Franklin wrestlers show mettle by earning state berth

It's an old sports adage that, in a tradition-laden athletic program, no one wants to be the first to let a streak get broken.

And this year's rebuilt version of the Franklin wrestling team wasn't going to be the one that let the run of trips to the WIAA State team tournament die at four.

So despite a line-up decimated by the graduation of 14 seniors last year, and which has more freshmen and sophomores in it than it has juniors and seniors, the Sabers went out and did what they've always done Tuesday night: win a WIAA State Team Sectional dual meet, by the score of 39-30 over City Conference champion Bradley Tech.

"Everyone said you lost so many seniors, everyone said you have so many freshmen in your line-up (four)," said first-year Franklin coach Chad Phillippi. "We've heard that stuff all season long, but we just kept believing. Kept believing in ourselves."

"The guys saw the picture and came together last Saturday with the regional (title) and just kept going."

With the win, the Sabers advanced to the WIAA State Team Tournament in Madison on March 2 and 3 for the fifth season in a row and for the seventh time in the last eight years.

"Honestly, I couldn't be any prouder of this team," said senior 132-pounder Roman Stiff, a returning state qualifier and one of the few holdovers from last year. "We were underdogs all season and we pulled off this victory." Stiff notched a critical pin to help stake Franklin to an early lead.

And as a true underdog would do, the Sabers responded when challenged. The Trojans got back-to-back pins at 138 and 145 to pull within 21-18. But in a pair of 50/50 matches, the Sabers pulled off surprises as junior Daniel Peyer got a late escape and clasped hands violation point to pull out a 3-2 victory at 152.

Franklin junior Myles Devine down 4-1 in the first period at 160, but then got a clutch pin in 1:30.

The victory gave the Sabers a 30-18. Two matches later, Devine's freshman brother Gavin won a 7-2 decision at 182 and in the clinching bout, freshman 195-pounder Brian Lacina fought off a near-pin situation to stick Tech's Glen Kirby in 3:52 and give the Sabers' an insurmountable 39-21 advantage.

"Brian's fighting off his back to get a pin was huge," said Phillippi, "and no one knows about Myles (Devine) because he's been out all year up to recently. We just got big wins when we needed them."

Other wins for the Sabers included Casey Clapper at 113 (12-10 decision), Jon Kramschuster at 120 (pin 4:27), and Colin DeClark at 126 (pin 1:08).

"We've got all our guys back, we're hot and we're ready to go," said Stiff.