BUTLER TWP — Blake Caudill enjoyed watching his Butler teammates get on a roll Wednesday night.

Golden Tornado wrestling coach Scott Stoner is hopeful his senior 100-win wrestler is getting on one himself following Butler's 68-6 dual match win over Knoch.

Caudill (11-3 this year, 104-23 in his career) scored one of eight Butler pins against the Knights, putting his opponent's shoulders to the mat 52 seconds into the middle period.

“What I liked about Blake's match was he got a few takedowns before the pin and worked on some things,” Stoner said. “He's faced three state-ranked wrestlers this season and lost to them all.

“That can work on a kid's psyche, shake his confidence a bit. But Blake looked good tonight.”

Also earning pins for the Tornado (3-1) were Max Stalnaker at 106 pounds, Xavier Bennett at 138, David Slomers at 152, Zach Weaver at 182, Alex White at 195, Nick Gibson at 220 and Damian Wheeler at heavyweight.

Ryan Hannon stayed unbeaten (11-0) at 170 pounds with an 11-2 major decision over Knoch's Ben Nowicki (11-5).

“Pennsylvania high school wrestling is so good that it's tough to have a night with this many pins,” Caudill said. “It was fun watching so many teammates finish off moves.”

Earlier this season, Caudill became the seventh Golden Tornado wrestler to reach 100 wins. He needs 15 more wins to pass Mike Crawford for the No. 2 spot on Butler's all-time list behind Cole Baxter (160).

“There's a T-shirt with all of the 100-win wrestlers' names on it and it's nice to see my name on that shirt,” Caudill said. “I just want to keep climbing and make a mark in Butler wrestling, WPIAL wrestling and state wrestling.”

Of Knoch's 12 wrestlers Wednesday, seven were freshmen or sophomores.

“We had some positives tonight,” Knights coach Mark McLaughlin said. “We wrestled well on our feet. We were aggressive and got takedowns at 152, 195 and 220 pounds.

“On the mat, we get caught out of position because of our inexperience ... You can't give up pins to a quality team like that one (Butler).”

Butler's David Slomers trailed Trevor Hilliard 9-2 in the second period before putting him on his back for a pin with 36 seconds left in the frame.

The Knights (1-3) did win the closest match of the night as Blaine Elliott (11-3) rallied to decision Cody Houston, 6-4, at 132 pounds. Elliott trailed 4-2 after two periods.

“Blaine led Cody 4-2 with eight seconds left in their match at the Southmoreland Tournament before giving up a reversal and back points at the buzzer,” McLaughlin said. “Tonight, he finished.”

Butler did as well.

“You have to wrestle a complete match, all the way through, and we did that tonight for the most part,” Stoner said.

While Knoch hosts Mars next Wednesday, Butler travels to Connellsville for a dual match tonight. The Falcons are among the top three ranked teams in the WPIAL.

“That will be a challenge,” Stoner said. “Connellsville kids wrestle aggressively and they punish guys for their mistakes. We have to be on our game.”

Butler 68, Knoch 6

(Match started at 152 pounds)

106-Max Stalnaker (B) pinned John Emminger, :53; 113-Connor Foust (B) by forfeit; 120-Blake Caudill (B) pinned Jarrett Rosencrance, 2:52; 126-Korey Caudill (B) by forfeit; 132-Blaine Elliott (K) dec. Cody Houston, 6-4; 138-Xavier Bennett (B) pinned Brandon Yobst, 4:32; 145-Jeremiah Bortmas (B) dec. Matt Steinmiller, 10-1; 152-David Slomers (B) pinned Trevor Hilliard, 3:24; 160-Tyler Hlebiczki (K) dec. Zach Raible, 7-2; 170-Ryan Hannon (B) dec. Ben Nowicki, 11-2; 182-Zach Weaver (B) pinned Dalton Ashton, 1:08; 195-Alex White (B) pinned Bailey Savage, 2:38; 220-Nick Gibson (B) pinned Brian Mowry, 4:54; Hwt.-Damian Wheeler (B) pinned Kevin Kidd, 1:10