Franklin Regional wrestlers have firepower to contend

Franklin Regional won consecutive WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA team wrestling titles in 2014 and 2015, and it reached the semifinals in 2017.

This year, veteran coach Matt Lebe said his team has a chance to make some more noise, though he said Class AAA is very good with Waynesburg leading the way.

Lebe feels his team can match up with any team in the top eight.

“We’re going to be pretty good, the best in four years,” Lebe said. “We have a lot of good wrestlers returning, and we’re more experienced.”

The Panthers are in Section 1-B along with Gateway, Plum, Penn-Trafford, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills. Section 1-A includes Armstrong, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana and Kiski Area.

Leading the way for Franklin Regional is 2019 PIAA champion Carter Dibert (42-3) and 2019 PIAA runner-up Finn Solomon (29-7). Dibert won the 106-pound title, and Solomon fell to Seneca Valley’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon in the 113-pound final.

Dibert, a senior, won the WPIAL title at 113 in 2020 but finished third in the state tournament. Solomon lost a tough match to Norwin’s Kurtis Phipps in the WPIAL semifinals and then fell in the consolation match and did not qualify for states.

“We have a good group returning, and I’ll have some flexibility,” Lebe said. “The biggest thing is a lot of our young wrestlers last year got experience. They know what it takes to be successful.”

Lebe said he returns 13 starters from last year’s squad (7-3, 3-2). He’s also getting a veteran back in senior Mario Sarnic, who missed his junior season while recovering from a football injury.

Back are sophomore Justin Bass (106, 17-13), junior Ben Pekarcik (120), Kaleb Sheetz (120, 17-11), senior Dalton O’Neil (126, 16-6), senior Garrett Thompson (132, 24-10), sophomore Nathan Stone (138, 29-12), sophomore Travis Hall (138, 14-10), senior Andrew Bonace (160, 3-10), sophomore Gavyn Beck (160, 22-15), junior Christo Marion (170, 16-18) and sophomore Anthony Alesi (195, 6-16).

Lebe said three freshmen may impact the lineup. They are Ty Kapusta, Dom Colaizzi and Juliano Marion.

Franklin Regional was scheduled to open the season on Dec. 21 with a match against Woodland Hills and then a match on Dec. 23 against Penn Hills. Both matches had to be postponed when Gov. Tom Wolf said high school sports throughout the state are being paused until Jan. 4.

The Panthers were also scheduled to compete in the North Allegheny Duals on Dec. 30 and the Seneca Valley Duals later in the season.

“We’ll be ready,” Lebe said. “The team is working hard. We have wrestlers with high expectations.”