The Franklin Regional wrestling team was faced with a deficit with four bouts remaining in its first-place Section 9-3A showdown with Norwin on Wednesday.

And senior Luke Ankney was down in his match at 160 pounds to Norwin’s Tanner Shaffer.

But a takedown late in the third period gave Ankney a 5-4 victory — the 100th of his career — and propelled the No. 2-ranked Panthers (4-0, 13-0) to a thrilling 28-19 victory against No. 4 Norwin (3-1, 12-1).

The exciting match should be a prelude for both teams when the WPIAL team tournament begins Monday. The WPIAL wrestling committee is likely to be kind to both schools in the seeding process.

The match went back and forth until the final four bouts, all Franklin Regional wins.

“It was a great match,” Panthers coach Matt Lebe said. “They won the toss and were able to dictate the matchups, and after they won 139, which is a match we got at counties, we decided to bump up.

“It was a dogfight between two great teams. We won some toss-up matches, and we relied on our conditioning and toughness.”

The bout started well for Franklin Regional as heavyweight Eli Daugherty rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 5-2 victory in overtime against Sebastian Summerville.

Panthers freshman Beau Fennick followed with a 20-5 technical fall win against junior Luca Butera at 107 pounds for an 8-0 lead.

Norwin then won the next three bouts to take a 12-8 lead. Colton Klipa (114) won by a major decision, 15-6, against Titus Colangelo, and Nate Gulibon won by an 8-1 decision against Sal Nassif at 121.

Landon Sidun moved up to 127 pounds and won by technical fall, 16-1, against Mike Ruane.

Norwin was missing sophomore Brooks Blasko, who was injured at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournament and has not been cleared to wrestle.

“We were a little short-handed not having Brooks,” Norwin coach Kyle Martin said. “That took away our ability to make moves. He’ll be back for the playoffs.

“I’m really proud how Tanner (Shaffer) wrestled getting thrown into the lineup and wrestled that guy hard and almost pulling off the upset. That effort was awesome. Our underclassmen wrestled their butts off.”

The teams traded victories over the next four bouts, leading to the exciting finale.

Chase Smith (133) of Franklin Regional and Nathan Klingensmith (139) of Norwin traded major decisions, and Max Firestone (145) and Jack White (152) traded decisions.

Ankney and Ethan Cartwright (172) rallied for 5-4 wins to give the Panthers a 21-19 edge. Henry Patts (215) then clinched the win with a major decision, 10-2, against Santino Brasco.

“I knew I could beat the kid if I kept after him,” Ankney said. “It was a fun match. My coaches kept pushing me. I know I’m tougher than any kid I’m going to wrestle this year. The coaches believe in me. This was our best win so far this season.”

The WPIAL wrestling committee will meet Thursday and release the pairings.