Highland's Bickerton twins to wrestle at the University of North Carolina

Highland junior twin brothers Austin and Brandon Bickerton will continue their wrestling and academic careers together at the next level. The leaders of the Hornets wrestling program the past two seasons recently committed to the University of North Carolina. The opportunity to stick together was something the brothers were excited to receive. "I think we always wanted to go to the same college," Brandon Bickerton said. "It wasn't 100% confirmed that we would go to the same college when we opened up recruiting, but I think as time went on we realized we wanted to be at the same place. "We're really grateful that everything worked out the way it did. We're not going to have to worry about roommates or anything like that. We'll have each other." After attending a Tar Heels football game against Virginia and a volleyball match, the Bickertons loved the athletic environment at the school. They were so certain of their decision that they canceled planned visits to Indiana and Ohio State to commit. They previously visited Arkansas-Little Rock. Under head coach Rob Koll and with the help of Elyria native Ben Darmstadt, North Carolina had six wrestlers reach the podium at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships last season and Lachlan McNeil finished fifth at the NCAA Championships. In addition to Darmstadt, the Tar Heels have Ohio connections in wrestlers Bryce Hepner (St. Edward), Nolan Neves (St. Paris Graham) and Mitchell Younger (Bishop Watterson). Kane Shawger (Cincinnati St. Xavier) is also a member of the Bickertons' class. "I'm really confident in our recruiting class and the recruiting classes coming after that," Austin Bickerton said. "I'm super confident in what the coaches are going to be able to do for us and the team." Brandon Bickerton won the Division I state championship at 106 pounds as a freshman and finished third at 113 last year. Austin Bickerton placed sixth at 113 and 120. The Bickertons, who both mentioned an interest in studying business, hope to build on that legacy and the ties to Ohio after receiving partial scholarships to North Carolina. "There's a bunch of Ohio guys down there," Austin Bickerton said. "Ben Darmstadt's one of the assistant coaches down there and we've got me, Brandon, Kane Shawger. Ohio's the best. Ohio's the top state." The Bickertons have work left to do in building their high school wrestling legacies over the next two seasons, but they are excited to know where the next step of their wrestling journey will take them. "I love the coaches. I think me and my brother both do," Brandon Bickerton said. "They showed us so much love, and that's something we appreciated. You want to go to a school where they want you to be. "They guys on the team were so welcoming, and when we committed we got texts from them. We're excited for when we're out there in college." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.