A Franklin County triangular wrestling meet hosted by the Wildcats last Wednesday went decidedly in favor of the homestanding Cats. 

FC knocked off Northeastern 57-24, then waited while Tri-Eastern Conference foes NE and Cambridge City Lincoln battled, before finishing the evening with a 72-12 rout of the Eagles.

The night kicked off with Roger Zurborg's season debut at 132 pounds; the Wildcat grappler pulled out a 9-5 win over Northeastern's Wesley Beckman to give his team an early 3-0 lead. In the 138 match, Trevor Bruns earned six team points the hard way as he was the recipient of a disqualifying move by Kaden White; shaken up, Bruns was able to come back to the mat later to receive a match-ending forfeit by Lincoln.

At 145, Dakota Schwab earned a 2nd-period pin (34 seconds left) over Ethan Mills to make it 15-0. Senior Jadon Napier matched up with Ethan Neeley at 152; with just 5.9 seconds to go in the first, Neeley put NE on the board with a pin.

Senior Hayden Newell was in control from the start as the 160-pounder dueled with Thane Berger. Ahead 7-2, Newell finished Berger a split second in front of the first buzzer. FC went up 21-6. Junior Breck Bohman needed less time than that against fellow 170-pounder JeVan Simpson, pinning the Knight in 19 seconds.

The guests won their second bout in the 182 class, with David Schneider winning by fall over Lane Westerman at the 10.6-second mark of period two. At 195, senior Lendon Sizemore was working a 6-0 shutout of Caleb Cohee when he pinned his foe with 15.5 seconds left in the middle period.

The largest weights were split as NE's 220 Michael Henderson pinned FC's Nathen Noble at :56.8 of the first and Wildcat senior Clayton “Mongo” Bolser got the same result against Matthew Henderson (:39.4 of the 2nd). At 39-18, the teams traded pins again as lightweight dynamo Heather Crull of the Knights stuck Bryce Bruns at 106 with 13 seconds left in the first frame; last year's state qualifier had gone up early 15-2. Sophomore Cole Freese (113) clinched the match when he pinned Lucas Chamness with 25.2 seconds still left in the first period. Colin Troyer (120) and Ty Bruns (126) received forfeits.

The match with CCL started at 145 pounds, Schwab pinning R. Pumphrey with 36.2 seconds to go in the second stanza. The Eagles drew even when Dylan Cameron pinned Napier at 1:08 of the first. 

Newell put FC ahead to stay when he recorded a pin late in the first period against A. Reece. Bohman added a first-round pin (:33.6) versus J. Driskin. The score jumped to 30-6 following forfeits for Westerman and Sizemore. Noble was in command over A. Monhan at 220, winning 10-1 before getting a stick at 1:25 of the second. Bolser got a takedown and pin at 1:22 of the first to defeat P. Gray and make it a 42-6 spread. 

B. Bruns received a forfeit. Freese earned a pin at 1:22 of the opening period against C. Redmen; Troyer's second forfeit win of the night made it 60-6. In a tight match at 126, Ty Bruns battled A. Capps into overtime. He was down 4-3 after period one, then up 6-4 two minutes later; Capps' takedown forced extra time. Bruns secured a takedown and pin at :29.6 of the first OT session. Zurborg and G. Sherwood were the last contestants of the night; Sherwood won by fall with just 6.6 seconds left in the first.

FC went 4-1 (now 7-1) at Richmond's Tom Hill invite Saturday. Wins came vs. Monroe Central (75-6), Decatur Central (39-36), Richmond (78-6) and Union County (54-29) while the season's first loss came to Warren Central (54-24).

Freese and Troyer went 5-0 and Zurborg and Dylan Mulvey won their only match. Sizemore was 4-1, as was Bohman. Getting three wins were B. Bruns, Tr. Bruns, Schwab, Cody Bolser, Newell, Tyler Teuschler and Phoenix Simons. Ty Bruns won twice and Noble and Cl. Bolser twice.