BUTLER TWP — His team’s match against Seneca Valley at the South Side Duals Saturday was a little too close for comfort for Butler wrestling coach Scott Stoner.

The Golden Tornado defeated the Raiders, 32-28, but Stoner was looking for an improved effort when the teams faced off again Wednesday night.

He got it.

Butler won the first four bouts, three of them by pin, and went on to beat its county rival 41-21 in a Class AAA sub-section 3-A match at Butler Intermediate High School.

“At this point in the season, we’re just looking for kids to build confidence,” said Stoner. “We saw that happen tonight.”

“I thought Butler did a good job of making some adjustments in individual bouts,” said Raiders’ coach Kevin Wildrick. “Several bouts went the other way tonight.”

The Tornado (8-3, 4-1) turned the tables on the Raiders in a couple of bouts. In last weekend’s meeting, SV received pins from Brennen O’Shea (145 pounds) and John Proper (182), but both wrestlers lost Wednesday to Hank Finan and Justin Johnson, respectively.

In the night’s opening bout, Johnson pinned Proper late in the second period, beginning a 21-0 Butler run to start the match.

With Butler leading 32-15, Finan rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to O’Shea and scored a takedown with just four seconds left in the third period to prevail 5-3, clinching the match for Butler.

“On Saturday, Hank was on pace to win by major decision, but ended up getting pinned,” said Stoner. “The way he wrestled tonight was very encouraging.”

“It felt great to come back and get this win tonight,” said Finan, a sophomore. “I learned a lot from my loss last weekend and I used it to my advantage.”

Finan and O’Shea were deadlocked at three late in the third period, but the former remained aggressive.

“I didn’t want it to go to overtime,” Finan said. “If it did, one mistake could have cost me the match.”

Another wrestler Stoner was impressed with was 132-pounder Mason Kauffman, who defeated Anthony Latess 4-1 after taking an early lead with a first-period takedown.

After falling behind 21-0, the Raiders (10-6, 3-2) began their comeback attempt in the lower weight classes.

Alex Lynch (106) and Ben Lynch (113) both earned pins before Butler’s Scott Dietrich snuffed out SV’s momentum with a major decision (15-6) over Alex Fischer at 120 pounds.

Nick Zoria won for the Raiders at 126 with a 3-0 decision over Connor Foust.

“I beat him 9-0 last weekend,” said Zoria. “He was a lot better on defense tonight. It was scoreless after two periods and I knew I couldn’t stall. I had to make my move.”

“We had some kids stay aggressive tonight and that was good to see,” said Wildrick. “That’s what we are looking for out of the whole team.”

Also earning pins for the Golden Tornado were Alex White (195) and Will Bortmas (220).

Butler 41, Seneca Valley 21

(Match started at 182 pounds)

106-Alex Lynch (SV) pinned Hugh O’Neil, 3:14; 113-Ben Lynch (SV) pinned Max Stalnaker, 5:43; 120-Scott Dietrich (B) major dec. Alex Fischer, 15-6; 126-Nick Zoria (SV) dec. Connor Foust, 3-0; 132-Mason Kauffman (B) dec. Anthony Latess, 4-1; 138-Cody Houston (B) major dec. Zain Skalos, 11-0; 145-Hank Finan (B) dec. Brennen O’Shea, 5-3; 152-Austin Leon (SV) dec. Jeremiah Bortmas, 3-1 ; 160-Steve Rudolph (SV) dec. Zach Raible, 6-3; 170-Ryan Hannon (B) won by forfeit; 182-Justin Johnson (B) pinned John Proper, 3:58; 195-Alex White (B) pinned Brandon Nulph, :43; 220-Will Bortmas (B) pinned Tyler Miller, 5:08; Hwt.-J.D. Bojanac (B) dec. Brady Moore, 5-1.