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!