As the second month of the wrestling season begins, the Franklin Regional boys still sit atop the Trib HSSN WPIAL team rankings in Class 3A.

The Panthers are 11-0, winning the Trinity Duals and the Jason Eades Memorial Duals and placing third at the NursePro Plus tournament.

Franklin Regional has not been at full strength as PIAA qualifier Beau Fennick has been dealing with a medical issue.

Panthers coach Matt Lebe said he expects Fennick to return to the lineup soon. He was a PIAA West Region qualifier after finishing third in the WPIAL.

“When we get him back, we will be a stronger team,” Lebe said. “We are expecting big things from him.”

The Panthers did not wrestle well at the Powerade tournament, but they were not the only WPIAL team in that predicament. They finished 32nd, and junior Michael Ruane was the only medalist, placing eighth at 152 pounds.

Ruane (17-2) and sophomore Max Firestine (150) won titles at the NursePro Plus tournament.

Finishing second were Titus Colangelo (126), Chase Smith (144) and John Montgomery (215).

Sal Colangelo (113) and Ethan Cartwright (175) finished third, and Sal Nassif (132) placed fourth. Connor Visnick (120) placed fifth.

The Panthers look to stay on top and possibly repeat as WPIAL team champions. It will be tough, as there are several teams in Class 3A that can win the tournament — Norwin, Trinity, Connellsville, Canon-McMillan, Kiski Area and North Allegheny to name a few.

The Panthers also had two wrestlers — Firestine and Colangelo — qualify for states. Lebe said he hopes more than two will head to Hershey this year.

“I am looking forward to the end of the month,” Lebe said. “It should be exciting.”

Girls making strides

The Franklin Regional girls have shown improvement in the first month of existence.

The Panthers defeated Gateway in a dual meet and competed in three individual tournaments.

They placed ninth at the Connellsville Invitational and had six girls earn medals: Hailey Farrell (100) and Kara Galindo (170) took second, Isabella Trujillo (106) and Tehilah Daugherty (136) took third, and Sasha Hart (130) and Margo Geiser (190) placed sixth.

Ines Corral (148) placed fifth at the Ram Slam tournament at Pine-Richland.

Coach Hailey Huerta said she is excited with the progress of the team.

“Things are going well, better than expected,” Huerta said. “I have 18 girls on the roster, and I can fill every weight class except 235.

“The girls are working hard correcting the little things. They will have a competition, and we will go back and look at film and correct things.”

They won their first duel 36-24 against Gateway.

The school’s first individual win was by Farrell at 100 pounds.

Huerta was an accomplished wrestler from the state of Washington. She also runs the junior high program and Junior Olympic program at Franklin Regional.

“We have a bigger roster than I expected,” Huerta said. “I had more middle school girls sign up before the season, but I now have more high school girls on the squad.

“That was a surprise. Now I would like to see more middle school girls wrestling.”