High school wrestling: Buckeye's Blake Bartos lone county grappler to advance to Ironman quarterfinals

CUYAHOGA FALLS — Buckeye junior Blake Bartos was out to prove a point at the 30th Ironman on Friday. Bartos entered the day at Walsh Jesuit unseeded but marched into the quarterfinals with a pair of upsets in his first appearance at one of the hardest high school tournaments in the country. Now he's one victory away today from joining Eddie Neitenbach as Bucks Ironman All-Americans. Neitenbach took third at 175 pounds last season. "I'm super confident and excited," the 132-pound Bartos said. "I've got nothing to lose. I'm the unseeded guy, but I definitely think I should be seeded. I know I can place. I'm here to compete, and I want that spot (on the podium)." The county's only quarterfinalist enters the blood round this morning after taking a 17-2 technical fall defeat against third-seeded Jayden Raney of Union County (Ky.) in his final match. Joining Bartos in the consolation bracket is Highland sophomore Brandon Bickerton (113). Brunswick's Eddie Skiba and Wadsworth's Kolt Mellon each went 0-2. In Skiba's first match, he lost to fourth-seeded Colin Martin of Staunton River (Va.), who finished fifth at Super 32 this summer. Skiba then lost 7-2 against Perrysburg's Alex Denkins. Mellon lost to 13th-seeded Donovan Allen of Marist (Ill.) 4-1 before losing by 18-2 technical fall against Braylon Reynolds of Brownsburg (Ind.) in the consolation. Buckeye's Austin McKee and Wadsworth's Blake Frantz and Kyle Jardine each picked up a win in the consolation bracket before finishing 1-2. McKee beat St. Paris Graham Local's Jonas Mannier by 14-2 major decision, Frantz topped Walsh Jesuit's Zach Gregan 7-4 and Jardine edged Dominic Manna of McDonough (Md.) 2-1. Bickerton entered as the fifth seed at 113 but was upset 4-0 in the round of 16 by Case Bell of Brownsburg (Ind.), who finished third at Fargo over the summer. Bickerton bounced back with an 8-1 triumph over Massillon Perry's Lincoln Rohr and Eli Herring of Bishop McCort (Penn.) by injury default. The win over Rohr was especially important for the returning state champion from Highland. "Last time I wrestled (Rohr), I actually lost by a point or two," Bickerton said. "That was a win I wanted to get back, because I do believe that I'm a better wrestler. I think that match proves our separation. He's a really good wrestler and I have a lot of respect for Lincoln, but that win was big for me." In the first round, Bickerton beat Davian McConnell of Broken Arrow (Okla.) by a 17-1 technical fall. Austin Bickerton nearly joined his brother by beating Dublin Coffamn's Zion Birden 11-2 in the first round before losing to returning state champion Grey Burnett of Perrysburg by 8-0 major decision. Austin Bickerton came back to beat Colin Marano of Northampton (Pa.) 4-0 but then lost 8-4 against Massillon Perry's Liston Seibert to be eliminated. Despite the loss, he is confident the experience will help him the rest of the season. "Getting those tough matches right out of the gate helps you throughout the season," he said. "You've already been through all the adversity and struggles, taking a loss and having to come back in the wrestlebacks." Wadsworth's Jack Dinwiddie also came one win shy of reaching the second day with a 7-2 loss to Austin Ellis of Davis (Utah). Dinwiddie may have had the most thrilling victory of the day for Medina County when he came back from a 1-0 deficit after the second period to force overtime. He then got the pin to beat Matthew Dimen of Wyoming Seminary (Pa.). Bartos kicked off his day with a decisive 19-8 victory over sixth-seeded Stockton Allen of Stillwater (Okla.) in the round of 64. "I'm feeling really good," Bartos said after his first match. "I was in control and I'm moving on. That's big. We've got to keep moving on to the next." Bartos also beat Pueblo East's Deven Lopez and 11th-seeded Adyn Bostick of Sunnyside (Ariz.) with a come-from-behind 5-4 win in the round of 16. Bartos is making a large jump from 113, where he won a state title last season, to 132. "We're up three weight classes, so we're enjoying ourselves a little bit," Bartos said. "I knew I was going up at least two (classes), but I got really big after Super 32. I just figured I don't need to cut this anymore and I'll go where I want." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Semifinal pairings 106 — Caleb Noble (Warren) v. Turner Ross (Edmond North); Traevon Ducking (Brownsburg) v. Justin Farnsworth (Malvern Prep). 113 — Fred Bachmann (Faith Christian) v. Case Bell (Brownsburg); Michael Batista (Blair Academy) v. Ignacio Villasenor (Stillwater). 120 — Joe Bachmann (Faith Christian) v. Lukas Littleton (Massillon Perry); Shamus Regan (Wyoming Seminary) v. Revin Dickman (Brownsburg). 126 — Nathan Desmond (Wyoming Seminary) v. Gauge Botero (Faith Christian); Karson Brown (St. Edward) v. Keanu Dillard (Bethlehem Catholic). 132 — Jax Forrest (Bishop McCourt) v. Manuel Saldate (SLAM Academy); Jayden Raney (Union County) v. Matthew Botello (Wyoming Seminary). 138 — Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg) v. Sam Herring (Bishop McCort); Seth Mendoza (Mount Carmel) v. Sergio Vega (Sunnyside). 144 — Bo Bassett (Bishop McCort) v. Joseph Sandefer (Massillon Perry); Tyler Traves (Mountain View) v. Carlos Stanton (Sunnyside). 150 — Noah Ninger (Staunton River) v. Zeno Moore (Lake Highland Prep); Max Stein (Faith Christian) v. Joseph Jeter (Edmond North). 157 — Kody Routledge (Edmond North) v. Chase Van Hoven (Brooke Point); Devon Magor (Bishop McCort) v. Will Denny (Marist). 165 — LaDarion Lockett (Stillwater) v. C.J. Torres (Lake Highland Prep); Cael Wedemoyer (Faith Christian) v. Melvin Miller (Bishop McCort). 175 — William Henckel (Blair Academy) v. Emmitt Sherlock (Gilman); Asher Cunningham (State College) v. Aaron Stewart (Warren). 190 — Adam Waters (Faith Christian) v. Jarrel Miller (St. Edward); De'Alcap Veazy (Ponderosa) v. Lane Foard (Benedictine College Prep). 215 — Jude Correa (Wyoming Seminary) v. Landon Jobber-Spenc (Staunton River); Noah Weaver (Rossville) v. Cade Ziola (Skutt Catholic). 285 — Michael Mocco (Cardinal Gibbons) v. Alex Taylor (Mount Vernon); Jacob Levy (Lake Highland Prep) v. Mark Effendian (Faith Christian).