CANONSBURG — Ryan Hannon got over his most difficult hurdle. In doing so, he accomplished one of his top goals.

He won a close match in the WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinals Friday night at Canon-McMillan High School.

Leading 3-1 entering the third period, Hannon allowed an escape 10 seconds into the period. Then he was warned for stalling, still leading by one point.

Hannon prevented Connellsville’s Tom Provance from generating offense and scored a takedown in the final seconds to earn a 5-2 win and his first berth in the semifinals.

Finishing close matches was tough at times this season for Hannon. Hannon made it clear that coming close wouldn’t be good enough after losing to North Allegheny’s Clay Byerly 3-2 in overtime of the Section 3-AAA final last Saturday.

“I figured out I had to go out and win. It’s my redemption from last year,” Hannon said. “Coming out and getting a big win in the first match like that means a lot to me.”

Hannon will face the top seed, Latrobe’s Zack Zavatsky in the semifinals at noon Saturday.

Zavatsky is 34-0 and finished third in the state at 160 pounds last season.

“He has a big one tomorrow, that’s going to be a monster mental task,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “He’s a solid, big guy. … You just have to find a way to win by one. You need one more point than him. Sometimes it isn’t pretty, but you find a way.”

Last season, Hannon lost to Kiski’s Tyler Worthing in the 160-pound semifinals before bowing out in the consolation semifinals. While Hannon still needs at least one more win to advance to the PIAA tournament, his win Friday was a big boost.

“It’s very exciting. Winning a match like that, there’s nothing better,” said Hannon, who is 32-4 this season. “I have to keep improving and build off my momentum. Keep working to advance as far as I can to go to states.”

Hannon was the only Butler County wrestler to advance to the semifinals. Nine wrestlers, five from Seneca Valley and four from Butler, are still alive in the consolation bracket.

Four other wrestlers — Seneca Valley’s Alex Lynch (106 pounds) along with Butler’s Cody Houston (138), Jeremiah Bortmas (152) and Will Bortmas (220) — all dropped their quarterfinal matches.

Will Bortmas, who was the No. 2 seed, was upset by Hempfield’s Fred Mantsch, who used a takedown and nearfall in the second period to win 7-0. Lynch lost 6-0 to North Hills’ Gage Curry, who is 34-0 and the second seed.

Houston fell to Franklin Regional’s Mike Kemerer 17-7 and Jeremiah Bortmas lost 11-4 to Latrobe’s Jake Shaffer.

Four Seneca Valley wrestlers — Ben Lynch (113), Austin Leon (142), Stephen Rudolph (160) and Tyler Miller (220) — all won their first-round consolation matches to stay alive.

Miller, a senior, in particular was fired up to get back on the mat. On Thursday, Miller, who was not seeded, lost a 1-0 match to third seed Dylan Davis of Latrobe in the first round.

“I was definitely disappointed,” Miller said. “I thought I wrestled pretty tough against him.”

That loss helped motivate Miller to pin Upper St. Clair’s Jarrod Browne. Miller got him to the mat early and recorded the win in 1:27.

“I think I’ve wrestled a pretty good tournament,” said Miller, who is 17-13 this season. “I think I’m kind of a sleeper. I did have a pigtail and I think I may be a little bit better than my record.”

Quarterfinals

106: Gage Curry (North Hills) dec. Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley), 6-0

138: Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) maj. dec. Cody Houston (Butler), 17-7

152: Jake Shaffer (Latrobe) dec. Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler), 11-4

182: Ryan Hannon (Butler) dec. Tom Provance (Connellsville), 5-2

220: Fred Mantsch (Hempfield) dec. Will Bortmas (Butler), 7-0

First-round consolations

113: Ben Lynch (Seneca Valley) maj. dec. Tyler German (Thomas Jefferson), 10-2

126: Louis Stefanik (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) dec. Nick Zoria (Seneca Valley), 6-3

152: Austin Leon (Seneca Valley) dec. Troy Brown (Greensburg Salem), 7-2

160: Stephen Rudolph (Seneca Valley) dec. Gus Schmitt (Hampton), 3-2

195: William Korber (Belle Vernon) dec. Alex White (Butler), 4-1

220: Gunnar Lynch (Connellsville) dec. Alex Grosso (Mars), 3-2; Tyler Miller (Seneca Valley) pin Jarrod Browne (Upper St. Clair), 1:27

285: Michael Ames (Penn Hills) dec. JD Bojanac (Butler), 2-0