COLUMBUS
Going up against a semistate qualifier from last season, Burk VanHorn certainly wasn’t expecting an easy match Wednesday night.
But the state’s top-ranked 170-pounder and Franklin senior delivered a pin in only 11 seconds against Columbus North’s Andrew Chapman. That highlighted the Grizzly Cubs’ 54-14 road victory.
“I didn’t really expect that,” VanHorn said. “That was a big surprise. I guess I just went out there and picked him, and he kind of fell over.”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe pin came near the end of an eight-match Franklin streak that pushed the lead from 15-8 to 54-8. The first four of those victories came by forfeit.
Grizzly Cubs coach Bob Hasseman also was a little surprised at VanHorn’s quick pin.
“He just caught him,” Hasseman said. “He did a front-headlock, thigh-block, and the kid went to his back. When you get a good guy on his back, you aren’t letting him up. That kid is good.”
The match began at 220 pounds with Franklin’s 10th-ranked Manny Cheam pinning Bradley Gutierrez in 2:23. The Grizzly Cubs picked up a forfeit at 285 and a 7-2 decision from Drew Hargis against Morgan Smith at 106 to take a quick 15-0 lead.
The Bull Dogs then scored a pair of major decisions to get on the board. North’s Keandre Watson beat Tanner Vandeman 15-1 at 113, and Nick Miller downed Isaac York 14-4 at 120.
Following the forfeits at 126, 132, 138 and 145, Franklin’s Roger Soots won a 6-2 decision against Will Russell at 152. The Grizzly Cubs’ Mat Ahlfeld then pulled out a 5-3 decision against Nick Holt at 160.
After VanHorn’s pin, Franklin’s Jake Moore scored an 8-6 overtime decision against Brigham Kleinhenz. North’s Josh Larson closed the match with a pin of Nick Petrole in 1:53.
“With all the forfeits, it was a redundant night,” Hasseman said. “It’s hard to get into the team thing because they forfeited too many weights. But it was a good match for our 182-pounder (Moore).”
The Grizzly Cubs fared much better than they did in their previous trip to Columbus this season. They fell to then-No. 10 Columbus East 50-16 on Dec. 8.
“We’re a little better team than we were then,” Hasseman said.