The road to the WPIAL Tournament begins Saturday.

The Section 3-AAA section tournament takes place at Fox Chapel High School with the top five placers in each weight class earning a trip to Norwin next weekend.

“Individual talent in this section has really picked up,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “It’s not going to be easy for anyone past the one and two seeds.

“We always want to hit double digits in terms of number of kids we send to the WPIAL meet, but if you don’t show up and wrestle hard Saturday, you’re going to be sitting home.”

Butler’s Blake Caudill is the only area wrestler entering this tourney as a defending section champion. He won at 113 pounds last year and is seeded No. 2 at 120 pounds — behind Central Catholic’s Vincenzo Joseph — this year.

Caudill is bidding for his third section crown Saturday. Only two Tornado wrestlers — Mike Crawford and Cole Baxter — have ever accomplished that feat.

“Blake will have some tough matches and he hasn’t put together a good match against the better kids he’s wrestled this year,” Stoner said.

Ryan Hannon, at 170 pounds, is Butler’s only No. 1 seed. Seeded No. 2 are Connor Foust at 113, Caudill at 120, Korey Caudill at 126 and Cody Houston at 132.

Seneca Valley has 145-pounder Austin Leon seeded No. 2 at 145 pounds.

“Austin’s our best shot, obviously,” Raiders coach Kevin Wildrick said. “We got seven kids through last year and I’m hoping to top that number this year.

“Taking five wrestlers out of a 12-wrestler bracket ,.. That’s attainable for just about everyone if you go down there and compete.”

Mars coach Zach Maisner said he hopes to get five wrestlers through to WPIAL competition. The Planets have a pair of No. 3 seeds in Ryan McMahon at 160 and Austin Bitzer at 195.

“Richie Boeh at 126, Andy Selker at 152, Nathan Bair at 182, I can see them advancing,” Maisner said. “I think our overall team is stronger than it was a year ago, but this field is tougher.

“There are eight 20-match winners in the 106-pound bracket alone. There’s going to be some quality kids left behind.”

Knoch has never sent more than two wrestlers to the WPIAL tourney. The Knights have a pair of fourth-seeded wrestlers Saturday in Blaine Elliott at 132 pounds and Ben Nowicki at 170.

“Tyler (Hlebiczki) at 152 and Brian Mowry (195) stand an excellent chance, too,” Knoch coach Mark McLaughlin said. “Mowry is 13-13, but he’s been in every match this year except five of them.

“We’ve got a bunch of freshmen beyond those four. Injuries have hurt us this year. Our younger kids need to go down there (to Fox Chapel), experience the tournament, learn from it and build from it.”

The tournament gets under way at 9:30 a.m. The finals are slated for 6 p.m.

“I’d put the top two seeds in each weight class in our section up against anybody’s,” Stoner said. “This should be an extremely competitive event.”

“You either advance or it’s the end of the road,” McLaughlin said. “There’s always a lot of heartbreak down there.”

SECTION 3-AAA TOURNAMENT

Area opening matches

106 pounds-Max Stalnaker (Butler) 14-14 vs. Patrick Keyser (Hampton) 17-15; Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley) 23-10 vs. Jared Rice (Fox Chapel) 25-6; Anthony DiNinno (Plum) 15-12 vs. Max Hulak (Mars) 4-11

113-Devon Klaas (North Hills) 14-11 vs. Ben Lynch (Seneca Valley) 20-10; Bryce DeLeon (Pine-Richland) 11-12 vs. Connor Foust (Butler) 24-8

120-Sal Peluso (North Allegheny) 10-15 vs. Jarrett Rosencrance (Knoch) 4-19; Ryan Baer (Pine-Richland) 8-14 vs. Nick Zoria (Seneca Valley) 24-9; Keagan Lawson (North Hills) 12-10 vs. Silas Bender (Mars) 9-8, winner vs. Blake Caudill (Butler) 29-4

126-Keith Gonzales (Pine-Richland) 3-1 vs. Jake Borland (Knoch) 4-6; Richie Boeh (Mars) 14-9 vs. Blynn Shideler (North Allegheny) 19-11; Tyler Edwards (Plum) 0-6 vs. Anthony Latess (Seneca Valley) 9-6; Korey Caudill (Butler) 30-4, bye

132-Seth Schiever (Seneca Valley (4-12) vs. Joe Lehman (Hampton) 11-17; Austin Heinl (Shaler) 15-11 vs. Blaine Elliott (Knoch) 13-3; Josh Kunisky (Plum) 2-13 vs. Andrew Schultheis (Mars) 14-10; Cody Houston (Butler) 30-7, bye

138-David Badamo (North Hills) 6-20 vs. Brandon Yobst (Knoch) 13-14; Chris Olszewski (Hampton) 20-9 vs. Xavier Bennett (Butler) 21-9; Chris Lorch (Mars) 1-17 vs. Brennen O’Shea (Seneca Valley) 14-13

145-Tyler Cybach (Mars) 2-10 vs. Cory Mahon (Fox Chapel) 18-12; Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler) 16-13 vs. Anthony Zummo (Plum) 9-13, winner vs. Austin Leon (Seneca Valley) 24-9

152-Justin Moreno (Shaler) 7-15 vs. Andy Selker (Mars) 12-13; Grant Ferrari (Butler) 2-4 vs. Tyler Schillero (Seneca Valley) 19-9; Tyler Hlebiczki (Knoch) 15-8 vs. Justin Helfferich (North Hills) 5-16

160-Keegan Harris (Pine-Richland) 9-13 vs. Steven Rudolph (Seneca Valley) 12-16; John Cole (Central Catholic) 18-14 vs. Ryan McMahon (Mars) 16-7; Will Bortmas (Butler) 11-9 vs. Andrew Davis (Fox Chapel) 2-13

170-Ryan Hannon (Butler) 27-3, bye; Sam Kyle (Pine-Richland) 9-16 vs. Brad Hensler (Seneca Valley) 12-16; Ben Nowicki (Knoch) 21-7, bye; Tristan Houser (Fox Chapel) 16-11 vs. Alex Grosso (Mars) 5-4

182-Dalton Ashton (Knoch) 7-12 vs. Nathan Bair (Mars) 12-10; Zach Weaver (Butler) 28-7, bye; Jake Eaton (Seneca Valley) 16-14) vs. Collin Rzotkiewics (Pine-Richland) 4-10

195-Sean Stanek (Seneca Valley) 5-7 vs. Adam Novacic (Fox Chapel) 6-16; Nick Gibson (Butler) 13-10 vs. Austin Bitzer (Mars) 13-2; Brian Mowry (Knoch) 13-13 vs. Chase Hawthorne (Central Catholic) 2-16

220-Tyler Miller (Seneca Valley) 18-10 vs. Johan VanWyke (Mars) 16-5; Jake DiGuilio (Plum) 22-8) vs. Alex White (Butler) 14-10

285-Damian Wheeler (Butler) 18-16) vs. Eli Swain (North Hills) 13-15; Trey Turnblacer (Mars) 10-12) vs. Brad Abramson (Seneca Valley) 1-2