Memorable mat time
BUTLER TWP — Zach Reges could do the math.
As soon as he found out the Butler-Hampton dual wrestling match was beginning at 138 pounds, the Golden Tornado senior 132-pounder knew the outcome could rest on his shoulders.
And it did.
Reges (22-4) nipped the Talbots' Kevin Synan (12-4) in a 6-5 decision to propel Butler to a heart-stopping 32-31 triumph in the Intermediate High School gym. The victory gave the Tornado (12-2, 5-0) the Section 3A title over Hampton (11-1, 4-1).
“That was the biggest match I've ever been in,” Reges said. “It was pretty exciting being out there, with the big crowd cheering me on.
“It gave me energy. I felt it.”
The Tornado gave up 18 points in the upper three weight classes — two forfeitures and a pin — to fall behind 28-15. Major decisions by Connor Foust and Blake Caudill at 106 and 113 pounds, respectively, were followed by a Blake Caudill pin at 120 to give Butler a 29-28 edge.
Peter Craig (18-4), a 100-career win wrestler, decisioned Nick Sutton, 7-4 at 126 to bring the outcome of the dual down to the final match.
“You feel like you're the last man standing,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “But that can happen in wrestling. You go down to the wire in a game ... There's five guys out there in basketball, 11 in football.
“This is one-on-one with everything on you. There's no greater pressure on a hig school athlete and Zach was able to beat a tough kid.”
Synan had not wrestled in 10 days because of a nagging injury.
“I was a little worried about his conditioning, but he was fine,” Hampton coach Joe Bursick said. “The Reges kid is tough. That was a good match.
“You don't see dual matches decided in the closing seconds very often. We expected a dogfight coming up here and that's what Butler gave us.”
Reges scored a first-period takedown with three seconds left to grab the lead. He took a 4-2 lead into the final period before Synan notched a point via escape with 1:35 to go. Reges took him down to hike the lead to 6-3 with 30 seconds remaining.
Starting from the down position with 24 seconds on the clck, Synan scored a quick reversal, but was unable to get any needed back points for the win.
“I was just trying to hang on at that point,” Reges admitted. “Scoring first in the match was big for me. I was able to wrestle more aggressively with the lead.”
Butler scored some critical points late in periods Wednesday. Besides Reges' first-period takedown, Dakoda Collins (21-4) scored a reversal with 12 seconds left in the bout to grab a 2-1 decision from Brian Estep at 152.
Ryan Hannon (16-5) took down Brandon Olszewski with five seconds left in the second period, paving the way for a 3-1 decision at 170.Zach Weaver averted an aggressive takedown attempt by Mike Link at 182 and turned it into a pin with 15 seconds left in the first period.“We didn't figure on getting pinned at 182 and the Collins win really hurt us,” Bursick said. “You have to wrestle the full six minutes out there. A match can turn in three seconds.”Butler's win will pit the Tornado against Section 3B runner-up Hopewell at 6 p.m. next Wednesday in the section semifinals at North Allegheny. The host Tigers will face Hampton in the other semifinal with the title match set for 8 p.m.“Our guys really stepped it up tonight in a big match,” Stoner said. Those final-second points showed that. I'm pleased with the way they responded to this atmosphere.“We've had some big wins over the years. This is definitely one of my favorites.”<B>Notes: </B>Stoner has 244 dual match wins in his career. Bursick was denied his 200th Wednesday night. ... The Tornado will wrestle in the Clearfield Duals Saturday. ... Butler has four 20-win wrestlers so far this season in Korey Caudill (23-4), Sutton (23-4), Reges (22-4) and Collins (21-4). Blake Caudill is 19-1. ... Butler has not lost to Hampton since the 2006-07 season.<B>Butler 32, Hampton 31 (match started at 138 pounds)106</B> <B>pounds:</B> Connor Foust (B) dec. Patrrick Keyser, 9-1; <B>113: </B>Blake Caudill (B) dec. John Keyser, 11-0; <B>120: </B>Korey Caudill (B) pinned Joe Lehman, 1:00; <B>126: </B>Peter Craig (H) dec. Nick Sutton, 7-4; <B>132: </B>Zach Reges (B) dec. Kevin Synan, 6-5; <B>138: </B>Jesse Spohn (B) dec. Chris Olszewski, 5-1; <B>145: </B>Zach Kocak (H) dec. Jeremiah Bortmas, 16-7; <B>152: </B>Dakoda Collins (B) dec. Brian Estep, 2-1; <B>160: </B>Colin Siford (H) pinned Will Bortmas, 1:08; <B>170: </B>Ryan Hannon (B) dec. Brandon Olszewski, 3-1; <B>182: </B>Zach Weaver (B) pinned Mike Link, 1:45; <B>195: </B>Jake Hart (H) by forfeit; <B>220: </B>Nick Yaroszewki (H) pinned Ben McKnight, 1:35; <B>285: </B>Noah Shulman (H) by forfeit.
