Boys district wrestling: Buckeye's Blake Bartos locked en route to title

BAINBRIDGE TWP. — The Buckeye wrestling team wasn't able to repeat as a district champion, but it will send four wresters to this weekend's Division II state tournament out of the Kenston District. Senior 138-pounder Blake Bartos brought home the Bucks' only championship. After only spending 69 seconds on the mat Friday while winning both of his matches by pin, Bartos won his first match Saturday with an 18-2 technical fall over Copley's Desmond Childers Jr. In the finals, Bartos won by technical fall again, this time 19-4 against West Geauga's Zander Joltin. "I feel great," Bartos said. "I've been working hard in the room and doing what I'm suppose to." The Wyoming commit is 24-0 this season. He's making his fourth trip to the state tournament after winning a championship in 2024 and also placing as a junior and freshman. "I expected all pin and techs from myself this weekend," he said. Bartos will be heading to Columbus with three teammates, including his younger brother Collin, who placed fourth at 120. Brady Zoul (165) and Logan Letner (144) round out the Bucks' qualifying quartet. "I'm pretty exciting about the guys that are coming down," Blake Bartos said. "For most of them, it's their first time. We had a few guys who didn't make it, but that's how it goes."Collin Bartos earned his second consecutive trip to Columbus with a third-period pin of Padua Franciscan's Bryden Spellacy in the consolation semifinals. Collin Bartos was 4-2 on the weekend, with both losses coming to West Geauga's Caden Kaleal — 10-7 in overtime Friday and a 12-3 major decision in the third-place match Saturday. Senior Logan Letner made his only season in a Buckeye singlet one he'll never forget, winning three consecutive matches in the consolation bracket, including 6-0 over Elyria Catholic's Julez Martin in the consolation semifinals, to earn his first trip to state. "It's awesome. It's such a surreal feeling to be able to do this," said Letner, who was a three-time letterwinner at Cloverleaf before transferring. "The last three years, I've come up just short. Thanks to my parents, my coaches, my teammates and God that I was able to do it this year."The biggest difference this year was my coaches. They really push me in practice, and they're always after me to push the pace. I think that really paid off."Zoul, who won his first two matches by pin Friday, started with a 17-1 technical fall over Lakeside sophomore Isaac Coup. In the final, Zoul fell to West Geauga's Brian Denamen 7-4. Cloverleaf's only district qualifier, Caleb Burke, was eliminated with -round consolation loss. Contact Todd Shapiro at sports@medina-gazette.com.Results Standings: 1. Perry 144, 2. West Geauga 124, 3. St. Vincent-St. Mary 112, 4. Buckeye 102, 5. Benedictine 88.5, 6. CVCA 80, 7. Canfield 73, 8. Streetsboro 65.5, 9. Alliance 62.5, 10. Kenston 61, 11. Padua Franciscan 59.5, 12. Canton South 50.5, 12. Madison 50.5, 14. West Branch 50, 15. Elyria 47.5, 16. Copley 45.5, 17. Woodridge 17.0, 18. Howland 43.5, 19. Coventry 37.0, 20. Jefferson Area 36.5, 21. Hubbard 33.5, 22. Archbishop Hoban 33, 23. Tallmadge 30, 24. Geneva 29, 25. Norton 28.5, 26. Firelands 27, 27. Roosevelt 26.5, 28. Ashtabula Lakeside 24, 18. Springfield 18.5, 30. University School 16.5, 31. Conneaut 15, 32. Chardon 14, 33. Maple Heights 33, 34. Brookside 13, 35. Ravenna 12.5, 36. Field 11, 36. Marlington 11, 38. Bay 10.5, 39. Salem 8, 40. Orrville 7, 41. Buchtel 6.5, 42. Canal Fulton Northwest 5., 43. Youngstown Chaney 4.5, 43. Villa Angela-St. Joseph 4.5, 45. Cloverleaf 4, 45. Hawken 4, 47. Lutheran West 1.106 — Grady Moos (Elyria Catholic) d. Cole Palma (St. Vincent-St. Mary), 4-1. THIRD: Maximilian Holley (Copley) m.d. John Bollinger (Streetsboro), 9-1. 113 — Jarreau Walker (Streetsboro) d. Nolan DeShon (St. Vincent-St. Mary), 6-4. THIRD: Dominic Prosperi (Canton South) p. Jordan MuCullough (Madison), 3:08. 120 — Gavin Genovese (Woodridge) d. Teo Triscaro (Kenston), 4-0. THIRD: Caden Kaleal (West Geauga) d. Collin Bartos (Buckeye), 12-3. 126 — Carter Baran (Kenston) m.d. Tanner Williams (Geneva), 10-1. THIRD: Quinn Hurley (St. Vincent-St. Mary) d. John Paul Hatgas (Benedictine), 8-7. 132 — Rocco Czarnecki (CVCA) m.d. Devion Coffin (Benedictine), 10-2. THIRD: Markel Hackwelder (Hubbard) d. Doyle Grosz (University School), 8-4. 138 — Blake Bartos (Buckeye) t.f. Zander Joltin (West Geauga), 19-4, 2:34. THIRD: Desmond Childers Jr. (Copley) d. Ky'Ron Fikes (CVCA), 4-1. 144 — Anthony Trentanelli (Perry) d. Taggart Wade (St. Vincent-St. Mary), 13-6. THIRD: Omar Leon (Akron Springfield) d. Logan Letner (Buckeye), 4-1. 150 — Chance Schlauch (Perry) t.f. John Jones Jr. (Benedictine), 19-2. THIRD: Beau Nezbeth (West Branch) d. D'Mari Campbell (Firelands), 5-0. 157 — John Beltz (Alliance) t.f. Duke Clayton (St. Vincent-St. Mary), 17-2. THIRD: Anthony Bertone (Perry) d. Jason Beverly (Norton), 6-1. 165 — Brian Denamen (West Geauga) d. Brody Zoul (Buckeye), 7-4. THIRD: Isaac Coup (Lakeside) p. Gavin Edwards (Kent Roosevelt), 2:27. 175 — Ian Bee (Tallmadge) d. Avery Conroy (Streetsboro), 15-9. THIRD: Jimmy Zarzeczny (Padua) p. Andrew Pennington, 4:41. 190 — Paul Tepley (CVCA) m.d. Evan Owen (Coventry), 13-4. THIRD: Gabriel Miller (Canfield) d. Austin Wheatley (West Geauga), 6-3. 215 — Chase White (Madison) m.d. Matt Webster (Jefferson Area), 10-1. THIRD: Blake Welker (West Geauga) p. Owen Dreher (Howland), 1:57. 285 — Brydon Feister (Archbishop Hoban) p. Trent Taylor (Perry), 0:34. THIRD: Deangelo Spear (Canton South) d. Shepard Charlton (Benedictine), 1-0.