FRANKLIN
A quad meet turned into a dual meet as two of the four teams didn’t show. That didn’t matter much for the wrestlers, though, as Southampton High School got to face off against Franklin High School. In the end, it came down to the last match as the Indians defeated the Broncos 42-36.

Franklin forfeited the 132-, 138- and 170-pound matches. In turn, Southampton forfeited the 113-, 120-, 126- and 182-pound categories. Both teams took a forfeit for the 106-pound match. Before anyone had even wrestled, Franklin took a 24-18 lead.

The 145-pound match was the first one to be wrestled, and Southampton’s Matthew Hicks (2-0) evened things up by defeating Stephen Flournoy in 1 minute, 3 seconds.

Tied up at 24-all, Franklin’s Cameron Bullock and the Indians’ JaQuan Lynch stepped onto the mat, with Bullock taking the first round by points. However, Lynch came out in the second round, scored a quick takedown and took the 152-pound match by pin. Southampton went ahead 30-24.

The Broncos’ Cameron Seddon would next take on Southampton’s Tim Mason, and both sides felt each other out in the first round, with Seddon edging Mason out on points. However, in the second round of the 160-pound matchup, Mason (6-2) earned a pin on a reversal, giving Southampton a 36-24 lead.

Franklin’s Jack Sykes hadn’t been defeated this season, and the Indians’ Cameron Hough wasn’t going to be the one to give him his first 195-pound loss. After a quick takedown, Sykes (13-0) got the pin and closed it to 36-30.

The 220-pound match between the Broncos’ Larry Blow and Andrew Rawlings went similar, as Blow scored a quick takedown and got the subsequent pin. Franklin tied things up at 36-all.

It all came down to the heavyweight matchup between Tyrique Warren and Steve Wellington. The Broncos’ Warren scored the first points with a takedown, however, the Indians’ Wellington was able to earn an escape before the pin could be counted. Wellington (6-2) got the next takedown, and Warren was unable to escape, giving Southampton the win.

“He won it, and he sealed it for us,” said Indians head coach Tim Mason, no relation to the student of the same name. “I was proud of the guys who wrestled. It was a good day. It was great to get the win.”

Franklin head coach Daniel “Bull” Johnson said the team was not going to take Martin Luther King Jr. Day off, and would be back on the mats at 9 a.m.

“We still need a lot of work,” he said. “The dedication is still not there yet. We have to keep working — regionals are in three weeks, and states are in four.”

The two teams have a dual match that was cancelled during the winter break, which they could make up. Mason said they would talk about rescheduling it in the near future, but that this might count as the dual.

From here, Franklin (5-5) has a tri-match to make up from Thursday, when they were supposed to travel to Northumberland. On Saturday, they are supposed to travel to Mathews High School for a meet. Next Wednesday the Broncos are scheduled to travel to Northampton for a tri-match.

Short of any potential rescheduling, Southampton (3-1) is in the clear until the Conference 25 tournament, which is set to begin on Saturday, Feb. 7.