Keep the fan leaves.
Prune the plant into a SINGLE cola before putting it in flower and remove any low branches ENTIRELY. Stake the plant. This is how commercial growers run popsicle plants in SOG to maximize the weight of prime top colas and shorten trimming time.
You may not need to prune at all if you simply allow the plant's apical dominance to continue, meaning NO pinching- you WANT the plant's natural hormones to do this job for you.