BUTLER TWP — Learning the craft of wrestling is generally done over a period of years.

Butler senior Nick Sutton has operated on a different learning curve.

The Golden Tornado 126-pounder never touched the sport until his freshman year — and found himself in the high school varsity starting lineup that season.

“I grabbed him off the junior high team,” Butler coach Scott Stoner recalled. “I asked (junior high coach) Donnie Geibel who he had at 112 pounds because I had a hole in my lineup.”

Geibel recalls that conversation well.

“Scott asked me if I had anybody and I told him we had nobody who's been here,” Geibel said. “I had Nick for maybe four practices and he was gone.

“We give out a hardest worker award each day in junior high practice and Nick won that twice in those four days. So I knew he'd work hard at it.”

Sutton wound up going 5-21 his freshman season — but never got discouraged.

To the contrary ... He was encouraged.

“That was quite a shock,” Sutton said of his freshman year. “I was getting tossed around a lot. I knew it was going to be hard for me because I wasn't sure what I was doing.

“But I learned from the guys who were beating me. I studied the sport. I loved it. Since that first year, I knew I wanted to wrestle in college.”

Sutton wound up qualifying for the WPIAL Tournament that first year by placing fourth in the section. He faced the No. 2 seed in the first round of the section meet and scored a 12-2 decision to send him on his way.

“That kid was totally shocked. Nick just jumped on him from the start,” Stoner said. “He's never stopped improving.”

Sutton posted a 20-14 record as a sophomore before finishing 8-7 his junior year. He had trouble cracking the starting lineup last year because of more experienced teammates at the same weight class.

Practicing the entire offseason, Sutton has done more than crack the lineup in this his final high school season. He sports one of the best records on the team at 25-4, including 12 pins.

When he won 20 matches as a sophomore, he had three pins.

“He appeared to be lacking confidence before this season,” Butler assistant and former Slippery Rock University wrestling coach Fred Powell said. “Nick has been learning different moves and working on technique all of this time.

“Wrestling is a complex sport. He's learned a series of takedowns, working on his feet, that fit his line of thinking. He found his niche and that helped develop his confidence. Now, instead of looking to win, he's looking to pin.”

Sutton agreed with that assessment.

“I just kept picking up stuff,” he said. “I'm still doing that. I discovered pretty early that this sport was a lot of hard work.”

Sutton hopes his final high school season winds up with a state tournament berth. He may be headed to John Carroll University in Ohio to wrestle next year.

“They seem to be interested in me,” Sutton said.

Geibel has plenty of respect for Sutton's rapid rise on the mats — because he went through it himself.

Geibel played basketball through junior high before picking up on wrestling in high school. He eventually reached the state tournament.

“A lot of Nick's improvement has been awareness on the mat,” Geibel said. “You turn your hips the wrong way, you can get beat. That stuff just comes with experience.”

Sutton has that experience now.

“He's a unique wrestler with an awkward style and he uses that to his advantage,” Stoner said.

A lacrosse player through ninth grade, Sutton fell in love with the individualism of wrestling.

“He's the quarterback out there, he's calling audibles, playing offense, playing defense, making the decisions,” Powell said. “That's the beauty of wrestling and Nick's embraced that.

“You get out of this sport what you put into it ... and that kid has put an awful lot into it.”