HERSHEY — Every match at the PIAA Individual Wrestling Championships yields two results: celebration and heartbreak.

Butler County area wrestlers were on both ends of the spectrum on Thursday.

Grove City 182-pounder Wes Phipps pinned Jared Beckwith of Tyrone three minutes and 28 seconds into Thursday's first-round bout and improved to 37-0 on the year.

Butler 113-pounder Blake Caudill wasn't as fortunate.

The junior endured a pair of narrow defeats — 6-4 in the first round and 2-1 in consolations — and was eliminated from the tournament.

“We didn't defend the way we should have,” said Butler coach Scott Stoner. “It was very disappointing.

“Little errors at this level can be the difference between winning and losing. He has to use this experience ... and I know he will.”

According to Stoner, Manheim's Matt Grossmann used a takedown and three back points to claim an early 5-0 over Caudill, but the Butler junior didn't go away quietly.

“He battled back in that match,” Stoner noted.

Caudill got within 5-4, cut Grossmann loose in the third to try to force overtime with a takedown, but couldn't convert.

In consolations, Caudill controlled Anthony Vizza of DuBois for the majority of the match, but didn't end up on the right side of the scoreboard.

“With his back to the wall, we wanted to dictate the pace and tempo of the match and he did that,” said Stoner. “He outwrestled the kid for five minutes and 38 seconds.”

According to Stoner, Caudill just missed grabbing an early advantage and the match was scoreless heading into the third.

“He was close to scoring in the first period and rode (Vizza) the whole second period pretty commandingly,” Stoner explained. “He got a one-count on his back as the period ended.”

A third-period escape gave Caudill a 1-0 lead, but Vizza made a charge with 22 seconds to go following a restart and a scramble ensued.

Vizza eventually scored the match-winning takedown with one second left on the clock.

“Out of desperation, the kid dove in for a leg,” said Stoner. “It's a learning experience. He had some mental errors.”

Caudill ends the season at 35-6 with a Section 3 title and third-place finish at WPIALs to his credit.

“I'm definitely proud of the season he had. He's a champion and he did a lot of good things,” said Stoner. “Right now, he's the face of our team and our kids look up to him and try to emulate what he's doing.

“He's a young man with a lot of talent and potential,” Stoner added. “We have a lot of broken hearts right now, but he's going to come back from this.”

According to Grove City coach Marty Ruley, Phipps took a 6-1 lead before securing the win by fall in the second period.

“He did really well. ... I think the third time he took him down, he put him on his back,” said Ruley. “He looked pretty good.”

Phipps was the 171-pound runner-up at last year's state tournament and took third and fifth at 160 as a sophomore and freshman, respectively. His career record now stands at 138-14.

“Wes is pretty special. He's just about as good as you're ever going to find,” said Ruley. “With all of the great names that have come through here, he's right there.”

Phipps was scheduled to face Pen Argyl's Dylan Evans (36-7) in today's Class AA quarterfinals, which began at 9 a.m.

Evans was the third-place finisher in the Southeast Region and defeated Valley's WPIAL runner-up Terrell Fields by a 10-5 margin in the first round.

“We watched him today,” said Ruley. “He looks like a pretty good kid.”