BUTLER TWP — Winning a WPIAL championship meant plenty to Butler senior wrestler Christian Sequete.

Winning at the next level may mean even more.

Sequete, who posted a 107-28 career record with the Golden Tornado despite battling injuries, is continuing his academic and wrestling career at Clarion University.

The Golden Eagles are a Division I collegiate wrestling program.

“I was pushing for him to go D-1,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “I feel like Christian should challenge himself at the next level.”

He will certainly be doing that.

Sequete plans to wrestle at either 174 or 184 pounds at Clarion next year. The Golden Eagles had a sophomore this season — Taylor Cahill — who wrestled some matches at 174 and finished 20-11. He won 143 matches during his high school career at Berlin Brothersvalley.

Clarion had two freshmen at 184 pounds this year. Ty Bagoly was 17-9 and won 106 matches in high school at Exeter Township in Reading. Greg Bulsak was 21-9 this year and was a two-time PIAA champion at South Park.

“Just work harder,” Sequete said of his plans to compete for a starting position as a freshman. “I plan to work out more, stay in shape and improve before I get there.

“I can get better in all areas on the mat, but particularly from the neutral position.”

Sequete plans to major in sports management. He also considered Lock Haven and Pitt-Johnstown before deciding on Clarion.

Keith Ferraro, Clarion's head wrestling coach for four years, was previously an assistant there. He was a three-time District 9 champion at Brookville High School, where his late father coached.

“I used to camp up there and I know the area,” Sequete said of deciding on Clarion. “It's not too far away and I feel like I can have a good career there.”

Sequete becomes the second Butler wrestler to ever join Clarion's program. T.J. McCance wrestled for the Golden Eagles from 2002-06.

Sequete missed the first half of his junior season at Butler while recovering from a knee injury. He had 18 wins that year. He was 18-11 as a freshman before going 34-7 his sophomore year.

He wound up 39-5 this season, becoming Butler's second-ever WPIAL champion. He claimed the title at 182 pounds and placed fourth at the state tournament.

Sequete wrestled part of his final season with a sore elbow.

“If it wasn't for the time he missed, he could have won another 20 or 30 matches and been No. 2 behind Cole (Baxter) in wins here,” Stoner said of Sequete's high school career.

Selected Butler's Most Valuable Wrestler as a senior, Sequete placed second in tournaments at Chartiers Houston and Penn Trafford. He won the Southmoreland Tournament.

“Christian keeps getting better because he keeps working at it,” Stoner said. “It will be interesting to see how Clarion handles his red-shirt. Sometimes it's good for a kid to wrestle as a freshman, take his lumps, adjust to what the college level is all about and see what he wants to do with it.

“Christian has wrestled a lot of quality kids. He's seasoned in that regard. I think he can be successful up there.”

Sequete is a two-time All-American at the Flo National Tournament at Indiana (Pa.) University. He placed eighth in his weight class both times and reached the semifinals this year.

“I like that tournament because you face kids you haven't seen before from other parts of the country,” Sequerte said. “It's high-level competition and I felt like I held my own.”

Sequete said his mother got him involved in wrestling as a youngster “because I was a pretty rambunctious kid and she wanted me to channel that toward wrestling.

“It has given me discipline, structure ... It's worked out so far.”