Unbeaten Franklin Regional wrestlers take down undermanned Penn-Trafford

By: Dave Mackall
Wednesday, January 10, 2024 | 10:46 PM

It wasn’t a question of who would win the WPIAL Section 3-3A wrestling match at Penn-Trafford — No. 4 Franklin Regional came in Wednesday night as a heavy favorite against the undermanned Warriors — but rather how it would be won.

Indeed, Franklin Regional captured a 43-16 victory, but the Panthers didn’t skate against a scrappy Penn-Trafford squad missing two of its top wrestlers.

“I can’t overstate how well their coaching staff does. Their kids fight hard,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “For us, we like coming into these types of matches. Even though we felt tonight like we were favored, we knew we were going to have to wrestle hard.”

Franklin Regional (13-0, 4-0) claimed nine weight classes, including two by fall, one by technical fall and two by forfeit, but that didn’t discourage Penn-Trafford coach Larry Hohman, who said the absence of No. 2-ranked Dylan Barrett at 107 and No. 3 Hayden Coy at 145 changed the complexion of the match.

“I knew what that match could be if we had our two guys,” Hohman said.

Franklin Regional received pins from Tyler Kapusta at 127 and No. 3 Juliano Marion at 215 and a technical fall from Mike Ruane at 114.

Kapusta, the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 121, wrestled up in class.

Other winners for the Panthers were Titus Colangelo at 107, Nico Sarnic at 133, Cohen Buccicone at 139, Luke Ankney at 145, Henry Patts at 172 and Eli Daugherty at 285.

“The message to our guys,” Lebe said, “was be ready to wrestle, take care of getting bonus points and avoid bonus points where we could, just because later on down the line as a team, that will help us in close matches.”

Franklin Regional, after a trip to the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament at IUP on Friday and Saturday, closes the regular season with a pair of matches Wednesday at Norwin and Jan. 24 against Thomas Jefferson.

Penn-Trafford (3-9, 1-2) got victories from Luke DeSantis at 121, Logan Matrisch at 152, Dylan Clayton at 160 and No. 2 Tasso Whipple at 189. With Barrett and Coy sidelined with injuries, it wasn’t nearly enough to balance the ledger.

But his team’s fight impressed Hohman.

“Before the match,” he said, “I told them, ‘Listen, take the clock and the scoreboard out. These fans want to see a fight. Step on the mat, have a battle and leave it all out there. There were plenty of opportunities. It’s real easy in matches like this to give up before you step out there. These guys didn’t do that.”

Tags: Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford