BUTLER TWP — Saavon Mosby hopes to go where no Butler wrestler has gone before.

He’s off to a pretty good start.

The Golden Tornado eighth-grader is 29-0 this season and has not been taken down all year. He began the year at heavyweight, but is now wrestling at 210 pounds.

The only offensive points he’s surrendered all year was a reversal.

“And that was a mistake on his part,” Butler Junior High coach Don Geibel said. “Saavon got too loose on a cradle and accidentally put the kid on top of him.”

Mosby has been on top of everything else in wrestling this year. He won his weight class in the 30-team Southside tournament, the 29-team North Allegheny tournament and the 53-team District 7 tournament.

Not bad for a kid who originally got into wrestling for something to do between football and baseball.

“My dad put me in it when I was in third grade, for that reason,” Mosby said. “He wanted to make sure I was staying active between sports.”

Mosby’s father, Sanjay, was a basketball player at Moniteau.

Mosby himself hit approximately .280 as a left fielder in baseball last spring and was a 245-pound left tackle in football this fall.

He’s lost more than 40 pounds since the end of October.

“Just conditioning harder, working out ... eating a little better,” Mosby said.

Mosby will be competing in the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Area 7 Tournament Sunday — where he is favored to win — and in the PJW Junior High State Tournament next weekend in Hershey.

“He’s the best big kid I’ve ever coached,” said Geibel, Butler’s junior high coach for the past 10 years. “Saavon is so athletic that he learns and executes moves that are primarily for wrestlers in small weight classes.”

No Butler Junior High wrestler has ever placed higher than fifth in the PJW state meet. Cole Baxter and Ryan Hannon accomplished that feat.

“Cole pinned or tech (falled) every kid he faced in eighth grade,” Geibel said. “Saavon’s not at that level, but he’s close. He pinned a kid in six seconds this year.”

Butler varsity wrestling coach Scott Stoner sees Mosby as his starting 195-pounder next year as a freshman.

“Yeah, he’ll be on the mat with older, more experienced kids, but Saavon’s learning curve will happen quickly because he’ll be in the room facing our varsity guys every day,” Stoner said. “I expect him to win 60 percent or so of those matches, right off the bat.”

Two years ago, Mosby weighed 220 pounds in sixth grade and was too big to compete in PJW Youth States. The limit is 220 pounds.

Mosby wound up competing in the Junior High division at age 12 and still became a state qualifier against 13 and 14-year-olds.

Riley Burdine is a Butler freshman heavyweight and will join Mosby in transitioning to varsity next season.

“He’s my workout partner,” Mosby said. “He’s definitely made me better. It’s great going at it every day with somebody who’s bigger and stronger than you are.”

Mosby has been a straight-A student the past two years and has not missed a practice or match during that time.

“I don’t want to cheat my teammates or myself,” he said. “You can’t get better if you don’t show up.”

“We practice or compete six days a week,” Geibel said. “I’ve never had a kid go two straight years without missing at least once. I missed one time in junior high ... I told him he has me beat.”

Mosby’s goals are to make a unique mark in Butler wrestling and elevate the program.

“WPIAL championships, state championships, that’s where I want to be,” he said. “Next year, I know I have to wrestle at the level of 18-year-olds. It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to. I’m conditioning for that now and I’m not going to stop.”

Stoner doesn’t want him to.

“He will wind up being one of the most athletic heavyweights we’ve ever had,” Stoner said. “I like his warrior mentality, the passion he displays on the mat. He likes to win, he’s focused and passion inspires people.”

Mosby was 22-6 last year, placing second in the Area 7 meet and winning a match at state before losing one match by one point, another by two in overtime.

He was taken down for that overtime loss. He hasn’t been taken down since.

“His potential is unlimited,” Geibel said. “The ceiling for this kid is very high.”