Tornado advance 12 to WPIAL mat tourney

By John Enrietto Eagle Sports Editor

February 27, 2012 Last Updated: February 27, 2012 02:34 PM High School

Butler's Zach Reges wrestles SV's Austin Leon during the 132-pound WPIAL Section 3-AAA championship

FOX CHAPEL — A .500 batting average isn't bad — especially in the Section 3-AAA wrestling finals.

Just ask Butler coach Scott Stoner.

“I'll take it,” Stoner said of his matmen winning three of their six section title matches Saturday night at Fox Chapel High School. “We got 12 kids through, three section champions. ... I'm not going to complain about that.”

The top-five placers in each weight class Saturday advanced to the WPIAL Tournament, which begins Thursday at Canon McMillan.

Blake Caudill (31-3) at 113 pounds, Zach Reges (32-8) at 132 and Dakoda Collins (33-6) at 152 won section crowns for the Golden Tornado. Nick Sutton at 120, Jesse Spohn at 138 and Ryan Hannon at 170 placed second.

Also advancing for Butler are Connor Foust at 106, Korey Caudill at 126, Will Bortmas at 160, Zach Weaver at 182, Nick Gibson at 195 and Ben McKnight at 220.

Reges pinned his way through the tournament.

“Everybody's tough at this time of year and you need the right mindset,” Reges said. “Getting a pin in my first match relaxed me a little bit.”

Caudill pinned his first two opponents before scoring a 5-0 decision over Ted Mazur of Shaler in the finals.

“I always look for the pin, but there was never an opening,” Caudill said. “Sometimes you have to be patient, take what's there and get the win.”

Collins was deadlocked at 2 in his title match with Ambridge's Josef Baran when he scored a sudden pin midway through the second period of their title match.

“The match became a scramble, a lot of confusement about what to do ... I'm pretty good in those situations,” Collins said, smiling.

Stoner was pleased over how his trio handled those final matches.

“Zach has been a bit hot and cold all year. He was very consistent today and hopefully he'll carry this momentum into next week,” Stoner said. “Blake's opponent wasn't doing anything and you can get too aggressive in that kind of match and make a mistake. He didn't do that.

“Dakoda waits for an opportunity, snatches it and finishes it. That's what he did there.”

Seneca Valley advanced six wrestlers. Austin Leon lost to Reges in the 132-pound finals. Other Raider qualifiers include Nick Zoria at 106, Anthony Latess at 113, Brennan OShea at 126, Tyler Schillero at 138 and Sean Stanek at 195.“Six was pretty much what we expected,” SV coach Kevin Wildrick said. “We had a brutal round tonight, though. This was tough.”The Raiders lost eight of their 10 matches in the final round Saturday night, with only Schillero (third place) and Stanek (fifth) winning.Mars advanced four wrestlers: Richie Boeh at 103, Ryan McMahon at 152, Nathan Bair at 170 and Johan Van Wyk at 195.“Richie took third and is 24-4 as a freshman,” Mars coach Ray Machusko said. “He still has a lot of maturing to do as a wrestler, but he's off to a fantastic start in his career.“This is Van Wyk's first year in wrestling, period. To reach the WPIAL tourney with no experience is very impressive.”Knoch advanced two wrestlers in Joel Hixon at 120 and and Ian Adkins at heavyweight. Adkins placed third.“We've never advanced more than two in our program's history,” Knights coach Mark McLaughlin said. “We were in position to advance six tonight, which is a positive step for us.”Knoch had four wrestlers lose fifth-place matches, thus ending their seasons.“We were right there. We just didn't close the deal,” McLaughlin said.Section 3-AAA TournamentFinals; Cons. Finals; 5th-6th(top five to WPIAL meet)106 pounds-Dom Forys (N.Allegheny) dec. Jordan McGonigle (Shaler) 8-0; Travis Sonson (Hopewell) dec. Nick Zoria (Seneca Valley) 9-0; Connor Foust (Butler) default over Dillion Holben (Knoch)113-Blake Caudill (Butler) dec. Ted Mazer (Shaler) 5-0; Richie Boeh (Mars) dec. Anthony Latess (Seneca Valley) 4-2; Phil Bachman (N.Allegheny) pinned Devon Klaas (North Hills) :19120-Tyler Walker (North Hills) dec. Nick Sutton (Butler) 20-6; Filippo Crivelli (Hopewell) pinned Austin Heinl (Shaler) 1:33; Joel Hixon (Knoch) dec. Scott Stossel (N.Allegheny) 5-2126-Peter Craig (Hampton) dec. Jesse Rodgers (N.Allegheny) 5-1; Drew Walker (North Hills) dec. Brennan OShea (Seneca Valley) 6-2; Korey Caudill (Butler) dec. Blaine Elliott (Knoch) 9-3132-Zach Reges (Butler) pinned Austin Leon (Seneca Valley) 3:54; Chris Olszewski (Hampton) pinned Mike Wanner (N.Allegheny) 4:37; Luke Esswein (Pine-Richland) pinned Col McLaughlin (Knoch) :28138-Kevin Synan (Hampton) dec. Jesse Spohn (Butler) 6-1; Tyler Schillero (Seneca Valley) default over Austin Killian (Pine-Richland); David Tuzikow (North Hills) dec. Daniel Santia (Hopewell) 3-1145-Brian Estep (Hampton) pinned Jonathan Avon (North Hills) 4:24; Brendan Burnham (Pine-Richland) dec. Sam Molina (Fox Chapel) 4-3; Ben Schweiger (North Allegheny) dec. Tyler Hlbiczki (Knoch) 9-2152-Dakoda Collins (Butler) pinned Josef Baran (Ambridge) 2:56; Zach Kocak (Hampton) dec. Tyler Heasley (Fox Chapel) 5-1; Ryan McMahon (Mars) pinned Matt King (Seneca Valley) 2:55160-Marco Crivelli (Hopewell) pinned Collin Siford (Hampton) 3:43; Colton Byerly (N.Allegheny) dec. Will Bortmas (Butler) 6-3; Corey Mahon (Fox Chapel) dec. Steven Rudolph (Seneca Valley) 8-0170-Alex Deciantis (North Allegheny) dec. Ryan Hannon (Butler) 13-5; Brandon Olszewski (Hampton) pinned Nathan Bair (Mars) 2:42; Elliot King (North Hills) dec. Jacob Eaton (Seneca Valley) 13-4182-Jarred Lux (N.Allegheny) dec. Anthony Brooks (Fox Chapel) 11-7; Zach Weaver (Butler) default over Andrew Wood (Pine-Richland); Elliot Baran (Ambridge) pinned Mike Link (Hampton) :20195-Jake Hart (Hampton) default over Zach Smith (N.Allegeny); Nick Gibson (Butler) dec. Johan Van Wyk (Mars) 4-1; Sean Stanek (Seneca Valley) pinned Steve Vogt (Hopewell) 3:13220-Ben Balish (Pine-Richland) dec. Alen Turcinhodzic (North Hills) 3-2; Nick Yaroszewski (Hampton) pinned Ben McKnight (Butler); Nick Carey (Shaler) pinned Adam Daud (N.Allegheny) 2:34285-Damon Sims Jr. (Hopewell) pinned Noah Shulman (Hampton) 3:27; Ian Adkins (Knoch) pinned Dan Watson (N.Allegheny) 4:52; Joe Bostrom (Ambridge) pinned Clayton Hoover (Seneca Valley) 2:35

Butler?s Dakoda Collins wrestles Ambridge?s Josef Baron on Saturday in the WPIAL Section-3-AAA championship match. Collins eventually won with a pin in the second period.