NORTH HUNTINGDON — It's hard to tell if Butler coach Scott Stoner was working as hard as his wrestlers on Thursday — not that he's complaining.

The Golden Tornado had 12 wrestlers taking part in 15 total matches during the first day of the PIAA Southwestern Regional Class AAA Wrestling Championships at Norwin High School.

Stoner was moving from mat to mat, his mind going a million miles a minute, but that was a small price to pay.

“Connellsville and us had 12 wrestlers here and Canon-McMillan had 13,” Stoner said. “While they'll get about five kids through, it's nice to still have your kids wrestling.”

Five of the Tornado wrestlers won their preliminary matches — Blake Caudill (113), Nick Sutton (120), Zach Reges (132), Dakota Collins (152) and Zach Weaver (182) — to advance to the final eight in their respective weight classes.

The first four all gutted out decisions as Caudill downed Chartiers Valley's Mark Tharp 10-6, Sutton 6-2 over Upper St. Clair's Corey Wilding, Zach Reges 4-0 over Waynesburg's Shane Piper and Collins 5-2 over Canon-McMillan's Will Pihiou.

Weaver won in convincing fashion, pinning Canon-McMillan's Zach Thomas in 2:58.

“Zach Thomas is no slouch,” Stoner said. “He's from Canon-Mac, he's wrestled some good kids in the state. Zach (Weaver) got up on him 4-2. The kid got a quick reversal and could have gotten something but (Weaver) held on.

“I think they were a little shell-shocked by it. And that pin by Zach tied the single-season pin record (26) with Cole Baxter,” Stoner added.

All five wrestlers entered the tournament with 30 or more victories, but some matches did not come easy.

“Blake was a little sluggish,” Stoner said. “It was the first round, but I'm still happy with the result. Nick went out and beat a kid who beat Korey twice and Zach (Reges) went to work and went about his business.

“Dakota, it was not his best wrestling. He should have scored on an opportunity and he just shook his head when he came off. He knew he didn't wrestle his best,” Stoner added.

The other 17 wrestlers taking part Thursday came away from the day with at least one loss, nine of whom are still alive, but will be eliminated with one more loss in the tournament.

Butler's Korey Caudill (126), Will Bortmas (160) and Ben McKnight (220) all won pigtail matches, which advanced them into the preliminary rounds.

Ben McKnight (220) pinned Plum's Jake DiGuilio at 3:18 while Caudill decisioned Kiski's Jake Ardellitz 8-2 and Will Bortmas (160) did likewise against Thomas Jefferson's Byron Minous, 3-1.

“Ben McKnight did a heck of a job,” Stoner said. “(DiGuilio) had a much better record (21-14 to 17-21) and has wrestled longer. That was as impressive a match as we had tonight.”

All three, however, dropped their prelim matches as Caudill lost 5-0 to Canon-Mac's Colt Shorts, who won the 106-pound title last season. Bortmas lost by major decision 14-1 to top-seeded Zack Zavatsky of Latrobe and McKnight by technical fall (15-0, 4:28) to top-seeded Alex Campbell of Canon-Mac.

“In Caudill's match it was 0-0 after the first period,” Stoner said. “Korey's up a weight and he wrestled well in his pigtail match.”

The only other area wrestler to post a win Thursday was Seneca Valley's Tyler Schillero (138), who decisioned Elizabeth-Forward's Steve Morgan 8-5, then was pinned by top-seeded Solomon Chishko of Canon-McMillan.

Other wrestlers tocompete Friday and try to stave off elimination are Mars' Richie Boeh (113), Seneca Valley's Austin Leon (132) and Butler's Jesse Spohn (138), Ryan Hannon (170) and Nick Gibson (195).

“Looking at this year, then looking back at last year, things have come together,” Stoner said. “I came down here, we get ready, we prepare well and then I didn't see the enthusiasm.

“A lot of time people see scores, the wins and losses, but you have to see the positives in a win or a loss and other things that need improving.

“I'm much happier than I have been coming down here,” Stoner added.

The following are the pigtail and preliminary-round matches at Thursday's first day of the Southwestern Regional Class AAA Wrestling Championship at Norwin High School.<B>Pigtail Matches </B>103-Jake Gerard (Ringgold) major dec. over def. Connor Foust (Butler), 11-0120-Darion Lutton (Chartiers Valley) dec. Joel Hixon (Knoch), 8-3126-Korey Caudill (Butler) dec. Jake Ardellitz (Kiski Area), 8-2; Zac Argyle (McKeesport) dec. Brennen O'Shea (Seneca Valley), 8-2;138-Tyler Schillero (Seneca Valley) dec. Steve Morgan (Elizabeth-Forward), 8-5152-Greg Incardona (Thomas Jefferson) pinned Ryan McMahon (Mars), 3:08160-Will Bortmas (Butler) dec. Byron Minous (Thomas Jefferson), 3-1170-Matt George (Upper St. Clair) tech. fall over Jacob Eaton (Seneca Valley), 16-0195-Don McWreath (Trinity) major dec. over Johan Van Wyk (Mars), 8-0; Jack McGillick (Penn-Trafford) pinned Sean Stanek (Seneca Valley), 1:45220-Ben McKnight (Butler) pinned Jake DiGuilio (Plum), 3:18285-RJ Hughes (Gateway) dec. Ian Adkins (Knoch), 4-2<B>Preliminary Matches </B>113-Blake Caudill (B) dec. Mark Tharp (Chartiers Valley), 10-6; Garrett Wolnoha (Upper St. Clair) dec. Richie Boeh (Mars), 3-0120-Nick Sutton (Butler) dec. Corey Wilding (Upper St. Clair), 6-2126-Colt Shorts (Canon-McMillan) dec. Korey Caudill (Butler), 5-0132-Zach Reges (Butler) dec. Shane Piper (Waynesburg), 4-0; Malachi Krenzelak (Canon-McMillan) dec. Austin Leon (Seneca Valley), 3-1138-Solomon Chishko (Canon-McMillan) pinned Tyler Schillero (Seneca Valley), 4:52; John Marotto (Plum) dec. Jesse Spohn (Butler), 5-3152-Dakota Collins (Butler) dec. Will Pihiou (Canon-McMillan), 5-2160-Zack Zavatsky (Latrobe) major dec. over Will Bortmas (Butler), 14-1170-Derrick Zavatsky (Latrobe) dec. Ryan Hannon (Butler), 6-2182-Zach Weaver (Butler) pinned Zach Thomas (Canon-McMillan), 2:58195-Cole Macek (Montour) tech fall over Nick Gibson (Butler), 15-0 (4:28)220-Alex Campbell (Canon-McMillan) Ben McKnight (Butler), :42