(A gallery of photos follows the story below. Photos by Titus Mohler)

The 2024-25 season for Franklin High School’s varsity wrestling team has had its highs and lows, but it has been an overall successful campaign thus far for the Broncos, and that status was reinforced by the result of their matches Thursday, Jan. 9, at Windsor High School.

Franklin faced Windsor and Southampton High schools that night, and while Broncos Head Coach Bull Johnson did not recall the exact final team scores from those matches, “I know we won both of them,” he said during a Monday, Jan. 13, interview.

The Broncos’ 2024-25 regular season schedule began Dec. 4 and will continue on throughout January.

“We’re been doing right good,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some ups and downs because weather and transportation have given us a little problem.”

He indicated that a priority after winter break has been getting his wrestlers back to practice and in shape, “because wrestling is a sport you’ve got to be in good shape for,” he said.

“But overall, we’ve got some good kids on this team this year,” he said. “Most of them are coming back next year.”

The 2024-25 Broncos feature a small group of seniors, but the team’s stars include wrestlers from a variety of classifications.

“We’ve got some right good standouts so far this year,” Johnson said.

He highlighted sophomore 113-pounder Julius McKeller, junior 132-pounder Benjamin Harrison, senior 144-pounder Kemari Winfrey and senior 150-pounder Anthony Brown.

“They’re probably the top wrestlers on the team right now,” Johnson said.

He explained his criteria for giving these wrestlers that label.

“They’re all returning wrestlers, they’re all state qualifiers from last year, and they come to practice, they work hard, and they’re in shape,” he said.

He later put a spotlight on sophomore 126-pounder Ayden Branch, who he said has missed some matches but who is a returning regional champion.

Johnson also expects other wrestlers to come on strong in 2025.

“We’ve got some people that are probably going to end up doing well by the time the season ends,” he said.

The regional tournament is set for Saturday, Feb. 8, at Mathews High School.

Johnson said that from the 2024-25 Franklin Broncos, “I expect several regional champions and a lot of them guys placing in the top-four in the state.”