Boys wrestling: Brandon Bickerton leads Highland to Bill Dies title

AKRON — In a battle of state champions Saturday, junior Brandon Bickerton put the exclamation point on the Highland wrestling team winning the Bill Dies Memorial Tournament.Highland (294.5) had long put the team trophy out of reach of runner-up Louisville (253), but that didn't make Bickerton's convincing 7-1 decision over Woodridge's Gavin Genovese in the final match of the tournament any less impressive at Firestone High.Bickerton won the Division I state title at 106 pounds as a freshman, while Genovese was the D-II champ at 113 last season. That made the 120 final the marquee match of the weekend.Bickerton got a takedown in each of the first two periods and kept Genovese out of his offense to earn the win."(Beating Genovese) means a lot," Bickerton said. "I've been on a roll lately. I've been in some battles, but I've been able to come out on top. I'm wrestling the best of the best. Props to (Genovese) it was a great match."Brandon Bickerton was joined by twin brother Austin Bickerton (126), Niko Giatis (165) and Lukas Grillis (190) as titlists for the Hornets, but the accolades didn't stop there with all 13 competitors placing.Brennan Kicker (150) and Cody Bendau (285) took second. Finishing third were Kyle Scavuzzo (132), Hoyt Pylypiak (138) and Leonidas Giatis (144). Riley Pylypiak (113) placed fourth, while Artha Rogers (157), Joseph Oriti (175) and Kallen Whitling (215) finished fifth.The team victory was the second in a row for Highland, which won the Marysville Duals the previous weekend."We just came off the win (at Marysville), and everyone had high hopes," Niko Giatis said. "We brought it from the first day. The team is doing great to get six guys into the finals."Brunswick was fifth out of 32 teams behind Brayden Miles winning the 150 championship in thrilling fashion. Trailing 4-3 against Kicker, his summer drill partner, Miles got a takedown with six seconds left and finished with three near-fall points to earn an 8-4 decision."The last couple of times we wrestled, nobody got a takedown and he got me early with a great shot," Miles said. "I just tried to battle back one step at a time. I was trying to get to my attacks and couldn't until I got to the end and just ripped it."Travis Latta (156) and Carter Wickes (165) were runners-up, while Danny Gamer (120) and Jacob Kash (132) took third and Andy Dalgleish (285) was fourth.Buckeye, which split its team between the Dies and the Top Gun in Alliance, finished 19th. Vinnie Joy (5th, 106) and Zach Simmons (6th, 113) reached the podium.Austin Bickerton started the championship run for Highland in the first match of the finals, dominating Valley Forge's Nathan Hale with a 17-2 technical fall in the first period. It was the fourth technical fall in as many matches for Bickerton.The tournament win also was the first of the season for the two-time state placer, who has been battling an ankle injury. Previously he had only wrestled at Ironman, the Brecksville Holiday Tournament and the Marysville Duals."This is the first tournament that I'm feeling really healthy, so I just wanted to go out there and score as many points as I can," he said. "I'm up there with the best guys. When March comes, I'm going to be ready and coming for those (top guys)."Niko Giatis won next for the Hornets, pinning Wickes nine seconds into the final period. Giatis pinned his last three opponents.Like Austin Bickerton and Niko Giatis, the tournament win was the first of the season for Grillis, who pinned Woodridge's Freddie Pettit in 49 seconds. Grillis pinned three of his five opponents."I feel good," Grillis said. "(Pettit) caught me off guard with that slide by, but I just bounced back super fast and got to what I'm good at."Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.ResultsStandings: 1. Highland 294.5, 2. Louisville 253, 3. Grove City 155.5, 4. Barberton 147, 5. Brunswick 145, 6. Indian Valley 125.5, 7. Woodridge 117.5, 8. Norton 102, 9. Copley 98.5, 10. Olmsted Falls 95.5, 11. John Glenn 91.5, 12. Rootstown 86.5, 13. Valley Forge 84.5, 14. Fairless 73, 15. Manchester 70, 16. Revere 69.5, 17. Conneaut 67, 18. Green 66.5, 19. Buckeye 63, 20. GlenOak 62.5, 21. Mogadore 48, 22. Northwest 47.5, 23. Canton McKinley 45, 24. Brush 44.5, 25. Cuyahoga Falls 39, 26. Wooster 38.5, 27. Buchtel 29, 28. Springfield 27, 29. Firestone 16, 30. Cuyahoga Heights 13, 31. Ellet 11.5, 32. Galloway (Fla.) 8.5106 — Maximiian Holley (Cop) m.d. Mason Massouh (Rev), 9-1; FIFTH: Vinnie Joy (Buck) t.f. Isaiah Shaffner (GC), 17-2. 113 — Bodie Raymond (IV) m.d. Gaspar Raymundo Marcos (Barb), 10-0; THIRD: Paxton Laughlin (Lou d. Riley Pylypiak (Hig), 9-8; FIFTH: Jack Bucher (Fair) d. Zach Simmons (Buck), 9-7. 120 — Brandon Bickerton (Hig) d. Gavin Genovese (Wood), 7-1; FIFTH: Danny Gamer (Brun) d. Luke Stover (Norton), 5-2. 126 — Austin Bickerton (Hig) t.f. Gavin Genovese (Wood), 17-2. 132 — Liam Montgomery (Lou) d. Jayden Maillard (Cop), 10-3; THIRD: Kyle Scavuzzo (Hig) d. Josiah Sims (Brush), 4-1 (SV); FIFTH: Jacob Kash (Brun) t.f. Aaron Fowler (NW), 19-3. 138 — Kaiden Barker (Lou) d. Desmond Childers (Cop), 7-2; THIRD: Hoyt Pylypiak (Hig) d. Alex Ely (Root), 6-2. 144 — Joel Brink (Green) p. Aric Criss (Lou), 7:00; THIRD: Leonidas Giatis (Hig) d. Grant Cundiff (GO), 9-7. 150 — Brayden Miles (Brun) d. Brennan Kicker (Hig), 8-4. 157 — Owen Edwards (JG) d. Travis Latta (Brun), 4-2; FIFTH: Artha Rogers (Hig) d. Tristan Coyle (GC), 9-7. 165 — Niko Giatis (Hig) p. Carter Wickes (Brun), 4:10. 175 — Matt Palmer (GC) p. Dominic Bates (JG), 5:13; FIFTH: Joseph Oriti (Hig) d. Graydn Sillman (NW), 7-0. 190 — Lukas Grillis (Hig) p. Freddie Pettit (Wood), 0:49. 215 — Jackson Phillips (Barb) p. Dylan Benedum (Mog), 1:36; FIFTH: Kallen Whitling (Hig) p. Pedro Velasquez (GC), 1:59. 285 — Jacob Inglehart (Wood) d. Cody Bendau (Hig), 4-3; FIFTH: Ben Griswold (Conn) d. Andy Dalgleish (Brun), 3-1.