Franklin Regional Junior Olympics team qualifies 12 wrestlers for state championships next week

When the Franklin Regional Junior Olympic wrestling team walks onto the floor April 1 for the state championships, it will do so with more wrestlers than any other school in its region.

In the KeyStone State Southwest Qualifier, held March 22-23 in Monroeville, FR’s team qualified a dozen wrestlers, and also boasted the most qualifier champions with four.

“For us to qualify more wrestlers than any other school in our area is just a testament to the commitment of our athletes, parents and coaches,” said Mike Ruane, a board member and head of recruiting for FR Junior Olympic wrestling.

This time last year, the state championships were among the first major events to be canceled as covid-19 restrictions started being imposed.

“It was a much different season with numerous hurdles we had to overcome, including some lost practice time,” Ruane said.

He said the season was probably different for every wrestler on the team, “based on how their parents perceived the situation.

“Some, like me and my son, were able to wrestle more because the other sports he participates in were canceled. That opened the door for us. Other families chose to pull back and wrestle less due to covid concerns.”

Despite constantly shifting safety guidelines, temperature checks, mask-wearing and other challenges posed by the pandemic, Ruane said he felt like the team actually gained ground this year.

“We did all the safety stuff and were still able to maintain a very high degree of training,” he said. “Through this last year and all the adversity they faced — limited practice opportunities and making due throughout the year — they still kept wrestling as a priority, and did it in a safe way.”

Following the five regional qualifiers, the Keystone State Championships will take place April 1-3 at the Monroeville Convention Center.

For more, see WrestleReg.com.