STATE FINALIST AND FARGO CHAMP KOLBY FRANKLIN PLANS TO TRANSFER
By Eric Knopsnyder | July 24, 2019After winning a stop sign in Fargo, Kolby Franklin has been given the green light to change schools.
Franklin, who was a PIAA runner-up at 195 pounds as a freshman for St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy, told PA Power Wrestling on Wednesday that he is transferring to Wyoming Seminary for his sophomore season.
“The decision to go to Wyoming Seminary – it’s one I was thinking about going into my freshman year, too,” said Franklin, who has bulked up to 210 pounds in the offseason.
Franklin lives in DuBois but commuted an hour and 15 minutes each way to St. Joesph’s Catholic in Boalsburg. Even though his father works in the Boalsburg area, Franklin said that the drive started to wear on him over the course of the school year.
“It was a lot of time being taken up in the car,” he said. “I got really good grades, but I had to work really hard at it. At Sem, I’ll have a little more time to focus on school, a little more time for myself.”
Franklin said he enjoyed his year at St. Joseph’s, where he wrestled for coach Pat Flynn.
“The year was a good year for everybody at St. Joe’s,” said Franklin, who went 44-6 and helped the Wolves to a second-place finish in the PIAA 2A tournament. “I always wanted to go to St. Joe’s. Coach Flynn coached me since I was real little.”
Knight Time
Now, Franklin will be coached by Scott Green, who has a perennial prep power in the Blue Knights. Last year Sem finished second in the nation according to the Adidas rankings.“Coach Green is a really great coach, really great guy,” Franklin said.
Sem wrestles one of the toughest schedules in the country, with dates at the Walsh Ironman, Beast of the East and POWERade tournaments in addition to its annual battle with Blair Academy.
“I want to get in the best tournaments,” Franklin said. “I want to get the best competition. I feel like Wyoming Seminary is a great opportunity, so I took it. I made the decision, officially, a few months ago. … It’s going to be good.”
He’ll likely be at 220 pounds this season, although he said it depends on how the Sem lineup shakes out, and he will continue to look to gain weight so that he can wrestle heavyweight in college.
Surging to Stop Sign
Franklin is coming off another stellar performance in Fargo, where he won a stop sign in freestyle and was second in Greco-Roman at the USMC/USAW U16 Nationals (formerly known as Cadet). He was a runner-up in Freestyle last season and a Champion in Greco-Roman.“I just was glad to be back there,” Franklin said. “I’ve been working really hard for it and wanted to make sure I got the job done. It was really nice to do that.”
Franklin torched his way through the 220 pound freestyle bracket, outscoring his opponents 49-2, including a 10-0 tech fall of Dustin Swanson (Garden Spot) in the championship bout.
“I was just feeling great,” Franklin said. “I started putting on a lot of weight to get up to 220. I was a little bit underweight for 220, but I was sized right to the point I could handle the extra weight. I’ve been getting a lot stronger in the gym. I’m just making sure I’m as fast as I possibly can be.”
Franklin was also happy to have former Haverford head coach Greg Hagel, who works with him at Lab Trained, in Fargo.
“He’s been helping me focus on a lot of details,” Franklin said. “He’s there to get me warmed up before matches. I think having him be able to go with me helped me immensely.”
Hagel will be an assistant at Wyoming Seminary in the fall, Franklin said.
Another Finals Appearance
Franklin also rolled through the Greco bracket, outscoring his first four opponents 35-4, before falling 6-4 to Gage Cook of Washington in the finals.“I knew he was good. I went out there and gave it everything I had,” Franklin said. “I’m not a huge Greco guy, but I like to wrestle it for fun. I don’t care about losing at all. It’s nice for experience for freestyle and folkstyle.”
It appears that Franklin might have an interest in Iowa. Not sure how much though. There is more on Rofkin.
