BUTLER TWP — How much the encouragement before each match helps 113-pound Butler wrestler Shane Culp is not quantifiable.

But Culp insists hearing what Sam Dietrich, Scott Dietrich and Mike Vought say helps him settle down.

During the Golden Tornado's 63-12 Section 3-A win over Knoch Thursday night at the Butler Intermediate High School, everything fell into place for Culp.

He scored the first takedown and worked a cradle to pin Mitch Walter for his first varsity win.

“My better friends on the team, both Dietrichs and Mikey give me pep talks before the match,” said Culp, who is 1-5 on the season. “It's different every time. Jokes to get me confident are so I don't put myself down.”

Butler (4-3, 3-2) will wrestle for a spot in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs when it hosts Hampton at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Talbots tied for first place in Section 3-B with Fox Chapel and Shaler, but lost out on tiebreaker criteria.

Golden Tornado coach Scott Stoner wanted to see his team continue to build after it beat Seneca Valley 37-33 Wednesday night.

“We needed to keep motivating after that NA loss (Tuesday night). Obviously, we had a big win Wednesday over Seneca, Knoch is a little lesser skilled,” Stoner said. “Still, there were some good performances. I'm looking at a lot of progress in all these areas.”

Knoch (5-7, 0-5) bumped three wrestlers up to try and create better matchups, but the Golden Tornado won 10 of the 12 contested bouts.

Knoch forfeited at 120 and 126 pounds.

“We went for it and we did what we could,” Knights coach Steve Carney said. “We battled in there. There's still a lot of things we need to improve on here.”

The Knights' wins came when Brandon Yobst pinned Vought in 15 seconds at 152 and William Hockenberry pinned Isaiah Christy at 106.

Knights coach Steve Carney says Yobst has a tendency to try and end matches early.

“Brandon had one pin in around 16 or 17 (seconds earlier this season). That's what he does,” Carney said. “He's hard to handle.”

Culp, Scott Dietrich (132), Nick Roth (182), Justin Johnson (195), JD Bojanac (220) and Seth McCrea (285) all picked up pins for Butler.

Jeremiah Bortmas (160) also picked up bonus points by winning by technical fall.

Culp was happy to get a boost of confidence — and his first win — before the start of postseason play.

“For the team, not giving up six points is pretty important,” Culp said. “Personally, it's pretty important because I need to get my record up.”

Butler 63, Knoch 12

(Match started at 220 pounds)

106-William Hockenberry (K) pin Isaiah Christy, 4:22; 113-Shane Culp (B) pin Mitch Walter, :46; 120-Connor Foust (B) by forfeit; 126-Sam Dietrich (B) by forfeit; 132-Scotty Dietrich (B) pin Noah Kison, :58; 138-Caleb Baxter (B) decision Max Freyermuth, 11-4 ; 145-Donovan Malovich (B) dec. Eric Green, 4-3; 152-Brandon Yobst (K) pin Mike Vought,:15; 160-Jeremiah Bortmas (B) tech. fall Matt Steinmiller, 16-1; 170-Thomas Greaves (B) maj. dec. Alex Walter, 9-0; 182-Nick Roth (B) pin Matt Walter, 3:59; 195-Justin Johnson (B) pin Dalton Ashton, 335; 220-JD Bojanac (B) pin Bailey Savage, 5:21; Hwt.-Seth McCrea (B) pin Jacob Becker, 1:51