Panther wrestling’s season is halfway through.
With 10 days left until Christmas break the team had two more events, including a major tournament and their first home meet of the season. Versus some of WNC’s best talent, Franklin earned two well-deserved weeks off.
“The Falcon Frenzy, we had Garrett [Young] in the finals at 215,” said head coach Jimmy Barnett of the trip to West Henderson Dec. 13-14. “He wrestled the McDowell kid, who’s a commit to App State and was sixth place in 4A last year. It was a 4-1 match; Garrett was in on a single leg pretty close to getting a takedown, and they went out of bounds. … [Cooper Contino] got beat in the semifinals against the Enka kid … and placed a solid third. There was no way he was beating the Enka kid, and the Enka kid won it all, but North Henderson was in the finals, and me and Cooper both looked at him and Cooper said, ‘Coach, I beat that kid.’ I said, ‘You can be conference champ.’”
With top-four finishes at one of WNC’s biggest annual tournaments, Young and Contino continued promising first seasons for Franklin, and figure to be program cornerstones for years to come. On the girls side, the Panthers also turned in a solid weekend.
“Three girls got to the ‘Blood Round,’ which is the Consolation Semis. That sees who’s gonna wrestle for third and fourth, and they all got to that round and got put out,” said Barnett. “We had Ashley Hill, Carrie Holland, and I made a mistake and had Malaina [Alberry] wrestling up a weight class over there. I didn’t catch it in time, but they all did great. I think all of them were 3-2 on the day, and we got five matches at a good tournament.”
In varsity brackets, Franklin’s top five finishers earned winning records at the Falcon Frenzy. In addition to Young and Contino, Franklin’s underclassmen also gained valuable experience.
“Preston [Douglas] lost his first one, came back and won his second, and got put out in his third match. Devlin [Bailey] won a tough match and went 1-2 over there also.” said Barnett. “Tucker [McHan] wrestled in the JV tournament since he’s a freshman … and he ends up getting in the finals at 150. He was pretty close to winning it – just a couple points away – and got beat by points. … Luke [Schick] did real well – he finished fourth in the tournament over there and almost [won] a medal.”
In addition to Louis Hernandez and Richard Tagge, Douglas and Bailey impressed in the JV tournament, which gave freshmen a chance to hone their skills against like competition. Three days later, the team returned to Tom Raby court for their first home meet.
“Our girls beat Hayesville, and then they also beat Rabun County,” said Barnett of the three-team meet Dec. 17. “It was a non-traditional match – instead of all the girls going out there and getting a forfeit [due to mismatched weight classes], we’ll just go ahead and fill it out on paper and send it in. That way everybody gets a win and it didn’t take up 30 minutes of time.”
After earning what was believed to be their first-ever dual team win Dec. 10, the Panther women have now earned three in seven days, including two over Hayesville. On the boys side, Franklin fell 57-18 to an excellent Rabun team, but nearly pulled off a sweep of Hayesville.
“It was 41-34 – seven points,” said Barnett. “My 120 did not make weight, and that sealed our fate in that one. We tried to bump him up to 132, and that didn’t help none neither. We tried to pull out the stops with some trickery on ‘em, but it didn’t pay off – we were still one match away.”
With more than a week until their next meet at Smoky Mountain, Barnett says the team will need to focus on their conditioning, a tall order for any athlete over the holidays. But with just six events left until the Mountain Seven Conference Tournament, the team’s head coach says he’s been pleasantly surprised by their progress.
“The team as a whole is looking real good. We’re leaps and bounds better than what I thought we’d be at this point in the year; I’ve just got to get some commitment into conditioning,” he said. “It’s just a grind – I’m glad it’s Christmastime and they’ve got some time off to heal up. Our next match is Jan. 3 at Smoky with Smoky and West, and I think most of it’s gonna be during the break. Not a lot of practice, so they’re gonna have to practice on their own, go run and do something besides lay around.”
