Franklin wrestlers continue strong late run with five state qualifiers

Franklin - Any concerns of a letdown after winning the WIAA team sectional on Feb. 14 were quickly put to rest by the Franklin wrestling team in last Saturday's individual sectional as the Sabers qualified an impressive five competitors for this week's state tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison.

"Overall, it was a pretty good showing and we were pleased with their efforts," said Sabers coach Chad Phillippi. "The guys know there is still room for improvement and goals to be reached."

Leading the way for Franklin will be return qualifiers Roman Stiff at 132 pounds (35-9) and Kyle Smith at 170 (36-10).

They will be joined by newcomers Colin DeClark at 126 (28-7), Daniel Peyer at 152 (20-18) and Xianou Xiong at 106 (32-13).

First-round and quarterfinal bouts will be held at the state tournament beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday.

Matches will continue all the way through Saturday night's championships.

Pairings for the Sabers include Xiong against Bill Prochniewski of Waukesha South (45-0), who is ranked No. 1 in the state; DeClark versus Milton's Landon Shea (37-5), Stiff against Cedarburg's Jason Ipsarides (33-6), Peyer against Waterford's Cody Nannemann (41-6) and Smith versus DeForest's Bryan Harper (30-4).

DeClark is the only senior among the Sabers' crew of qualifiers.

"We will work on a few things in practice and do some scouting of their upcoming opponents," said Phillippi. "We will also be getting our guys mentally ready for this weekend. When you get to this level, everybody is good so the guy that is mentally prepared will be the guy that comes out on top."

Those qualifying efforts led the Sabers to a second-place finish in the 16-school Racine Horlick sectional last Saturday with 104 points. Bradley Tech, which Franklin beat in the team dual, won with 155.5 points.

DeClark, Stiff and Peyer all won sectional championships for the Sabers.

DeClark pinned Milwaukee South (1:25) and Oak Creek (3:09) opponents before flattening Tech's Diremuis Gordon (28-11) in 1:32 for his title.

Stiff beat an Oak Creek opponent on a technical fall, won by major decision over a Milwaukee Riverside foe and then edged Horlick's Charles Mulnix (32-12) by a 5-2 score in the final.

Peyer was a pleasant surprise with his crown, as he pinned a Marquette foe (4:43), edged a Tech opponent, 9-7, in overtime and then beat South Milwaukee's Ben Zbikowski (28-13), 6-5, in the final.

Xiong, just a sophomore, who struggled to earn a .500 record last season, marked his great improvement with his own state berth.

He beat South Milwaukee and Horlick opponents by matching 7-0 counts before falling to Tech's Oshawun Chalmers (32-12) by a 12-7 count in the final.

Smith returned to state after pinning a South Milwaukee foe (1:11) and beating by technical fall a Bay View foe.

He then lost by pin to Tech's powerful Vernon Rash (46-2).

Other Franklin efforts at the sectional included Casey Clapper at 113 (13-21), Jon Kramschuster at 120 (fourth, 25-21); Kodie Layman at 138 (6-24); Myles Devine at 160 (3-2); Gavin Devine at 182 (22-21); Brian Lacina at 195 (fourth place, 14-29); Craig Christian at 220 (fourth, 7-4); and Kyle Orlinski at 285 (13-19).