The Butler Junior High Wrestling team traveled to Norwin for the 2-day District VII Junior High Championships this past Fri-Sat.  This 51 team tournament it the biggest junior high event in the state.  Butler used 6 place winners to finish 10th out of the 51 competing teams.  Butlers Shawndell Zapata was the teams highest place winner finishing as runner up at 210 lbs.  He finishes the year at an impressive 25-2 Justin Kabay and Cooper Baxter both took home 4th place medals at 145 and 155 lbs.  Kabay finishes the year at 22-8 with Baxter 25-5. After his quarter final win Levi Donnel was forced to medically default his next three matches for a 6th place finish.  Levi did not lose a match this year where he stepped on the mat.  Even with the 3 medical default losses he was 21-3 on the year.  Nick Shaukowitsch placed 6th at 85 lbs.  After being 4-18 (4 forfeit wins) and getting pinned 15 times last season, Nick rebounded to an impressive 19-10 record this season.  The surprise of the tournament (no for me personally I know he has been improving) was Domenic Vivirito.  Dom came in unseeded at 9-14.  He lost his first match of the tournament to the #1 seed wrestler but pulled out 4 straight wins to make the medal round and ended up in 8th place.  He ended his season at 13-17.  This concludes a season where the Junior High "GT" went 13-4 in dual matches, won the Butler J.C. Smith Duals, placed 2nd at Norwin Duals, placed 3rd at Southside, took 8th at NA, and 10th at District VII.  This Sunday will be the PJW Area 7 Tournament at West Allegheny High School.  The top 3 finishers in each weight class will qualify for the PJW State Tournament in Johnstown the following weekend.  Please see the attached images.  

The Tornado traveled to Southside for a 27 team tournament.  After day 1 the "GT" were in first place.  Again the Tornado found themselves in first place by a narrow margin going into the place winner matches (1st-6th).  When wrestling was complete Butler ended up in 3rd place behind Trinity and Waynesburg.  There was quite a gap between the top 3 teams and the 4th place team.  Nick Schaukowitsch was the lone champ for the Tornado.  This is not only Nick's first time winning a tournament, its also his first time placing at one.  Nick decided to go big or go home.  Nick has wrestled both 85 and 90 lbs this year and has faced some steep competition.  He has lost a lot of close matches but is working hard and his improvement is starting to show on the mat.  He broke his leg 2 years ago in the preseason and struggled last year giving up a lot of pins.  His dedication in the off-season and amazing work ethic this season is finally starting to give him the confidence he needs to go out and do well.  I couldn't be more proud of Nick and he is well deserving of success. Butler had 4 other wrestlers make the finals but come up just short in their bid for a title.  Byron Manchester, Justin Kabay, Jacob Pomykata, and Greg Schultz all made the finals and finished as runner up.  Cade Savochka is starting to heat up and has been wrestling very well lately.  He has started to push himself in the practice room and his attitude before and during matches has been sharp.  He went 4-1 on the weekend to place 3rd at 130 lbs.  He lost a razor sharp 2-1 semi finals match in which he did all the work.  Look for Cade to continue to improve and do well.  Shawndell Zapata suffered his first loss of the season in the semi finals but rebounded to finish in 3rd place.  He is now an impressive 22-1 on the season  Cooper Baxter lost 2 close matches and ended up taking 4th at 165 lbs.  Its important to note that I bumped Justin Kabay, Cooper Baxter, and Jacob Pomykata all up a weight class from what they weigh in order to allow Byron Manchester to get into the lineup.  I approached those guys prior to sending the lineup in and asked if they were willing to do that to help the team as I thought we had a shot to win this tournament.  They all agreed without hesitation.  With Byron taking second and all 3 of the other guys placing this certainly helped us in taking 3rd place.  In today sports where the focus is a lot of times on what is best for me, it is great to see these guys make a sacrifice for their teammates. I could not be more proud of this team!   Butler returns to action Tuesday night as they travel to Vandegraft to take on a very solid Kiski squad.  That will be their last match of the season.  This coming Friday/Saturday will be the final tournament of the year as we travel to Norwin High School for the 50+ team District VII Tournament.  All WPIAL teams both AAA and AA are invited to this event.   Please see the attached pictures from the Southside Tournament. Thanks for your support and Go "GT" Wrestling! Congratulations to our Varsity team for going 4-1 and placing 2nd at the Uniontown William Jenkins Duals today.  Also, congratulations and best of luck to our 3 senior Varsity wrestlers Christian Sequete, Justin Stewart, and Rob Hays.     Donnie Geibel 

On Thursday evening the Butler Junior High Wrestling team hosted crosstown rival Armstrong.  After the first 11 of 18 matches Butler was clinging to a 26-24 lead.  The Junior High "GT" would, however, win 6 of the final 7 weights to double up the Riverhawks 60-30. Winning by fall for Butler were: Cade Savochka 130 lbs Byron Manchester 145 lbs Cooper Baxter 165 lbs Jacob Pomykata 185 lbs Winning by major decision were: Nick Schaukowitsch 90 lbs   11-0 Landon Christie 110 lbs   8-0 Justin Kabay 155 lbs   12-2 Winning by decision were: Mickey Kreinbucher 105 lbs   2-0 Greg Schultz 250 lbs   4-2 Picking up forfeit victories were: Ben Lyons  75 lbs Noah Convery  95 lbs Shawndell Zapata 210 lbs

This past Saturday the Butler Junior High "GT" Wrestling team traveled to North Allegheny for their 35 team Invitational tournament.  This is one of the hardest junior high tournaments in the area with powerhouse teams such as Erie Prep, Canon Mac, Reynolds, General McClain, NA, Seneca Valley, Hempfield, Clearfield, Franklin Regional, and St. Ed's to name a few.  When the dust settled 3 Tornado Wrestlers won their respective weight classes.  Levi Donnel 80lbs, Cooper Baxter 155 lbs, and Shawndell Zapata 210 lbs all went undefeated on the day in earning 1st place at their respective weight classes.  This is the 2nd most champs we have ever had at this tournament and the most since 2007 when we had 4.  However the tournament was much smaller back then and the teams were not as tough.  This is a great accomplishment for these young men.  On the year this trio is a combined 55-1.  The only loss was when I bumped Cooper Baxter up to 165 against Hampton.  His opponent that day won the NA tournament Saturday at 165.  Certainly not a bad loss and Cooper wanted to do it.  He sees the big picture of making himself better rather than just getting easy wins.  All three of these guys do.  As a team we finished #8 out of 35.  We still have 2 starters out with injuries and 1 out with bad grades.  I think we break the top 5 or higher with those guys in.  Most guys we took won at least one match and a couple won 3 and just missed placing in the top 6.  We have this week off from competition before we host Armstrong on Wednesday Feb 7th.  It is also senior night for the Varsity team.  Junior high begins at 5 pm with varsity at 7.  This will be both teams last home match of the year.  If you haven't made it to a match I urge you to make this one.  Come see the skills these young men have developed throughout this year from the hard work and dedication they have put in. See the below pictures from our 3 champs. Go GT Wrestling!

The Junior High Golden Tornado Wrestling Team hosted the 13th annual Butler Duals.  This year we decided to honor the late J.C. Smith and name the tournament after him.  J.C. was a great friend of Butler Wrestling for many years.  He volunteered his time to video tape matches for both the varsity and junior high teams while making dvd's to share with the team.  He even traveled on overnight trips with the varsity program.  The Junior High "GT" went 5-0 on the day to earn the team championship.  Scores were as follows: Butler 72   Burrell 21 Butler 76   New Castle 23 Butler 60   Plum 33 Butler 84   Hampton 12 Butler 87   Shaler 15   Ben Lyons picked up his first win via pin and was 5-0 on the day. Levi Donnell went 5-0 on the day with a pin. Saxon Stoner was 4-0. Nick Shaukowitsch was 4-1 with a pin. Noah Convery was 3-2 with 2 pins. Matt Zinkhann was 3-2 with a pin.  Mickey Kreinbucher was 3-2 with a great come from behind win against Hampton.  Landon Christie was 4-1 with a pin Jaxon Steele was 4-0 Cade Savochka was 3-1 with a pin. Byron Manchester was 3-1 with a pin.  Justin Kabay was 4-1 with a pin Cooper Baxter was 4-1 with 2 pins. Jacob Pomykata was 4-1 with with 2 pins Jake Glasgow was 1-0. Shawndell Zapata was 5-0 with 3 pins. Greg Schultz was 5-0.   Outstanding individuals for the team are: Levi Donnell 80-85 lbs:  15-0   5 pins,  1 major decision Shawndell Zapata 210-250 lbs:  14-0,  6 pins, 1 major decision Cooper Baxter 155-165 lbs:  14-1, 11 pins, 1 decision. Jacob Pomykata 165-185 lbs:  14-1,  9 pins, 1 major decision Justin Kabay 145-155 lbs:  10-3, 4 pins, 2 majors, 1 decision Byron Manchester 145-155 lbs:  9-3, 3 pins, 1 major, 3 decisions   Butler will return to action next Saturday Jan 27th at the NA Invitational.  This is a 35 team very tough tournament.  It will be a great test for us.  Thanks to all the parents who helped out at the concession stands, gate, set-up, clean-up, etc.  Everything went very well.  Amy Baxter asked that I personally thank you all from her.  Although she is the one who deserves the most thanks as she spearheaded the event from the parent/concession stand point.  Thank you all!   Please see the below pictures.     

On Wednesday night the Golden Tornado Junior High Wrestling team hosted section rival NA.  Despite winning the final 5 bouts Butler was not able to overcome a big deficit.  The match was competitive as the "GT" lost matches 1-0, 13-11, and 4-1.  The final team score was Butler 36  NA 55.  Winning by pin for Butler were: Justin Kabay  155 lbs Cooper Baxter 165 lbs Jacob Pomykata 185 lbs   Winning by major decision were Levi Donnell 85 lbs (16-5) Nick Schaukowitsch 90 lbs (9-0) Shawndell Zapata 210 lbs (17-6) Picking up a forfeit win was Greg Schultz 250 lbs   Butler record now stands at 7-2.  They will travel to Seneca Valley next Wednesday to face a tough Raider squad.  

The Junior High Golden Tornado improved to 7-1 with a 91-6 victory over a thin squad from Knoch.  Butler lost two close decisions that would be their only blemishes on the evening.  They used 10 forfeits, 4 pins, 1 major, and 1 decision to reach 91 points.  Winning for the Tornado were as follows: Winning by fall: Dominic Vivirito 122 lbs Cade Evans 130 lbs Cooper Baxter 165 lbs Jacob Pomykata 185 lbs   Winning by major decision: Justin Kabay 155 lbs  8-0   Winning by decision: Cade Savochka 138 lbs  2-0   Picking up forfeit wins were: Levi Donnell 80 lbs Saxon Stoner 85 lbs Nick Schaukowitsch 90 lbs Noah Convery 95 lbs Nikko Lillie 100 lbs Mickey Kreinbucher 105 lbs Landon Christie 110 lbs Logan Green 115 lbs Shawndell Zapata 210 lbs Wesley Osmer 250 lbs   Butler still has 4 undefeated wrestlers: Levi Donnell 8-0  3 pins  5 forfeits Cooper Baxter 8-0  7 pins 1 decision Jacob Pomykata  8-0  5 pins  3 forfeits Shandell Zapata 7-0  3 pins  4 fofeits *In actual matches wrestled these 4 are a combine 16-0 with 15 pins!   Butler Junior High returns to action this Saturday where they will host their 12th annual Junior High Duals.  Starting this year we dedicated the tournament to the late J.C. Smith who volunteered to videotape matches for many years for the junior high and varsity programs.  Wrestling starts at 9 am with each team wrestling each other for a total of 5 matches per team.  Participating schools are:  Burrell, Hampton, New Castle, Shaler, and Plum.     Thanks for your support!  Go GT Wrestling!

On Wednesday evening the Junior High "GT" defeated section foe Pine Richland 72-27.  The Tornado took a big lead by getting forfeit victories in 5 of the first 6 matches.  Pine Richland was missing a wrestler due to a concussion and one wrestler did not make weight.  After being up 30-3 Butler then lost 5 of the next 6 and only led 36-27.  The Tornado then stormed back winning the final matches!  (5 by fall and 1 forfeit).  Winning by fall for Butler were: 122 lbs: Domenic Vivirito 145 lbs: Byron Manchester 155 lbs:  Justin Kabay 165 lbs:  Cooper Baxter 185 lbs:  Jacob Pomykata 210 lbs:  Shawndell Zapata   Butler still has 6 wrestlers still without a loss.  Levi Donnell 6-0   3 falls, 3 forfeits Colin Hoffman 3-0  2 falls, 1 forfeit Byron Manchester 4-0  3 falls, 1 forfeit Cooper Baxter 6-0   5 falls Jacob Pomykata 6-0   3 falls, 3 forfeits Shawndell Zapata 5-0   3 falls, 2 forfeits   Butler resumes action next Wednesday Dec 20th at Mars.  

The Butler Junior High Wrestling team went 4-1 on Saturday to place 2nd at the Norwin Duals. Team scores were as follows: Butler 74  Pine Richland 15 Butler 94  Gateway 3 Butler 54  Plum 43 Butler 75  Upper St. Clair 15 Norwin 70  Butler 33   In the Plum match things looked bleak for the "GT" as Plum took a 37-12 lead with 5 pins.  Byron Manchester used a first period fall to start the comeback.  Colin Hoffman after being down 9-1 came back to get a fall in the 2nd period.  In all the Tornado won 8 of the final 9 matches to earn the victory.    Outstanding individuals on the day were: Levi Donnell  5-0   3 pins.   pinned everyone he wrestled Byron Manchester  3-0   2 pins Colin Hoffman  3-0  2 pins Cooper Baxter 5-0   4 pins Jacob Pomykata  5-0   2 pins Shawndell Zapata  4-0  2 pins.  Also won 2 exhibition matches. 1 by pin and one by default.  Pinned every kid he wrestled.