Highland's Austin Bickerton named All-American at Freestyle National wrestling tournament

Last year Highland incoming sophomore Austin Bickerton got close, this year he took his first step up the mountain. Bickerton earned All-American status at the United States Marine Corps 16U Freestyle National tournament by placing eighth at 113 pounds. It was his first All-American award at the tournament that attracts many of the country's best wrestlers to the FargoDome. While Bickerton was appreciative of the honor, he was hoping for more than going 1-2 in the consolation bracket on Wednesday to climb higher on the podium. "Obviously, it's not the result I wanted, but it's what happened, what I got," Bickerton said. "I'm definitely happy to be an All-American here. It's a big deal." After coming up a couple matches short at Fargo last summer, Bickerton, who finished sixth at the Division I state tournament as a freshman, reached All-American when he defeated Utah state champion Samuel Moody by a 12-1 technical fall in 3:15 in his first match of the day. His previous experience was a driving force for Bickerton to make sure he did not miss the podium again. "It definitely prepared me and motivated me," Bickerton said. "I've been training for this for 365 days now, ever since I got knocked out last year." In his next match, Bickerton's comeback bid from a 6-1 deficit in the final period came up one point short in a 6-5 loss to top-seeded Jensen Boyd, an Indiana state placer last season. He then lost a 7-0 decision to Florida's Jovanni Tovar in the seventh-place match. Bickerton learned lessons from each match that he hopes to take into his future tournaments and the upcoming high school season this winter. "My confidence definitely grew throughout the tournament," Bickerton said. "Obviously, there's nerves and stuff, but it taught me to trust my attacks and my abilities. Now it's onto the next tournament and onto the (high school) season. Just keep going with my training." Coming into Wednesday, Bickerton won his first four matches, including an 11-0 technical fall over Connecticut's Brighton Karvoski in the round of 64, before losing to South Dakota's Shea Richter 8-2 in the championship quarterfinals in his final match on Tuesday. "I think I'm wrestling well," Bickerton said. "Obviously, there's little tweaks in my game I can change and gameplan for certain wrestlers and certain styles. It's just about finding my attacks and getting on my offense and using my best positions to my advantage." Bickerton gave credit to his twin brother, Brandon Bickerton, who won a state championship at 106 pounds as a freshman, for sharpening him for the tournament. "My brother definitely helped me," Austin Bickerton said. "He helped me practice, warmed me up for tournaments, for my matches." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.