isaiah Barney in the quarterfinals.

A 9-4 decision over Ridgway’s Logan McClain moved Doerflinger into the final, where he was pinned by Reynolds junior Cole Matthews.