Trib HSSN Wrestling Team of the Week for Week of Dec. 9, 2019

By: Greg Macafee
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 | 12:01 AM

The Butler Golden Tornado started their season with a tournament win at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational, where they topped a field of 29 teams by having a champion, four third-place finishers, a fourth-place medalist and two fifths.

Levi Donnel, a 113-pound freshman, paced the Golden Tornado with three pins and a technical fall as he captured his weight class by pinning Chartiers Valley’s Ashton Sadowski only 1 minute, 15 seconds into their championship bout.

Caleb Hartung (195 lbs.), Colton Spohn (132 lbs.), Cooper Baxter (182 lbs.) and Nate McMaster (145 lbs.) all earned third-place finishes and Steven Green (152 lbs.) finished fourth in his weight class.

Butler scored 184 points, beating Pine-Richland by 19.5 points. Burgettstown (161.5), Chartiers Valley (157.5) and Armstrong (149) rounded out the top five teams at the tournament.

OTHER NOMINEES:

Waynesburg: In a battle of two of the top two teams in the WPIAL, Waynesburg took down Burrell in their first dual of the season. Waynesburg standout Wyatt Henson took down Ian Oswalt in an 11-4 decision at the 138-pound weight class. Luca Augustine defeated Anthony Corrado, 3-0, at the 160-pound weight class.

Kiski Area: After the Cavaliers lost a state champion and a state runner-up to graduation, some might have thought this might be a rebuilding year. But Kiski Area evaporated those thoughts this weekend by capturing the Eastern Area Invitational at Gateway for the sixth year in a row. Kiski Area won the tournament by 72 points. Connellsville (202), Dubois (179), Franklin Regional (155.5) and Mt. Lebanon (143) rounded out the top five teams at the tournament.

Pine-Richland: The Rams came close to a team title at the Chartiers-Houston Invitational and had two champions and two runner-ups. Freshman Anthony Ferraro took 1st in the 106-pound weight class and junior Cole Spencer won the 160-pound bracket. Sophomore Kelin Laffey (132) and senior Nathan Lukez (152) finished second in their respective weight classes.

Connellsville: The Falcons held their own at the Eastern Invitational at Gateway. They had two first-place finishers in Jared Kesler (145) and Dakota Rodgers (182). They also had three third-place finishers in Mason Prinkey (120), George Schultz (160) and Casper Hinklie (170). Seth Kuhns took fifth in the 195-pound bracket.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Butler, Connellsville, Kiski Area, Pine-Richland, Waynesburg