BUTLER TWP — Butler’s lead was slipping away — until Gavin Rush snatched it back.

With authority.

The Golden Tornado sophomore 133-pounder scored a 15-2 major decision over Sam Horton in the night’s final match, giving Butler a 29-23 wrestling victory over North Allegheny in the Butler Intermediate High School gym. The win marked Butler’s first-ever dual match triumph over the rival Tigers.

“We’ve had some great matches with them over the years,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “I can think of five times when it looked like we had them beat, something bizarre would happen, short of the roof just caving in.

“This means a lot because of the excitement it generated in the program and in these kids. This is something they will never forget.”

Butler (9-0, 3-0) had a 25-13 lead with four matches remaining. North Allegheny’s Casey Walker won by a 9-1 decision at 114 pounds and the Tigers’ Griffen Reid scored a 3-2 decision over Kelley Schaukowitsch at 121. Reid scored the winning points on a reversal with 34 seconds left.

“Nothing was happening there for the longest time,” Stoner said of the 121-pound match. “I thought that should have been a stalemate, let both wrestlers go to neutral and try to win the match.”

Instead, the Tornado carried a 25-20 lead into the 127-pound bout. The Tigers’ Will Bentrim took down Leo Iarrapino in the first period and made it stand up for a 2-0 decision.

That put the outcome of the dual on the shoulders of Rush (9-6) and Horton (5-11). The two split a pair of matches last season.

“This was their rubber match, so to speak,” North Allegheny coach Jaime Kyriazis said. “Give their kid credit. He won the match decisively.

“This is thwe way dual matches are supposed to be, right down to the end. I hate team blowouts either way. This was good, competitive wrestling. Congratulations to Butler. We knew this was going to happen at some point. Tonight, they got us.”

Rush was taken down early in the match, but scored a reversal to tie it before the first period ended. He took control in the second period by scoring numerous back points. He carried that same momentum into the third.

“Watching the way this match was developing, as I was preparing ... I realized, I have to go out there and win this thing,” Rush said. “No way did I want to let my team town. If it’s on me at the end, I had to go do it.

“I knew that if I could get on top, I could grind it out against him, wear him down,. keep turning him. It worked out for me.”

Rush is a late developing wrestler, winning only a couple of matches as a seventh grader in junior high.

“Gavin has come a long way,” Stoner said. “He wrestled a smart match. He took control, got in position and just beat the kid up the rest of trhe way.”

Butler had other highlights, of course. With his team trailing 10-0 early, Levi Donnel got the Tornado on the board with a pin at 160 pounds. It was the 97th win of his career. Matt Zinkhann followed with a major decision at 172, scoring late back points to knot the team score.

Mickey Kreinbucher gave Butler the lead for good with a second-period pin of Mason Hartung at 189.

“I don’t know how Mickey developed that cradle, but he’s been getting a lot of pins with it,” Stoner said.

Ethan Babay scored a first-period pin at 285 for the Tornado and Santino Sloboda remained unbeaten with an 8-3 decision at 107 pounds.

“I’m so proud to be a part of this,” Donnel said of the program’s first win over the Tigers. “We have a true brotherhood in that room.”

Stoner said his team did not have a physical week of practice in the room.

“But we came out and were physical tonight,” he said. “We were aggressive and North Allegheny was physical as well. They came at us hard.

“This is a big one for our program. No doubt.”

North Allegheny (8-4, 2-1) had a big moment early when Nathan Monteparte won the night’s first match by 12-3 decision at 139 pounds. It was hits 100th career victory.

Butler 29, North Allegheny 23

(match started at 139 pounds)

107 pounds-Santino Sloboda (B) dec. Gus Stedeford, 8-3; 114-Casey Walker (NA) dec. Ana Malovich, 9-1; 121-Griffen Reid (NA) dec. Kelley Schaukowitsch, 3-2; 127-Will Bentrim (NA) dec. Leo Iarrapino, 2-0; 133-Gavin Rush (B) dec. Sam Horton, 15-2; 139-Nathan Monteparte (NA) dec. Legend Wilkinson, 12-3; 145-Jayson Flener (NA) dec. Kase Chopp, 5-2; 152-Kellen Buggey (NA) dec. Dawson Davis, 3-2; 160-Levi Donnel (B) pinned Adam Rohan, 3:04; 172-Matt Zinkhann (B) dec. Michael Herschberger, 10-1; 189-Mickey Kreinbucher (B) pinned Mason Hartung, 4:26; 215-Aiden Buggey (NA) dec. Landon Christie, 6-2; 285-Ethan Babay (B) pinned Anthony Spivak, 1:51