BUTLER TWP— Undefeated and getting better.

Butler sophomore 145-pound wrestler Cole Baxter fits that description.

Baxter, 27-0, recently completed a week that 16th-year coach Scott Stoner described as "the best in Butler wrestling history."

Baxter began the week of Jan. 25 by defeating Ryan Weston of South Allegheny, 11-2. Weston was ranked seventh in the WPIAL at his weight class.

He defeated fifth-ranked Jake Matthews of Penn-Trafford, 11-4, three days later.

The following night, Baxter scored a 2-1 decision over Hopewell's Matt Hundenski, top-ranked at 152 pounds.

At the Sharon Duals the next day, Baxter decisioned Corey Checken of South Side Beaver — ranked No. 1 at 145 pounds, Class AA— by a 5-1 count and pinned Josh Etzel of Elizabeth Forward — ranked No. 6 at 135 pounds — in the first period.

It adds up to five wins over five ranked opponents in six days.

Baxter has become the top-ranked 145-pound wrestler in the WPIAL by Wrestling Report.

"I know there's a target on my back," he said. "If you're going to be No. 1, that's going to be there.

"I also know that I haven't accomplished anything yet. I still haven't won a section title. I haven't won the WPIALand I haven't been to the state meet."

All of those items are on his agenda before his sophomore season is over.

Baxter is 27-0 and he leads or shares his team's lead in wins, team points, decisions, major decisions and near-fall points.

He finished 33-8 his freshman year, with most of his losses coming against seniors who have since graduated.

"Six of his eight losses were to seniors,"Stoner said. "He had to get better on the bottom this year, and he's done that.

"You're talking about a kid who didn't lose a match all through junior high, pinning most of the opposition in the first or second period. He didn't gain much experience wrestling from the bottom.

"Wrestling from the bottom last year, he was laid back and waited for the other guy to make a mistake. That didn't happen very often,"Stoner added.

Butler varsity assistant coach Bill Mylan said Baxter changed his mind-set this year.

"He just mentally told himself he was going to find a way to get out,"Mylan said of the bottom position. "As soon as that whistle blows, he begins working on it."

Baxter has been taken down only twice this season. A tall, lanky 145-pounder, he admittedly gives up strength to stockier opponents.

"But that's OK,"Baxter said. "With my body, I get deeper shots and better holds. I know my body's awkward for a lot of guys and I try to take advantage of it."

Baxter already has 60 career wins with much of has sophomore season remaining. T.J. McCance with 103 and Alex Evanoff with 101 are the only Butler wrestlers to reach the 100-victory plateau.

Baxter recently broke Evanoff's school record of 25 consecutive victories.

Baxter already ranks among the top 15 in wins in Butler wrestling history. He will soon become the third Tornado wrestler — Josh Pascazi and Ian McLaughlin the others — to win 30 matches in a season twice. No one has done it three times.

No Butler wrestler has ever placed at the state meet, nor has any even reached the state meet since 2000.

Baxter plans to change all of that as well.

"If I don't reach the state meet this year, I'll be extremely disappointed,"Baxter said. "I don't know about the records. My goal is to win the section, the WPIALand the state meet. That's what's out there."

Such statements aren't made by Baxter every day. In fact, they're rarely made at all.

"Cole is a humble and quiet kid who just goes about his business,"Stoner said. "He's a leader in the room by example."

"Other kids see his work ethic. They know he's good and they know how he got there."

Stoner said Baxter has the rare combination of natural athleticism and psychological drive.

"We try to schedule tough kids for him because he thrives on the competition and on pressure situations,"Stoner said.

Baxter has been wrestling since the age of 5, when his parents took him to watch his cousin, Josh Saul, wrestle for Northwestern University.

"I got started in it and never stopped,"Baxter said.

Only two wrestlers in Butler history, T.J. McCance and Alex Evanoff, have attained 100 career wins. Four current Golden Tornado sophomores could reach that mark:<B>Wrestler W L</B>Cole Baxter 60 8Mike Crawford 51 16Cody Hartman 53 40Eric Tuck 44 26