Franklin grabs two wins
Published 4:28 pm Thursday, January 29, 2009
FRANKLIN-The Franklin wrestling team picked up two wins in a quad meet Tuesday night to up its season record to 11-4 overall.
In the opening match, the Broncos defeated an outmanned Sussex Central team 48-6. The Tigers had just two wrestlers. In one match, Tyler Childress pinned Calvin Givens at 171 with 1:26 left in the second period.
In the other match, Jonathan Scott pinned Rachel Sing at 112 in 1:06 of the first period.
Five forfeits hurt Franklin in the second match, a 42-30 loss to Middlesex. With the Broncos giving up 18 points in forfeits, there was no room for a loss. Franklin jumped out to a 12-0 lead with pins by Isaiah Hudson at 160 and Childress at 171.
The Broncos lost crucial points at 189. Franklin’s Tyreek Davis was up 10-7 in the third period, but Craig Conley scored a reversal and then pinned Davis with just 1.8 seconds left in the match.
Still up 12-6, the Chargers pulled off pins at 215, 285, and 103, before Franklin’s Sing stopped the Middlesex scoring. Sing rode Linwood Cannon the entire match, then pinned him at 1:40. Franklin trailed 24-18.
After losing a forfeit at 119, and a double forfeit in the 125 match, Franklin’s Antwain Flythe put the Broncos within six again as a he pinned Chris Brooks at 1:11 of the first period.
Again Franklin lost six points at 135 and a double forfeit occurred at 140. The Broncos closed the match again to 36-30 when Emmett Artis won by pin at 145 over Skylar Sibley. But with a a forfeit in the final match at 152, Franklin could not pick up the potential tie.
Franklin also beat Nandua 54-24. The Warriors gave up a 30-0 lead with five straight forfeits to start the match. Sing upped the lead to 36-0 with a pin over Jamin Patel at 112.
The Broncos gave up four forfeits of their own, but won the other two matches that were wrestled. At 130, Flythe pinned Larson Danes in 1:41 in the first period. At 145, Artis won by fall over Nathan Evans in 58 seconds of the first period.
With Childress at 17-2, Hudson at 11-2, Artis 16-2 and Flythe at 19-3 on the season, Franklin head coach Daniel Johnson expects these four wrestlers to make some noise in the regionals beginning February 13 at Mathews High School.
As far as filling the empty slots, Johnson may have some more wrestlers during the second semester.
“I’ve got some guys coming out second semester, which will cover some of those forfeits. We have been fighting some injuries and grades,” he said. “The guys still aren’t in wrestling shape. I missed about two weeks of practices because my house caught on fire. They should be ready for the regions in about three weeks.”
Franklin will participate in the Mathews duals this weekend and then host Southampton at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The Broncos will turn around and host a quad meet on February 4 with Sussex Central, King William, and Hertford County (Ahoskie, NC).