College Credentials
BUTLER TWP — Light weights, heavy accomplishments.
Butler 132-pound wrestler Zach Reges and 120-pounder Nick Sutton — both graduates this year — became only the fourth and fifth matmen in Golden Tornado history to reach the WPIAL tournament four straight years.
Both used stellar seasons late in their prep careers to add to Butler's wrestling legacy.
Now, both will be wrestling in college.
Reges will continue his academic and mat career at Gannon University, while Sutton will do so at Thiel College.
“Gannon has what I want to study (mechanical engineering) and a lot of other Butler wrestlers have gone there. I like that,” Reges said.
Reges becomes the sixth Butler wrestler to move on to Gannon, following Lyneil Mitchell, Jason and Tim Parker, Donnie Geibel and Marino Quercio. Mitchell was a two-time All-American there, the only collegiate All-American wrestler to come out of Butler.
Gannon wrestling coach Don Henry has manned that program for 28 years, producing six regional champions overall. He's sent 29 wrestlers to the Division II National Championships in the last 10 years.
Thiel coach Craig Thurber has won six Presidents' Athletic Conference crowns in nine years. He's sent 13 wrestlers to the Division III Nationals and has produced six All-Americans. Thurber is a former graduate assistant mat coach at Slippery Rock University.
“It's a good fit for me,” Sutton said of Thiel, where he will major in international business. “Their 133-pounder has graduated and I'm thinking I can slide right in there.”
“Wrestling becomes a lifestyle after a while, particularly in college,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “These guys are going to get good coaching and they'll become better wrestlers.”
They're pretty good right now.
Reges ranks fourth on the Tornado's all-time win list with 105. He was a two-time section champion in high school and was 62-21 over his last two years — including 33-10 as a senior — after going 43-37 his first two seasons on the team.Reges graduated with 76 career reversals — 12 more than any Butler wrestler in the program's history.“I'm not surprised Zach has that record,” Stoner said. “Some wrestlers come through here with quirky mannerisms on the mat and he's one of them. He has a non-traditional style and does unpredictable things out there.”Reges listed reaching 100 wins as the mat achievement of which he's most proud.“I wanted to do that since I was a freshman,” he said. “So few Butler wrestlers have reached that point.”Sutton's late-career surge was even more incredible.He was 5-20 as a freshman, the first year he ever tried wrestling. Sutton was 34-43 after three varsity seasons and was stuck behind teammate Korey Caudill at 119 pounds his junior year, finishing only 8-7.“They had some tremendous battles in the room and Korey would just nose Nick out,” Stoner recalled. “I threw Nick right into the fire his first year and he got his butt kicked. Most guys would have just quit after an experience like that.”Sutton stuck it out and wound up posting a 35-10 record as a senior. Only three Tornado wrestlers — Cole Baxter, Alex Evanoff and Dakoda Collins — have ever won more matches in a season.“I'm most proud of reaching WPIALs all four years in high school,” Sutton said. “That's pretty rare.”Of Sutton's 10 losses, eight came against state qualifiers or state placers. The other two came against Hampton's Peter Craig, a 100-win wrestler and section champion.“Nick put together an unbelievable season, better than I thought he could,” Stoner said. “I'm thrilled for him.”Sutton said the difference in his senior year resulted in the difference in his preseason beforehand.“I hit the weights a lot more, lifted, worked out more often,” he said. “I always wanted to wrestle in college. I just didn't know how I was going to get there or how it was going to happen.“I'm just glad it all worked out.”Stoner has now sent 17 wrestlers to the college mats during his 19-year career as Tornado head coach, including 10 in the last four years.
