Butler Area wrestling coach Scott Stoner has the number 17 in mind as the high school season approaches.

"We've wrestled North Allegheny 17 times since our program was started in 1991," Stoner said. "North Allegheny has won all 17 matches. We're hoping to end that streak this year."

Stoner could get his wish. Butler enters the season as the favorite to win the Section 3-AAA championship. The Golden Tornado has all but three starters back from last year's squad, which qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA team tournament and finished with a 23-6 record.

"I've never had that many kids back," Stoner said. "Most of the kids in our lineup this year will have significant varsity experience. With that in mind, we are already practicing at a high level. We're definitely excited about the season."

Butler has eight starters returning who registered 20 or more victories last season, including WPIAL champion and PIAA fifth-place finisher Cole Baxter (45-2 at 145 pounds).

"The great success Cole had last year has really helped the program," Stoner said. "The kids saw every day in practice how hard he worked and how much he accomplished. His work ethic has made his teammates work just as hard."

The other Butler wrestlers who had 20 or more wins are Zach Reges (23-19 at 112), Eric Tuck (29-13 at 119), Cody Hartman (29-12 at 130), Dillon Weston (23-11 at 135), Mike Crawford (29-11 at 140), Dakoda Collins (28-15 at 160) and Chris White (30-14 at 189).

"Our feeder system has been the key to our success," Stoner said. "Donnie Geibel has done a great job with the junior high. He has a 55-10 record in four seasons. And he loves working with the junior high. He thinks it's the most important job in the world."

North Allegheny has won or shared nine consecutive Section 3-AAA titles since Jamie Kyriazis became head coach at his alma mater. The Tigers hope to keep that streak alive this season, which gets underway Dec. 11.

"This is the first year in a while that we haven't had any superstars coming back," said Kyriazis, who had four starters graduate, including a pair of PIAA place-winners who combined for 250 career victories. "But we do have a good core of kids coming back who won a lot of matches last year."

North Allegheny must also replace two starters who transferred to other high schools and another who is no longer with the team.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the young kids who will step into the starting lineup," Kyriazis said. "There are no big names among the newcomers, but most should win more matches than they lose."

North Allegheny has three returnees who had 20 or more wins. They are Ryan Sippel (20-10 at 103), Mike Wanner (27-15 at 112) and Andy Candiello (36-7 at 135). Also back is Nick Rodgers (11-7 at 119), who has missed significant time the past two seasons due to complications from a concussion but has 49 career victories.

"Nick suffered a concussion two years ago at the Manheim tournament," Kyriazis said. "He's missed a lot of time the past two years, but comes into this season with a clean bill of health."

Fox Chapel set a school record last season with a 29-4 record. The Foxes advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals before dropping a 30-20 decision to Canon-McMillan.

Foxes coach Ron Frank must replace four starters who combined for 151 victories last season, including PIAA qualifier Justin Mahon.

The Foxes have six wrestlers who recorded 20 or more victories last season returning. They are Sam Molina (22-12 at 112), Carson Brooks (35-10 at 125), Michael Dunn (25-16 at 130), Dave DiBenedetto (34-12 at 145), Stefano Geary (23-12 at 171) and Dan Mahon (26-17 at 215).

North Hills must replace four starters who graduated from a squad that qualified for the WPIAL playoffs and finished with a 13-14 record. The Indians have five returnees who had 20 or more wins last season. They are Troy Zangaro (34-10 at 103), Kraig Esswein (30-15 at 112), Cameron Weber 20-12 at 125), Ben Amrhein (36-9 at 160) and Thomas McElwaine (28-6 at 215).

"Troy [Zangaro] has moved from 103 to 125," North Hills coach Jose Martinez said. "He played football this year and put on a lot of muscle with an agressive weight lifting program.

"Thomas [McElwaine] returns at 215 after missing last season's postseason tournaments with an elbow injury. If he can stay away from injuries, I expect him to be a PIAA qualifier."

Hampton posted a 17-4 record last seasn, but did not qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. The Talbots have all but four starters returning, including five who had 20 or more wins: Pete Craig (28-10 at 125), Ryan Craig (27-6 at 130), Nick Yaroszewski (23-8 at 189), Jordan Shulman (29-7 at 215), and Joe Raimondi (31-5 at 285).

"Joe [Raimondi] might be out for the season," Hampton coach Joe Bursick said. "He sustained an ACL injury in our last football playoff game. He will be seeing a surgeon [today]. We'll just have to wait and see [if he can compete this season].

North Hill High School's Troy Zangaro lifts Fox Chapel's Connor Whelan off the mat in the 103-pound match at the Section 4-AAA team championships last season. Zangaro returns to the North Hills team this season.

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