FOX CHAPEL — JD Bojanac leapt off the mat, clapped his hands together and enjoyed soaking in his 220-pound title bout victory during the Section 3-AAA wrestling tournament Saturday at Fox Chapel High School.

The Butler senior felt comfortable in his own skin. That feeling isn't one Bojanac always enjoyed.

“It's been the greatest time of my life,” Bojanac said. “I just went from being no one to being a section champ.”

Bojanac was confident and assertive in his championship match. He pinned Plum's Nate Hoff in 2 minutes, 16 seconds.

Bojanac was one of two Butler County wrestlers —along with Seneca Valley's Austin Leon (170 pounds) — to win titles.

Bojanac's insecurities started when he was in Butler wrestling coach Scott Stoner's freshman study hall. When Bojanac pulled up a chair in class, kids were anxious to knock him down a peg.

His weight in particular was subject of verbal abuse.

Noticing Bojanac get upset, Stoner approached to ask why he put up with it.

Then he convinced Bojanac, who had no experience, to join the wrestling team.

“He said I can be a big guy and athletic,” Bojanac said. “I took the opportunity, signed up and started wrestling.”

Bojanac, who is 21-11 and was the top seed at 220, lost in the 285-pound finals last season.

Stoner wanted to see Bojanac be aggressive. He responded with two pins and a 7-3 decision in the semifinals.

That's the performance Stoner was waiting for.

“Getting him out in ninth grade and trying to boost his self-esteem has allowed that to be a nice experience being a high school wrestler,” Stoner said. “That's the kind of confidence we wanted to see out of him all year long. He is hard on himself, gets emotional and gets down on himself.”

Leon checked off his first two goals with a 5-3 win over North Allegheny's Jake Woodley in the 170-pound championship bout.

He won his second straight section title and hit 100 career wins.

“I like not having to cut weight, I come in a few pounds under at every weigh-in,” said Leon, who won at 152 last season. “I felt like I had more energy and stamina.”

Leon is the 13th Raider and 24th county wrestler to hit 100 wins. Seneca Valley coach Kevin Wildrick said Leon prepped for this jump most of the season.

“He's adapted to his weight class,” Wildrick said. “Technically he's wrestling up, but he's only wrestled at 160 for one or two matches. He uses that he's smaller and a little bit faster to his advantage.”

Leon, who is a four-time WPIAL qualifier, is still ready to go after the big step, qualifying for the PIAA tournament.

He went 2-2 at districts last year.

“Taking it one match at a time and not looking ahead to the next wrestler,” Leon said. “That's always what gets me there. Looking past the next match.”

Twenty-two wrestlers placed in the top five to earn berths in the WPIAL Tournament, which starts Thursday night at Penn Hills High School.

Butler qualified the most with nine, followed by Seneca Valley (six), Knoch (three) and Mars (three).

Cranberry Township resident Tony Palumbo, who wrestles for Central Catholic, also qualified at 160 pounds.

Five county wrestlers — Seneca Valley's Louis Newell (106) and Alex Lynch (113), Butler's Scotty Dietrich (126), Mars' Noah Wright (152) and Palumbo — lost in the finals.

Section 3-AAA Tournament

(Top five qualify for WPIAL tournament)

Championship match

106: Alex Salas (Pine-Richland) maj. dec. Louis Newell (Seneca Valley), 8-0

113: Gage Curry (North Hills) maj. dec. Alex Lynch (Seneca Valley), 10-0

120: Garret Burnham (Pine-Richland) dec. Dominic Means (Central Catholic), 6-5

126: Mike Heinl (Shaler) maj. dec. Scotty Dietrich (Butler), 13-4

132: Ian Moritz (Fox Chapel) dec. Tony Zummo (Plum), 7-3

138: David Kelly (Pine-Richland) dec. Gianni Fera (Central Catholic), 2-0

145: David Bodamo (North Hills) default Sean Kalmeyer (North Allegheny)

152: Vincenzo Joseph (Central Catholic) tech. fall Noah Wright (Mars), 20-5

160: Brendan Burnham (Pine-Richland) dec. Tony Palumbo (Central Catholic), 2-1 UTB

170: Austin Leon (Seneca Valley) dec. Jake Woodley (North Allegheny), 5-3

182: Nathan Turchick (Plum) dec. Mike Geyer (Pine-Richland), 5-3

195: Zach Smith (North Allegheny) pin Keyshawn Smith (Plum), :43

220: JD Bojanac (Butler) pin Nate Hoff (Plum), 2:16

285: Erik Steinmetz (Hampton) dec. Darnell Foster (Fox Chapel), 3-2

Third-place match

106: Casey Recrosio (Central Catholic) dec. Alex Hornfeck (Mars), 5-3

113: Hunter Baxter (Pine-Richland) dec. Zach Stedeford (North Allegheny), 6-4

120: Garrett Reinsfelder (Shaler) dec. Ben Lynch (Seneca Valley), 9-2

126: Dom Davido (Plum) dec. Vincenzo Rauso (Central Catholic), 3-1 UTB

132: Jake Hinson (North Allegheny) maj. dec. Alex Fischer (Seneca Valley), 12-3

138: Keagan Lawson (North Hills) dec. Silas Bender (Mars), 4-1

145: Jon Keyser (Hampton) dec. Donovan Malovich (Butler), 4-2

152: Sean Hoover (North Allegheny) pin Brandon Yobst (Knoch), 2:56

160: Jeremiah Bortmas (Butler) dec. Nick Gust (Hampton), 8-1

170: Brandon Olszewski (Hampton) pin Christian Sequette (Butler), 2:03

182: Mike Mahon (Fox Chapel) dec. Gus Schmitt (Hampton), 3:00

195: Zack Carcy (Fox Chapel) dec. Josh Aippersbach (Hampton), 4-1

220: Bailey Savage (Knoch) pin Tyler Huber (Hampton), 1:40

285: Richard Sims (Central Catholic) pin Dante Santelli (Seneca Valley), 2:02

Fifth-place match

106: Tony DiNinno (Plum) default Dylan Winters (Shaler)

113: Michael Nagy (Central Catholic) pin Max Pasquinelli (Mars), 4:13

120: John MacPherson (North Hills) pin Andrew Kopco (Fox Chapel), 2:39

126: Darius Corbin (North Hills) dec. Austin Pisano (Fox Chapel), 3-2 UTB

132: Vittorio Orsini (Pine-Richland) Maj. Dec. Sam Dietrich (Butler), 15-7

138: Caleb Baxter (Butler) pin Max Freyermuth (Knoch), 4:34

145: Ronny Amato (Plum) dec. Eric Green (Knoch), 4-2

152: Ron D'Amico (Shaler) dec. Nathan Mankay (North Hills), 4-2

160: Matt Steinmiller (Knoch) dec. Jacob Fritch (North Allegheny), 6-2

170: Derrin Deitz (Fox Chapel) default Logan Heinl (Shaler)

182: Nick Roth (Butler) pin Jim Demore (Shaler), :25

195: Justin Johnson (Butler) dec. Dalton Ashton (Knoch), 8-5

220: Brendan Scheller (Pine-Richland) dec. Alec Pasko (Fox Chapel), 10-8

285: Seth McCrea (Butler) dec. Anthony Lacava (Mars), 3-1 OT