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Butler’s Santino Sloboda joins WPIAL wrestling greats with third straight district championship

CANONSBURG — Santino Sloboda made a name for himself two years ago with a stunning upset for his first district gold. A year ago, he solidified his legitimacy as one of Western Pennsylvania’s best by repeating.

On Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School, the Butler senior cemented his legacy with his third straight WPIAL Class 3A Boys Individual Wrestling Championships title.

Sloboda — Butler’s winningest wrestler at 167-8 — beat Trinity’s Dominick Canali 4-0 for the 127-pound belt, becoming the first Butler wrestler ever to three-peat.

Related Article: WPIAL wrestling sectionals: Santino Sloboda breaks Butler record, Stoner claims gold, Seneca Valley and Mars send medalists to districts

“It just means a lot and I’m happy I was able to do it,” Sloboda said.

There’s no arguing Sloboda’s greatness now. All that’s left, as he’s talked about for more than a year, is winning gold at the PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships in Hershey. His last chance comes in two weeks, barring a dramatic turn of events in next week’s PIAA Class 3A West Regional Tournament.

It is his fourth appearance in the WPIAL championship bout — he lost as a freshman — he is the only Golden Tornado wrestler to win more than one gold.

Only two Butler County wrestlers before him had won three WPIAL championships: Seneca Valley’s Dylan Chappell and Alejandro Herrera-Rondon, both from 2019-21.

Butler’s Santino Sloboda defeats Trinity’s Dom Canali 4-0 in a 127-pound final at the WPIAL Class 3A Boys Wrestling Individual Championships Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at Canon-McMillan High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

“We’ve talked about it how many times now, he’s one of these once-in-a-lifetime kids that you get coming through,” head coach Scott Stoner said.

Saturday’s final was a rematch of last year’s championship, which Sloboda won by 18-2 technical fall. Sloboda said he wasn’t worried about putting up a crooked score this time, just wrestling “calculated matches.”

“Obviously, Santino (being a) three-time WPIAL champ now is quite an accomplishment,” Stoner said. “You wanna make sure you put that into your legacy.”

Related Article: Every Butler County high school wrestler with 100 career wins

Sloboda is the No. 2 wrestler in the state at 127, according to Inside PA Wrestling, behind Emmaus junior Emilio Albanese.

“Being a senior now, coming down, being confident in myself, it just means a lot that I can do that,” Sloboda said.

Sloboda had a difficult time in his semifinal against Connellsville’s Nolan Rice. Multiple times Rice put Sloboda in dangerous spots — once getting a warning for how he had Sloboda’s shoulder angled, and later somehow not being penalized when he drove Sloboda in a dangerous lunge under the scorer’s table, well outside of the ring.

Sloboda held on for a 4-2 win to set up his title defense. Stoner called some of Rice’s moves “unsportsmanlike” and was upset no penalties were called. Sloboda was frustrated but appeared to shake it off after.

Butler’s Santino Sloboda receives his first-place medal from assistant Butler wrestling coach Blake Caudill after defeating Trinity’s Dom Canali 4-0 in a 127-pound final at the WPIAL Class 3A Boys Wrestling Individual Championships Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at Canon-McMillan High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

“He’s kinda notorious for being dirty, having his bag of tricks, but he’s a competitor so you just gotta keep level-headed,” he said.

Tougher, though, was classmate and best friend Sutton Stoner’s potential final appearance on a high school mat.

The 160-pounder nearly had his first regional berth locked up in the consolation third round. He countered a shot from Penn-Trafford’s Logan Matrisch in the second period and took him down for a 3-1 lead. He made it 4-2 on an escape in the third, but Matrisch scored a late takedown and held on for the last few seconds to win 5-4.

Related Article: For Butler’s Anastasia Manchester, tragedy molds her sense of humor and fuels her PIAA wrestling championship dreams

Facing a must-win in the seventh-place match — the top seven medalists are guaranteed a spot in next week’s regional tournament — Stoner was no match for Canon-McMillan’s Mason Calgaro and lost 10-1.

“It’s difficult because the match against Penn-Trafford that would’ve put him in for the top six medals and assured his opportunity, he wrestled way better than the kid did the whole time and just made a mental error later in the match,” Scott Stoner said.

But there is a chance Sutton Stoner might still return to Canon-McMillan. Connellsville’s Jake Lilly medically defaulted the fifth-place match, and Scott Stoner is unsure if Lilly will wrestle at regionals. Should he not, Sutton Stoner could be placed in the tournament for a chance at redemption.

View and purchase Eagle photos at photos.butlereagle.com

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