Fast falls


 


BUTLER TWP —
Butler's varsity wrestling team made quick work of Pine-Richland Wednesday night. 
Literally. 
Six of the seven Golden Tornado pins occurred in the first period of a 58-10 section dual match victory in the Intermediate High School gym. 

Blake Caudill at 120 pounds, Jeremiah Bortmas at 145, David Slomers at 152, Ryan Hannon at 182, Zach Weaver at 195 and Alex White at 220 all had first-period pins for Butler (2-0). Bortmas had the quickest fall at 45 seconds. 
Connor Foust pinned his man at 113 pounds just 34 seconds into the second period. 
“It's good to see those guys come out and be all business. There was no lollygagging around,” Tornado coach Scott Stoner said. “At the same time, I'd like to see guys demonstrate a few different takedown maneuvers before putting an opponent away. 
“I always look at how many takedowns we had compared to how many times we were taken down. That's the important aspect that goes beyond the final score.” 
Despite the lopsided loss, Pine-Richland coach Steve Joseph thought his team wrestled better than it did in a one-point loss to Knoch last week. 
“That's how good a team I think Butler has,” Joseph said. “We actually had a better showing tonight. 
“The kids who gave up the early pins tonight were first or second-year wrestlers for us. They'll get better with time.” 
Two Tornado wrestlers — Foust and Hannon — stayed perfect on the season at 5-0. Weaver recorded his sixth pin in as many wins this season at 195. 
“Zach sat behind Cole Baxter for a year, then came on the mat last season and recorded 26 pins,” Stoner said. “He has the confidence and ability to go through people.” 
Four newcomers to Butler's lineup this season continue to shine. Cody Houston improved to 5-2 at 132 pounds by posting a majority decision. Slomers had his pin at 152 to improve to 4-3 while Zach Raible moved to 6-2 on the year with a 6-5 decision of Keegan Harris at 170 pounds. 
Raible took down Harris with 20 seconds left in the match to secure the victory. 
“Zach does not have natural athleticism, so he has to work hard for everything he gets,” Stoner said. “Some of his wins may be ugly like this one, but he scrapped his way through and wound up with one point more than the other guy.” 
Butler's Damian Wheeler lost a 5-3 decision to Patrick Kline at heavyweight, but is still 5-2 on the year. Wheeler gave up his first two takedowns of the season. 
“I'm very surprised at how well our newcomers are doing so early in the year,” Stoner said. “A lot of that credit belongs to Coach (Fred) Powell. He drills these kids and works with them every day to get better.” 
One of the Rams' better wrestlers, David Kelly, dropped a 7-0 decision to Korey Caudill at 126 pounds. 
“We've only wrestled two matches so far and David's faced two experienced, high-caliber seniors on those nights,” Joseph said. “I'm sure he's going to do fine.” 
“Korey won every scramble against that kid and Kelly's not a bad wrestler,” Stoner said. 
Butler's Xavier Bennett had a 14-4 lead on Matt Graf at 138 pounds when the latter could not continue due to injury early in the third period. 
The Tornado will compete in the 36-team Southmoreland Tournament Dec. 28-29. 
Butler 58, Pine-Richland 10 
(Match started at 106 pounds) 
106-Connor Renkey (P-R) dec. Max Stalnaker, 8-0; 113-Connor Foust (B) pinned Bryce DeLeon, 2:34; 120-Blake Caudill (B) pinned Ryan Baer, 1:40; 126-Korey Caudill (B) dec. David Kelly, 7-0; 132-Cody Houston (B) dec. Dillon Florentine, 13-2; 138-Xavier Bennett (B) by injury default over Matt Graf, 4:32; 145-Jeremiah Bortmas (B) pinned Blake Watson, :45; 152-David Slomers (B) pinned Mike Geyer, 1:33; 160-Brendan Burnham (P-R) dec. Will Bortmas, 9-2; 170-Zach Raible (B) dec. Keegan Harris, 6-5; 182-Ryan Hannon (B) pinned Sam Kyle, 1:46; 195-Zach Weaver (B) pinned David Rambacher, :52; 220-Alex White (B) pinned Luke Krebs, 1:00; Hwt.-Patrick Kline (P-R) dec. Damian Wheeler, 5-3