Franklin Regional wrestling rolling ahead of section showdown with Norwin
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Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 11:01 AM
Franklin Regional’s Henry Patts pins Penn-Trafford’s Brayden DeSantis in the 189-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional’s Luke Ankney with a major decision on Penn-Trafford’s Dylan Clayton in the 152-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional’s Mikey Ruane with a tech fall against Penn-Trafford’s Jake Lang in the 127-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional’s Chase Smith with a tech fall against Penn-Trafford’s Logan Ventura in the 133-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional’s Ethan Cartwright with a decision over Penn-Trafford’s Cael Ott in the 160-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional’s Nico Sarnic pins Penn-Trafford’s Gino Pecora in the 139-pound bout Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025 at Franklin Regional High School.
Franklin Regional wrestling coach Matt Lebe purposefully did not have his team compete the weekend of Jan. 17-18.
He wanted his team to be ready and well rested for a first-place showdown between his second-ranked Panthers and No.3 Norwin on Jan. 22.
The match would decide the Section 9-3A title and seeding for the WPIAL team tournament. Returning champion Connellsville is expected to be seeded No. 1.
The Panthers are coming off a big week. They opened by winning their fifth Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournament on Jan. 11 and followed by defeating rival Penn-Trafford, 43-22.
“Being off was planned,” Lebe said. “We want to get in some good training before the Norwin match. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
Franklin Regional won its fifth county title with 247.5 points and finished with two champions: freshman Beau Fennick (107) and freshman Max Firestine (145).
It was the Panthers’ first county title since 2021.
Fennick (22-3) claimed his first county championship in impressive fashion with a 16-0 victory against Derry freshman Rocco DeCario (14-4) at 107 pounds.
Fennick dominated the field by recording two pins and a technical fall. DeCario had two pins in his debut.
Firestine (25-4) had a tougher time in the finals. He defeated Norwin senior Gage Mamie, 4-0.
“It was a great effort,” Lebe said. “Everyone across the board came through. This is a special group that works really hard.
“We’re on the verge of doing some special things if we continue to get better, and that’s a credit to them. They love to wrestle.”
The Panthers rallied from a slow start against the Warriors. They were down 10-6 when they went on a run by winning the next six bouts on their way to the victory.
“We came off a pretty good weekend, and we had a great week of practice,” Lebe said. “We had a good week of training, and we are happy to remain undefeated still in the section. Now we want to move on and get better.”
Mikey Ruane (127) and Chase Smith (133) won by technical falls, Nico Sarnic (139) earned a pin, Firestine (145) won by technical fall, Luke Ankney (152) picked up a major and Ethan Cartwright (160) won a decision.
“We wrestled well, and we scored a lot of points,” Lebe said. “We were aggressive, and I liked that. It was good to see us work.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Franklin Regional
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