Sherburne-Earlville senior Spencer Franklin gave up football this past fall. It’s a sport he played through high school, and he was a solid contributor on the Marauders’ six-win season in 2010. Instead, he decided to place all of his energy, effort, and focus on becoming the best wrestler possible, and make the most out of his final high school season.
Through the first six weeks of the 2011-2012 season, Franklin is proving he made a wise choice.
“Spencer made up his mind after last year that was going to give everyting he had his senior year, and he wrestled with me almost all year long,” said S-E head coach Bim Palmer.
For 10 of the last 12 months, Franklin’s extracurricular focus was almost entirely on wrestling. Those other two months, he only took a break at Palmer’s request. “He needed to get away from wrestling and just be a kid,” Palmer said. “He’s just worked so hard and he kept his weight down.”
Franklin, like the majority of high school wrestlers, has steadily moved up in weight beginning with his freshman year at 103 pounds through his junior year, where he wrestled at 125 and sometimes 130 pounds.
In a stunning turn, Franklin actually dropped to 120 pounds this year, and has found a comfort zone that has led him to a 17-1 record as he heads to the prestigious Eastern States Classic this weekend.
He is coming off a tournament championship last weekend at the Ross Cordell Rotary Tournament in Oneonta where he flattened each of his opponents to match his tournament championship at Walton’s Cuneen-Doane Tournament where he pinned everyone as well.
Franklin averaged just over 20 wins in his first three seasons, but he’ll easily exceed that total as he makes a push for a Section III championship, and he is our selection this week as Smith Ford Supercenter/Evening Sun Athlete of the Week.
Palmer constantly brought up the words “hard work” when describing Franklin, and put in perspective Franklin’s drop in weight. “It’s not too often a kid actually drops down a weight class the following year, in fact, it’s almost unheard of,” Palmer said. “Spencer knows he’s sitting in a good spot and is in the right weight class. This is where he wants to be.”
Four weeks ago, Franklin served notice that he is clearly among the best lightweights in Section III. He upended Laken Cook, 4-3, who is coming off back-to-back Section III titles and back-to-back top-five finishes at the New York State Wrestling Tournament. Franklin, when he’s on his game, proved he is capable of beating anyone in the state, and his lone loss this season has served as a huge motivation.
