High school wrestling: Bickertons lead way as Highland takes SL American crown again

GRANGER TWP. — Behind championships from Brandon Bickerton and Austin Bickerton to go with 11 other top-five placers, the Highland wrestling team won its third Suburban League American Conference championship in the past four seasons. The Hornets went 10-3 in placement matches to blow past Aurora 446-418 and repeat Saturday in their home gym. Highland held a slim 402-397 lead over the Greenmen entering the finals but was 5-3 in head-to-head matches. "Winning close matches — we had a bunch of kids wrestle Aurora kids — it's a huge swing match between both of the teams," said Austin Bickerton, who beat Wadsworth's Blake Frantz by 8-0 major decision in the 120-pound final. "You'd like to get bonus points, but the most important thing is to get the win. It's always close between us and Aurora." Brecksville lapped the 16-team field at traditionally one of the deepest conference tournaments in Ohio with 580.5 points, beating the Grizzlies (428.5) to repeat as National Conference champion. Wadsworth crowned Jack Dinwiddie (144), Brody Grimm (175) and Boden Ballinger (190). The league titles were the firsts for Grimm and Ballinger, while Dinwiddie won as a sophomore and finished runner-up last season. Ballinger dominated Barberton's Josiah Wright with a 17-1 technical fall after picking up two pins in pool competition and a decision in the semifinals. "I feel great," he said. "Early on, I was just trying to get warmed up, but in the finals I just wanted to be quick and early so I wouldn't get gassed. My mindset was just to win the whole thing, and we succeeded. It feels great to be a champion." After each wrestler netted an escape in regulation, Dinwiddie won the most thrilling final of the night when he took down Brecksville's Drew Moro with one second left in the first overtime for a sudden victory. That was the first match for Dinwiddie that reached the end of the third period. "It's obviously great to come out on top, but I just think I could have gotten to my offense more," Dinwiddie said. "I just felt more timid. I don't know why, but we've just got to fix it." Grimm, a senior, won 12-6 over Nordonia's Kyle Miller. "I'm definitely excited and proud of myself," Grimm said. "This was one of my goals for high school — to win the Suburban League tournament. I'm happy." Along with Frantz, Peyton Halleck (126) and Troy Myers (165) were runners-up. The Grizzlies also had placers in Tyler Brugh (113, 4th), Owen Mamich (132, 3rd), Kyle Jardine (150, 3rd), Carter Raymond (215, 5th) and Nathan Shipley (285, 8th). Outside of the Bickertons, only Highland's Conner Haney made it to the finals, where he was forced to default with a rib injury in the third period against Brecksville's Jace Jett, a seventh-place finisher at last season's state tournament. Jett was ahead 14-3. After going 3-6 in the semifinals, Highland made up for it with third-place finishers Hoyt Pylypiak (126), Brennan Kicker (144), Niko Giatis (157), Cody Bendau (215) and Brady Bendau (285). Riley Pylypiak (106, 4th), Kyle Scavuzzo (120, 4th), Jacob Regovich (132, 5th), Joey Oriti (165, 5th), Kallen Whitling (190, 5th) also placed. Brandon Bickerton won his second straight SL title with a 19-4 technical fall over Roosevelt's Jacob Dunfee, his fourth technical fall in as many matches. The title lost a little bit of its luster with Brecksville's Rylan Seacrist, a potential state finalist, not competing. "I think the glory last year was better, because I was a freshman and I got a tough opponent in Frantz," Brandon Bickerton said. "This year I was expecting to see Rylan Seacrist, but he took the week off, which is totally OK. I'll wrestle him at district or state." Austin Bickerton's road to his second championship went through last year's finals opponent, Johnny Green of Aurora, in an 8-5 semifinal before beating another familiar foe in Frantz. "I had a couple of those guys at Brecksville, so it was good to see them again and I know I'll see them three or four more times this year," he said. "I think it's really hard to beat someone multiple times in a row. The most key thing is to be in the right head space and getting to your attacks." The 8-0 loss to a fellow returning state placer was motivating to Frantz. "I feel like I wrestled that match against (Austin) Bickerton a lot better than I did at Brecksville," Frantz said. "I just got caught in one position, a throw, and if you take that away, it's a 1-0 match. I feel like I wrestled a lot better today than I have in the past few tournaments." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results American Conference standings: 1. Highland 446, 2. Aurora 418, 3. Barberton 264, 4. Revere 227.5, 5. Roosevelt 218, 6. Tallmadge 131, 7. Copley 120, 8. Cuyahoga Falls 90.5. National Conference standings: 1. Brecksville 580.5, 2. Wadsworth 428.5, 3. North Royalton 319, 4. Nordonia 250.5, 5. Solon 240, 6. Hudson 188.5, 7. Stow 185, 8. Twinsburg 180.5 106 — Lucas Schulz (Bre) p. Max Holley (Cop), 1:48; THIRD: Mason Massouh (Rev) m.d. Riley Pylypiak (Hig), 10-0. 113 — Brandon Bickerton (Hig) t.f. Jacob Dunfee (Roo), 19-4; THIRD: Nicholas Turba (Aur) t.f. Tyler Brugh (Wad), 18-1. 120 — Austin Bickerton (Hig) m.d. Blake Frantz (Wad), 8-0; THIRD: Johnny Green (Aur) t.f. Kyle Scavuzzo (Hig), 17-1. 126 — Cole Speer (Bre) p. Peyton Halleck (Wad), 3:05; THIRD: Hoyt Pylypiak (Hig) p. Cameron Cureton (Sol), 1:47. 132 — Cayden Pluhar (Bre) d. Cole Munn (Aur), 4-0; THIRD: Owen Mamich (Wad) d. Jeremiah Brumfield (Roo), 6-0; FIFTH: Jacob Regovich (Hig) t.f. Jaxen Brinker (Tal), 17-1. 138 — Jace Jett (Bre) inj. def. Conner Haney (Hig). 144 — Jack Dinwiddie (Wad) d. Drew Moro (Bre), 4-1 (OT); THIRD: Brennan Kicker (Hig) p. Michael Kennedy (Aur), 0:53. 150 — Mannix Wasco (NR) d. Ben Hegler (Bre), 7-1; THIRD: Kyle Jardine (Wad) m.d. Ian Bee (Tal), 14-4. 157 — Zack Aquila (Bre) t.f. Drake Brasiel (Aur), 18-3; THIRD: Niko Giatis (Hig) p. Tyler Rowles (NR), 4:57. 165 — Cole Walton (Aur) p. Troy Myers (Wad), 1:48; FIFTH: Joey Oriti (Hig) m.d. Brayden Kobylinski (Bre), 11-1. 175 — Brody Grimm (Wad) d. Kyle Miller (Nord), 12-6. 190 — Boden Ballinger (Wad) t.f. Josiah Wright (Bar), 17-1; FIFTH: Kallen Whitling (Hig) p. Matthew Georgiadi (Sol), 3:00. 215 — Riley McPherson (Bre) t.f. Jackson Phillips (Bar), 19-4; THIRD: Cody Bendau (Hig) m.d. Michael Wise (Aur), 12-2; FIFTH: Carter Raymond (Wad) d. Ethan Humbert (Roo), 9-3. 285 — E.J. German (Bre) d. Josh Jones (Stow), 4-1; THIRD: Brady Bendau (Hig) med. ff. Jake Clapper (Hud); SEVENTH: Noah Dunlap (Roo) m.d. Nathan Shipley (Wad), 10-2.