WEXFORD — Ian McLaughlin enjoyed a big night. So did the Butler varsity wrestling team.

McLaughlin repeated as Section 3-AAA champion at 119 pounds and the Golden Tornado advanced a school-record eight wrestlers to the WPIAL meet during the section championships Saturday at North Allegheny High School.

McLaughlin (30-4) pinned his way to the section title, putting Jon Drzemiecki of Shaler away just 1:45 into their title match.

Drzemiecki is a senior with 34 wins this season. McLaughlin is only a sophomore.

"Ian's hips are so low to the mat when he takes his shot," Butler coach Scott Stoner said. "He comes up quickly and it's raw power from there."

The match was scoreless before McLaughlin wrapped his arms around Drzemiecki, lifted him and drilled him to the mat. The pin was nearly instantaneous at that point.

"He hesitated for a second, took a step backward and I got him in a bear hug," McLaughlin said. "I didn't come in here looking for pins every match. It just worked out that way."

McLaughlin pinned Nick Minton of Seneca Valley in 1:00 and Dustin Fosnight of Pine-Richland in 3:08 to reach the finals.

Lyneil Mitchell (1997-98) is the only other Butler wrestler to ever win two section titles.

"If he stays healthy, Ian has a chance to do some special things," Stoner said.

McLaughlin suffered a concussion in late October when he was accidentally kicked in the head during a preseason practice. He missed the first few matches of the year before debuting at the Commodore Perry Duals.

He won four of five matches that day, but "he wasn't himself," Stoner said.

"He was rusty and he got a little tired," the coach added.

McLaughlin is raring to go now. He is 63-11 in two years at Butler and has his sights set on T.J. McCance's school record of 103 career wins.

"It's important to set long-term goals like that because it keeps you focused," McLaughlin said. "I've got a year's experience at WPIAL's now, too, so hopefully I'll do better there."

He'll have some company Thursday when the WPIAL meet begins at Canon-McMillan High School.

Butler 145-pound sophomore Josh Pascazi (28-7) finished second at the section meet, dropping an 8-2 decision to Adam Harold of North Hills in the finals.

Pascazi scored decisions of 2-0 and 6-3 earlier in the meet to reach the final round.

"Josh wasn't as aggressive in the championship match, but he's done remarkably well considering his limited experience," Stoner said.

Six Tornado wrestlers won in the consolation finals to advance to WPIAL competition. They include Rob Runyan (30-6) at 103 pounds, Stew Rapone (27-10) at 130, Alex Evanoff (23-14) at 135, Josh Coburn (30-6) at 152, Dave Coburn (17-9) at 171 and Marcus Hough (15-7) at heavyweight.

The Tornado took seven wrestlers to the WPIAL meet in 2000. They almost qualified nine this year, but 112-pound Brian Nicelli (25-11) dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Shaler's Lou Cervi in the consolation final.

Butler's Derek Hays (9-10) made the consolation finals at 125, but dropped a 6-0 decision to Pine-Richland's Aaron Formanek. He defeated Formanek 3-2 earlier in the tournament.

"This is about what I was hoping for," Stoner said of qualifying eight wrestlers. "We did pretty well here."

Seneca Valley advanced two wrestlers to the WPIAL meet: Frank Mullett (12-7) at 145 and Nick Perri (4-3) at 160. Both were surprises.

Mullett was not available for part of the regular season and Perri didn't crack the starting lineup until just before the section meet.

"It's a credit to both of these guys they got through," Seneca Valley coach Lee Mullett, Frank's brother, said. "I'm thrilled for them."

Frank Mullett scored a takedown on Shaler's Tyler Nowakowski with 19 seconds left to net a 3-1 decision in their consolation final.

Perri was 0-2 coming into this tournament, but won his first match by technical fall before dropping into the consolation bracket. He decisioned Mike Fitzpatrick of Ambridge 5-2, Clinton Branchen of Avonworth 5-0 and Brandon Halaja of Pine-Richland 111 to capture third place.

The four wrestlers Perri defeated combined for 39 wins this year.

"Nobody knew anything about Nick," Coach Mullett said. "He snuck up on everybody.

"He tried to beat out Dave Kovach (18-16) all year at 152 pounds and couldn't do it. He finally beat out Austin Kanfoush during wrestle-offs at 160 to get here."

Grant Evans (16-10) at 103, Kovach, Zach Cahall (16-13) at 171, Ian Whittaker (12-11) at 215 and Phil Mignanelli (18-12) at heavyweight all lost in the consolation finals for the Raiders.

"Through illness and injury, we only brought eight wrestlers here and seven of them got to the last round," Coach Mullett said. "None of these guys ever gave up and I'm proud of that."

Notes:

Seneca Valley did not have a wrestler in the championship round. … Shaler coach Rick LaFairre, retiring after 30 seasons, was presented a clock by the other Section 3 coaches. … Ambridge heavyweight Chris Dempsey (33-0) is the only unbeaten wrestler in Section 3 this season. He was the only heavyweight to defeat Hough in the tournament.

Section 3-AAA Wrestling Championship;Consolation Finals

(top 3 advance to WPIAL meet)

103 —

Joe Waltko (North Allegheny) pinned Conrad Branchen (Avonworth) 3:28; Rob Runyan (Butler) dec. Grant Evans (Seneca Valley) 12-6

112 —

Steve Sabreen (North Allegheny) dec. Sam Brehm (Pine-Richland) 6-2; Lou Cervi (Shaler) dec. Brian Nicelli (Butler) 3-2 in OT

119 —

Ian McLaughlin (Butler) pinned Jon Drzemiecki (Shaler) 1:45; Bob DiCaprio (North Hills) pinned Dustin Fosnight (Pine-Richland) 2:08

125 —

Dave Cawley (North Allegheny) dec. Kevin Keyes (North Hills) 14-2; Aaron Formanek (Pine-Richland) dec. Derek Hays (Butler) 6-0

130 —

Matt Nelson (Shaler) pinned Alexander Martinez (North Hills) 4:21; Stew Rapone (Butler) dec. Mike Fiore (Pine-Richland) 8-3

135 —

Ryan McGarrity (Pine-Richland) dec. Corey Perrotte (North Hills) 4-2; Alex Evanoff (Butler) pinned Ryan McCullough (North Allegheny) 4:04

140 —

Nick Nelson (Shaler) pinned Ryan Drzemiecki (Hampton) 1:53; Brett Landefeld (North Allegheny) dec. Steve Fawcett (Pine-Richland) 9-3

145 —

Adam Harold (North Hills) dec. Josh Pascazi (Butler) 8-2; Frank Mullett (Seneca Valley) dec. Tyler Nowakowski (Shaler) 3-1

152 —

Curtis Branchen (Avonworth) tech. fall Dino Passione (Shaler) 25-9 (4:30); Josh Coburn (Butler) pinned Dave Kovach (Seneca Valley) 3:49

160 —

Karl DeCiantis (North Allegheny) dec. Eric Fulmer (Shaler) 8-4; Nick Perri (Seneca Valley) dec. Brandon Halaja (Pine-Richland) 11-1

171 —

Rob Waltko (North Allegheny) dec. Jeff Gonano (Pine-Richland) 12-9; Dave Coburn (Butler) pinned Zach Cahall (Seneca Valley) 3:56

189 —

Ryan Breen (Pine-Richland) dec. Pat Annis (Hampton) 7-2; Kevin Rosinsky (Ambridge) dec. Zack McCarty (North Hills) 8-0

215 —

Rick Dlubak (Ambridge) dec. Mike Morgan (Pine-Richland) 13-4; Ray Sagi (Shaler) dec. Ian Whittaker (Seneca Valley) 3-0

Hwt —

Chris Dempsey (Ambridge) pinned Kevin Gray (Shaler) :57; Marcus Hough (Butler) dec. Phil Mignanelli (Seneca Valley) 5-2