FRANKLIN—Wednesday night’s wrestling match between Franklin High School and Southampton High was all pins and forfeits for a 42-42 tie. But in the end, a little used tie breaker gave Franklin the victory.

Franklin gave up 24 points in forfeits and Southampton gave up 12.

With the Broncos leading the match 42-24 after a pin by Franklin’s Isaiah Hudson at 160 pounds with 55 seconds left in the first period, Southampton reeled off three straight falls to tie the match. At 171, with the match tied at 6-6, Southampton’s Dashawn Barner pinned Tyler Childress with just 6.3 seconds left in the second period.

The match at 189 was key to the Indians reaching the tie. Trailing Donald Overton 9-6 in the third period, Termane Whitley turned Overton and pinned him at the 1:34 point of the period. Whitley upped his record to 6-0 on the season.

All Franklin’s Kemper Brodie (215) had to do to win the match outright for Franklin was to not get pinned. Southampton’s Calvin Stringfield had other ideas. Leading 7-4 in the second period, Stringfield recorded a fall with just 3.6 seconds left in the period, tying the match at 42-42.

“They (Whitney and Stringfield) have been in my program for three years, they are veteran wrestlers and know what to do,” said Southampton coach Johnny McKeller. “If we are down by 12 points, they know we need two pins.”

Franklin was awarded the victory because the Broncos scored more first points during the individual matches.

“It came down to who scored the first points of the match first,” said Franklin head coach Daniel Johnson. “This is the first time it’s happened.”

Others scoring pins for Franklin (2-0) were Antwon Flythe (130), Emmit Artis (135), Carl Harris (285), and Ernest Jewett (152).

Southampton dropped to 0-6 on the season. “We lost to Franklin in December by two points, so this is a heartbreaker,” McKeller said.

Franklin has a busy week coming up. The Broncos face Nandua Monday and then travel to Southampton for a meet against the Indians and Sussex Central. Next Saturday, Franklin wrestles in a quad meet at Northampton.