Butler County girls wrestling still has a lot of forfeits. But an influx of young talent is on the horizon
BUTLER TWP — Anastasia Manchester’s loss to Avella’s Abigail Dolanch at the Trinity Hiller Holiday Duals on Dec. 13 did not stand out because she ended up pinned. Dolanch is a state-ranked wrestler who went 5-0 that day and has pinned 13 opponents this season.
It stood out because it was the only bout of the day between Butler girls wrestling and Avella. The Golden Tornado won a forfeit-filled 48-18 matchup and finished the tournament 3-2.
Forfeits and no-contests are a still-frequent occurrence in girls wrestling, which is just three years old as a PIAA-sanctioned sport.
Butler County girls wrestling coaches believe it’ll be a few more years until rosters in the area and Western Pennsylvania are largely filled out.
For now, though, duals don’t often feature a full night of action.
“I think that’s true for a lot of us is we’re just working on trying to organically program build to have a feeder system that looks more like a boys team does rather than getting the girls to bribe their friends to come with them,” Seneca Valley coach Jess Leighty said Saturday during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament. “The girls are looking at our roster going, ‘OK, so we have a hole here. Who has a friend that might weigh this much?’”
Butler County’s three oldest girls programs — Butler, Seneca Valley and Knoch — have competed in 17 total duals this season. Butler has faced the most (11) and taken on the Raiders and Knights head-to-head.
There are 13 weight classes in girls wrestling. Across every local match this season, the three teams have seen a total of 195 possible bouts. Of those, 85 have resulted in a forfeit and 21 in no-contests (where both teams can’t field a wrestler in the same weight class).
That means 54.4% of all bouts have gone uncontested.
Slippery Rock, in its first year as a varsity program, has competed in two duals. Just six bouts have been contested out of a possible 26 and 14 have been no-contests.
Part of the challenge, coaches said, is it’s difficult to convince high school girls to try wrestling. Sometimes friends will coax other friends into it, but some of the perceptions — grueling work, weight cutting, singlets — can be a deterrent. Leighty said coaches need to be better at dispelling “some of those stereotypes.” Knoch coach Logan Downes said it’s also not an easy sport to master in just one or two years.
“It’s tough to start out a sport in high school, it really is,” he said. “Just to grasp basics, it takes more than a year to do. But for our standpoint and what I see in the area, for the lack of depth there is, there’s still a ton of talent.”
Saturday’s Butler tournament was proof positive. Canon-McMillan is one of the best teams in the country, according to Butler head coach Nathan Bottiger, and dominated the day.
But the Raiders came home with two silvers and six total medals, a one-medal improvement from 2025; Butler improved from two medal winners to four in a year; and Knoch jumped from one in 2025 to four this weekend, and would’ve had a fifth competing if not for a medical forfeit from star Braylee Ireland in the consolation semifinals.
And the Raiders, Knights and Tornado’s youth programs show further promise.
Bottiger is trying to form a girls junior high program at Butler soon. He said there are 10 girls on the co-ed junior high team right now, but splitting off from the boys would give every girl more opportunities for live matches.
Downes said Knoch has about a half-dozen seventh-grade wrestlers who will join the program in two years, and about the same number the year after that.
And Leight said Seneca Valley has started a middle school team and some of the varsity wrestlers work with the elementary program.
“Seneca has a junior high team, Pine-Richland has a junior high team, North Allegheny — these teams that have the junior high program that can feed in ready-made high school wrestlers is gonna make a world of a difference,” Bottiger said.
“The coaches all talk, we have a really good relationship with most of the programs and I think that really helps too,” Leighty said. “I think there’s been a really united community in Pennsylvania in general, and I think that really helps.”
A two-deep roster, which gives kids a chance to practice regularly against similarly sized partners, could be within reach for the coaches in a few years. Leighty is hopeful the Raiders — who have forfeited just six of 39 bouts this season — will be close to full as early as next year.
Bottiger and Downes think they’re about 3-5 years from that point in their programs.
And as the rosters grow, the skill level will improve. Girls will arrive at varsity not needing to learn basic moves and counters, but with advanced techniques and years of endurance and situational awareness built up.
“It's intimidating to try and recruit high schoolers, especially like upperclassmen junior and seniors, and say, ‘Hey, you know you can come in and be good right away,’” Bottiger said. “It's starting to not be that way. We're seeing that now the talent level is catching up, the skill gap is closing between the boys and what we’re seeing on the girls’ (side.)”
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Butler 136-pounder Anastasia Manchester wrestles Canon-McMillan's Farrah Henderson during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 100-pound Riley Gayhart wrestles Pine-Richland's Allison Burk in a match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 112-pound Sienna Stutz wrestles with Hickory High School's Emma Johnston in a 5th place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 106-pound Everly Harrell grapples with Saegertown 106-pound Aaliyah Morris in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson maneuvers over Canon McMillan's Adelina Saussol in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Hannah Hornick during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler girl's wrestling coach Nathan Bottiger fixes Anastasia Manchester's headgear during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson flips Greater Latrobe 100-pound Gabriella Roman during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson reacts after her loss in a 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson prepares for her 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 124-pound Braylee Ireland wrestles South Park's Anna Duncan in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Kenley Alexander fist bumps a coach during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler girl's wrestling coach Nathan Bottiger, left, reacts as Butler 142-pound Mylee Toner wrestles during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler's 112-pound Sienna Stutz flips over as she wrestles Canon McMillan's 112-pound Elexis Owens during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 112-pound Sienna Stutz wrestles with Hickory High School's Emma Johnston in a 5th place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 130-pound Kaylee Christie shakes hands with Upper Saint Clair's Sydney Laboon after losing a 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 136-pound Anastasia Manchester wrestles Fort Cherry's Brookelyn McClain in a 1st place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 112-pound Adele Shih-Calabro moves to attempt a pin against Burrell's Ella Campbell in a 1st place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson attempts a shot against Shaler Area High School's Gianna Alcalde in a 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 112-pound Adele Shih-Calabro competes agaisnt Burrell's Ella Campbell in a 1st place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 100-pound Kenna Watson circles Shaler Area High School's Gianna Alcalde in a 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch wrestling coaches Dave Ireland, left, and Logan Downes, right, call out directions from the sideline during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 170-pound Hannah Hornick wrestles Kiski Area High School's Alyssa Tresco in a 1st place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 170-pound Hannah Hornick wrestles Kiski Area High School's Alyssa Tresco in a 1st place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 130-pound Leila Crowe wrestles Hickory's Marissa Tanner in a 5th place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 130-pound Leila Crowe wrestles Hickory's Marissa Tanner in a 5th place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 124-pound Braylee Ireland wrestles South Park's Anna Duncan in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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An offical watches for a pin as Seneca Valley 106-pound Everly Harrell wrestles her opponent during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch 124-pound Braylee Ireland walks off the mat after losing to South Park's Anna Duncan in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 106-pound Everly Harrell breaks free from Saegertown's Aaliyah Morris in a semifinal match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley 148-pound Kaeleigh Tuell works to takedown Canon-McMillan's Alaya Henderson during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 112-pound Sienna Stutz fights her way off the mat in a 5th place match against Hickory High School's Emma Johnston during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Butler 130-pound Kaylee Christie fights to avoid being pinned by Upper Saint Clair's Sydney Laboon in a 3rd place match during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
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Knoch's Carma Forty (148 pounds) attempts to pin Canon-McMillan's Mackenzie Pape during the Butler Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at Butler Intermediate High School. Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
