Senior night atmosphere spurs Butler’s Kaitlynn Plopi to victory in Golden Tornado team loss to North Allegheny
BUTLER TWP — The spotlight was on — and Kaitlynn Plopi shined in it.
Butler’s lone girls wrestling senior was honored prior to the Golden Tornado’s dual match with North Allegheny on Wednesday in the Intermediate High School gym. Then she faced a 15-win wrestler in Ava Anthony.
“I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen,” the Golden Tornado captain said of their 142-pound math. “I wasn’t real confident going out there. But the energy of the crowd, my family being here, one of my teachers ... They gave me a spark.”
Plopi (8-5) pinned Anthony 30 seconds into the second period after falling behind, 3-0, in the first period. Plopi’s pin gave Butler an 18-12 lead, but North Allegheny rallied to win the overall dual, 36-30.
“I’m proud of the way we wrestled and hung right with them,” Butler coach Nathan Bottiger said. “Some of our girls wrestled their best matches of the season tonight.”
The Tornado slipped to 2-4 in section and overall, and host their second annual girls wrestling tournament Saturday. The visiting Tigers improved to 8-5 overall, 2-2 in section.
Butler dropped three matches by forfeit. The Tigers forfeited to Lillianna Burgardt at 106 pounds. Butler’s girls program is in its second season while NA’s is in its fifth year. The Tigers’ girls mat program is the second oldest in Pennsylvania.
“It takes time to build it up,” NA coach Dan Heckert said. “We have 11 of the 13 weight classes filled now. In our second year, we only had eight wrestlers. But everyone’s program is growing. The sport is growing.”
Heckert pointed out that there were nine high school girls wrestling programs in the state four years ago. There are 242 of them now.
“The first Pa. wrestlers from girls teams are freshmen in college now,” he said. “In a few years, they will be graduating from college and some will get into coaching. The coaching tree will grow from there.”
Also winning by pin for the Tornado on Wednesday were Brin Zehmisch (16-5) at 118 pounds, Anastasia Manchester (13-5) at 136 and Olivia Hageman (12-7) at 190.
Plopi has been a high school wrestler all four years of her career. She plans to major in education and wrestle in college. Hiram (Ohio) is the school she’s focusing on right now.
“Ana (Malovich) and I both spent two years wrestling for the boys team,” Plopi said. “It doesn’t seem real that we have our own girls team now. I try to be a leader and just get better all the time.”
“Kaitlynn is a burst of warmth on a cold day,” Bottiger said. “The team follows her lead. When she’s up, the whole team is up. When she’s down, we can all feel it. She stays focused the entire time she’s on the mat.”
NORTH ALLEGHENY 36, BUTLER 30
(match started at 118)
106 pounds-Lillianna Burgardt (B) by forfeit; 118-Brin Zehmisch (B) pinned Anna Kovacic, 1:42; 124-Aleigha Revelent (NA) pinned Rowan Zehmisch, :57; 130-Anna Svoboa (NA) by forfeit; 136-Anastasia Manchester (B) pinned Alexis Hartshorn, :44; 142-Kaitlynn Plopi (B) pinned Ava Anthony, 2:30; 148-Maya Scott (NA) pinned Mylee Toner, 2:28; 155-Sophia Folks (NA) by forfeit; 170-Ava Ava Frailey (NA) by forfeit; 190-Olivia Hageman (B) pinned Heidi Radford, 2:46; HWT-Alex Gosnell (NA) pinned Monica Osborne, 2:18
