Franklin Regional rolls over rival Norwin in PIAA 1st round
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Tuesday, February 4, 2025 | 10:09 PM
Frankin Regional’s Chase Smith takes down Norwin’s Dom Butera at 133 pounds Tuesday.
Norwin’s Dom Butera (right) takes down Obana Academy’s Charles Bottoms during a 133-pound match Tuesday.
Frankin Regional’s Ethan Cartwright takes down Norwin’s Nick Paukar at 172 pounds Tuesday.
Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe yells out to one of his wrestlers Tuesday.
The Franklin Regional wrestling team did not suffer a letdown Tuesday after celebrating its third WPIAL Class 3A title Saturday.
The Panthers (18-0) defeated Section 9 rival Norwin, 38-13, in the first round of the PIAA wrestling championship. They advance to Altoona on Friday to face District 11 runner-up Nazareth at 7 p.m.
Norwin, which was missing super sophomore Landon Sidun, advanced to the first round with a 75-0 victory against City League champion Obama Academy.
Sidun, a returning PIAA champion, has a broken bone in his right hand and will miss the rest of the season.
When Franklin Regional defeated Norwin, 28-19, on Jan. 22 to win the section title, it won the close bouts.
This time around, the match was not as close as the Panthers expanded on those close wins.
“We wrestled really well, and we put ourselves in a position to win those close ones,” Franklin Regional coach Matt Lebe said. “Hopefully, we make a good run in Altoona.”
Ethan Cartwright got things off on the right foot for the Panthers with a 5-0 win against Nicholas Puskar at 172 pounds.
Henry Patts made it 7-0 with a 10-1 major-decision win against Riley Shaffer at 189.
Santino Brasco then got Norwin on the scoreboard when he rallied to defeat John Montgomery, 9-8, at 215.
“I thought John wrestled really well,” Lebe said. “We just had a mix up at the end that cost him. Ethan’s win right off the bat was key.”
Elishua Daugherty then defeated Norwin heavyweight Sebastian Summerville, 4-1. It was the third time this season Daugherty has won a close match.
Franklin Regional freshman Beau Fennick pushed the lead to 16-3 win a pin against Luca Butera at 106.
“Not having Landon hurt them,” Lebe said.
“You hate to see someone like him get hurt. He’s a great wrestler, and we wish him a quick recovery.”
Norwin coach Kyle Martin said not having Sidun was critical.
“He’s a leader in the practice room,” Martin said. “He’s awesome. He leads on and off the mat. It’s going to give some else the opportunity.
“We had a couple firsts today. Our first PIAA playoff win and our first trip to the PIAA playoffs. Starting Wednesday we’re going to get ready for individuals and start building towards next year. We showed that we belong.”
Norwin got decisions wins by Coleton Klipa (114) and Nathan Gulibon (121) to trim the lead to 16-9.
Then the Panthers rolled off five consecutive wins. They got an injury default to Mike Ruane at 127 and consecutive majors by Chase Smith (133) and Nico Sarnic (139).
Max Firestine (145) picked up a technical fall, and Luke Ankney (152) edged Gage Mamie, 1-0.
“We proved Saturday we can beat anyone,” Sarnic said.
“We have a great team, and we’ve trained hard for this moment.”
Sarnic lost to Nathan Klingensmith three weeks ago, but he turned things around and won 9-0 this time.
Lebe said he’s excited for his team and is looking forward to competing in Altoona.
Preliminary Round
Norwin 75, Obama Academy 0
107: Luca Butera (N) p. Carter Alford, 1:19.
114: Coleton Klipa (N) t.f. Mikel Jordan, 15-0 (1:24).
121: Nathe Gulibon (N) p. Joseph Ntoko, :18.
127: Brooks Blasko (N) won by forfeit.
133: Dom Butera (N) p. Charles Bottoms, 5:33.
139: Nathan Klingensmith (N) t.f. Azreal Lewis, 19-4 (4:22).
145: Gage Mamie (N) p. Ahaton Margolis, 2:32.
152: Jack White (N) t.f. Daniel Cabiness, 19-3 (4:04).
*160: Tanner Shaffer (N) p. Collins Sobert, 1:05.
172: Riley Shaffer (N) p. Zayn Dixon, 1:15.
189: Santino Brasco (N) p. Shawn Scott. 3:02.
215: William Petko (N) p. Dre’Quan McClain-Strett, 2:20.
285: Sebastian Summersville (N) won by forfeit.
(*) denoted starting weight class.
Records: N 16-2, OA 9-7.
First round
Franklin Regional 38, Norwin 13
107: Beau Fennick (FR) p. Luca Butera, 1:15.
114: Coleton Klipa (N) d. Titus Colangelo, 4-2.
121: Nathan Gulibon (N) d. Sal Nassif, 2-0.
127: Mikey Ruane (FR) won by injury default over Brooks Blasko, :02.
133: Chase Smith (FR) m.d. Dom Butera, 10-2.
139: Nico Sarnic (FR) m.d Nathan Klingensmith, 9-0.
145: Max Firestine (FR) t.f. Evan Suedhoff, 17-2 (5:45).
152: Luke Ankney (FR) d. Gage Mamie, 1-0.
160: Jack White (N) m.d. Jordan Perks, 10-0.
*172: Ethan Cartwright (FR) d. Nicholas Puskar, 5-0.
189: Henry Patts (FR) m.d. Riley Shaffer, 10-1.
215: Santino Brasco (N) d. John Montgomery, 9-8.
285: Elishua Daugherty (FR) d. Sebastian Summerville, 14-1.
(*) denotes starting weight.
Records: FR 17-0, N: 16-3.
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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