Boys wrestling: Jacob Earnest brings home gold in 40th Grizzly Invitational Tournament

WADSWORTH — Wadsworth senior Jacob Earnest was ready to make his homecoming special Saturday night. Earnest capped the 40th anniversary of the Grizzly Invitational Tournament by winning the 285-pound championship. After missing his junior season due to injury, it was Earnest's first time competing in a home tournament since winning the Wadsworth Division I Sectional in February 2024. Earnest has now won eight consecutive matches at home after beating Columbus Bishop Waterson's A.J. DeMassimo by 19-4 technical fall in just 3:35. Earnest pinned or won by technical fall against four of his five opponents. He defeated Highland's Cody Bendau by 12-0 major decision in the semifinals for what proved to be his closest match. "Wrestling at home is a privilege and an honor," Earnest said. "To be able to put on a show for the home stands feels great. "It means so much to bring home a title for Wadsworth." Earnest was Medina County's only G.I.T. champion and the first for the Grizzlies since Jaxon Joy in 2024. Earnest's teammate, Kyle Jardine (157), was joined by Highland's Brandon Bickerton (120) and Niko Giatis (165) as runners-up. The Hornets (141.5) finished third out of 16 teams behind Perrysburg (249) and Detroit Catholic Central (199.5) out of Michigan, while Wadsworth (116.5) was seventh. One notable absence from the finals was Buckeye senior Blake Bartos, who was unable to pursue a third straight G.I.T. title after suffering a knee injury at Alliance's Top Gun Tournament the previous weekend. Earlier this week, Bartos said he was hopeful to return for the postseason. Highland, which was missing three starters, placed nine of the 10 wrestlers it had in action. Behind Brandon Bickerton and Niko Giatis were Austin Bickerton (3rd, 126), Bendau (3rd), Brennan Kicker (4th, 150), Joseph Oriti (5th, 175), Kyle Scavuzzo (6th, 132), Leonidas Giatis (6th, 144) and Lukas Grillis (6th, 190). "The team's pretty well, especially with three kids out," Niko Giatis said. "I think if we had a full lineup, we could be close for pushing for second. You never know. We had some tough matches, and we just have to focus on winning the tough ones more." Wadsworth placed Blake Frantz (3rd, 138), Noah Wiles (6th, 106), Carter Raymond (6th, 215), Nathen Shipley (6th, 285), Tyler Brugh (7th, 120), Kolten Mellon (7th, 144), Carter Martin (7th, 150) and Ryan Schlauch (8th, 113). Brandon Bickerton's loss came against a familiar opponent, as he dropped a 7-2 decision to Perrysburg's Ayden Dodd, the tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler. Bickerton has defeated Dodd in each of the last two D-I state tournaments. The first was to win a state title with a flying squirrel in the final seconds as a freshman, while the second was the quarterfinals last winter. This time Brandon Bickerton was unable to get to his offense. "It was a good match for him," Bickerton said. "He wrestled me really well and was able to get to my legs. That's something I've been really good at defending those shots. "I wasn't able to get to my offense and obviously offense wins matches, so I wasn't able to come away with the win." Prior to the final, Brandon Bickerton picked up two pins and two technical falls. Jardine, who has only been competing for a few weeks since returning from a herniated disk and stress fracture in his spine, was edged by Columbus Bishop Waterson's Tommy Rowlands 4-2. Rowlands, who finished second in D-II last season, picked up a first-period takedown. Jardine won his first three matches with bonus points before beating Detroit Catholic Central's Alex Buskirk 2-1 with an escape with two seconds left. "It's only my third or fourth week back, and I feel like I'm definitely improving my style and conditioning," Jardine said. "I think what I really need to get used to is staying in those long tournaments. When I wasn't wrestling (in breaks between matches), I kind of got out of it." Niko Giatis lost to Columbus St. Francis De Sales' Joel Welch 2-0 after he failed to escape from bottom in the second period and allowed a reversal with 33 seconds remaining. Welch was a D-II state runner-up last season. "I feel like I've got to work on doing re-attacks after I shoot a shot and get stuck under them," Giatis said. "I've got to quickly move so I don't get stuck there and can circle around and re-attack to get out from that bottom position." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results Standings: Standings: 1. Perrysburg 249, 2. Detroit Catholic Central 199.5, 3. Highland 141.5, 4. Columbus St. Francis De Sales 129.5), 5. Kettering Archbishop Alter 121, 6. Ashland 119.5, 7. Wadsworth 116.5, 8. Olentangy Liberty 109.5, 9. Columbus Bishop Waterson 101.5, 10. Clear Fork 79.5, 11. Cincinnati LaSalle 68, 12. Columbia 63, 13. Gallion 51.5, 14. Cuyahoga Valley Christian 47, 15. Massillon Jackson 34, 16. Garrettsville Garfield 25. 106 — Coin Bagdonas (Perr) p. Gavin Boller (DCC).3:24; FIFTH: Cole Perry (Lib) t.f. Noah Wiles (Wad), 17-1. 113 — Bodey Gibbs (Col) d. Conner Bagdonas (Perr), 1-0; SEVENTH: Carter Martin (Wad) p. Jack Volpe (Jac), 1:58. 120 — Ayden Dodd (Perr) d. Brandon Bickerton (Hig), 7-2; SEVENTH: Tyler Brugh (Wad) fft. Hayden Weiss (Alt). 126 — Grey Burnett (Perr) t.f. Joshua Sheets (DeS), 19-4; THIRD: Austin Bickerton (Hig) d. Ryan Totten (DCC), 12-7. 132 — Alexander Denkins (Perr) d. Wyatt Lees (DCC), 2-1 (OT); FIFTH: Rocco Czarnecki (CVCA) d. Kyle Scavuzzo (Hig), 1-0. 138 — Urijah Lopez (Perr) d. Mason Bauer (Ash), 4-1 (SV); THIRD: Blake Frantz (Wad) p. Ryan Morgan Jr. (Alt), 7:20. 144 — Alexander Williams (Lib) d. Anthony Oscar (CF), 2-1 (OT); FIFTH: Sully Karmon (Perr) d. Leonidas Giatis (Hig), 6-4; SEVENTH: Kolten Mellon (Wad) m.d. Broderick McKinney (Jac), 13-0. 150 — Grayson Fuchs (DCC) d. Guardian Miller (Ash), 6-5 (OT); THIRD: Brody Bauman (Perr) d. Brennan Kicker (Hig), 8-4; SEVENTH: Carter Martin (Wad) p. Jack Volpe (Jac), 1:58. 157 — Tommy Rowlands (Wat) d. Kyle Jardine (Wad), 4-2. 165 — Joel Welch (DeS) d. Niko Giatis (Hig), 2-0. 175 — Colin Wooldridge (Lasa) p. Braxten Roche (DCC), 1:18; FIFTH: Joseph Oriti (Hig) d. Joseph Foels (Perr), 6-5. 190 — Rod Owens (Alt) d. Caden Krueger (DCC), 8-3 (OT); FIFTH: Shane Saito (Perr) d. Lukas Grillis (Hig), 4-1. 215 — Michael Boyle (Wat) t.f. Drayston Martin (Ash), 21-6; FIFTH: Dash Koelker (Alt) d. Carter Raymond (Wad), 7-2. 285 — Jacob Earnest (Wad) t.f. A.J. DeMassimo (Wat), 19-4; THIRD: Cody Bendau (Hig) p. Keith Butler (Alt), 2:00. FIFTH: Skyler Radeff (Ash) m.d. Nathen Shipley (Wad), 12-2.