Every matman for himself
The team season is over. It’s time to survive.
Such is the mindset 29 wrestlers from Butler, Seneca Valley and Mars will take Saturday as the Section 3-AAA individual tournament takes place at North Allegheny. The top five placers in each weight class will advance to the WPIAL Championships the following weekend at Canon-McMillan.
“Some weight classes only have six kids or so,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “But that can be deceiving. At 106 pounds, for example, there’s only six wrestlers in this tournament, but it’s a strong group.”
The Golden Tornado have 12 wrestlers in the section tourney. Dom Vivirito (23-9) is seeded No. 1 at 138 pounds, Landon Christie (22-10) No. 1 at 189 and Jake Pomykata (23-4) No. 1 at heavyweight. No. 2 seeds for Butler are Levi Donnel (29-2) at 145 and Mickey Kreinbucher (27-7) at 172.
Butler’s other seven wrestlers are Ana Malovich (22-8) at 106, Kelley Schaukowitsch (20-11) at 113, Gavin Rush (22-13) at 120, Kase Chopp (21-10) at 126, Legend Wilkinson (5-11) at 132, Cade Savochka (18-15) at 152 and Matt Zinkhann (24-10) at 160.
“I’d love to get them all through,” Stoner said. “Ten would be a solid number ... I don’t know. At this time of year, a lot of this comes down to desire, how badly you want to move on and extend your season. Everyone’s been going hard for two hours a day since before Thanksgiving. How badly do kids still want to go out there and get after it for themselves?
“Dom’s run to a section title is very doable. Jake will likely have a tough match in the finals. Landon has been quite a story at 189. He got a lot more varsity time this season with Cooper (Baxter) being out and he’s taken advantage of it.”
Donnel is a No. 2 seed despite his 29-2 record because he lost during the season to West Allegheny’s Ty Watters, who sports a 26-2 record.
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