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Wadsworth's Joy, Highland's Bickerton, Perry's Fockler win OHSAA state wrestling titles

brad bournival, akron beacon journal
·4 min read

COLUMBUS — The Division I state wrestling championships started with an aerial display and ended with a boom.

When the smoke cleared, the Greater Akron/Canton area could claim champions in Highland’s Brandon Bickerton, Wadsworth’s Jaxon Joy and Perry’s Aidan Fockler.

Here’s how they all went down at Value City Arena on Saturday.

Wadsworth’s Jaxon Joy stands alone at storied OHSAA Division I wrestling program

Jaxon Joy makes the No. 3 symbol after he became Wadsworth's second three-time state champion with a win over Cincinnati Moeller's Londen Murphy in Division I at 150 pounds.
Jaxon Joy makes the No. 3 symbol after he became Wadsworth's second three-time state champion with a win over Cincinnati Moeller's Londen Murphy in Division I at 150 pounds.

The walls of Wadsworth’s wrestling room are covered with 26 individual championship paintings, but one will stand alone next season.

Jaxon Joy.

Joy joined Wadsworth great Nick Tavanello (2010-12) as the only three-time state champions for the Grizzlies when he won by 15-7 major decision over Cincinnati Moeller’s Londen Murphy.

It also tied the career wins state record with Hilliard Davidson’s Gio DiSabato (189).

OHSAA State Wrestling: Live updates from Day 3 of the state tournament in Columbus

OHSAA State Wrestling: Live updates from Day 2 of the state tournament in Columbus

OHSAA State Wrestling: Live updates from Day 1 of the state tournament in Columbus

“I feel like I’ve done some good things with wrestling, but hopefully they see me how I was as a person,” Joy said. “Hopefully, I carried myself the right way and motivated people that way rather than just being a good wrestler.”

Joy isn’t one to brag, so others will brag for him.

The Cornell signee won by technical fall over Medina’s Aiden Supers, Dublin Jerome’s Ian Cho and St. Edward’s Lucan O’Brien before his major decision final.

That means he closed out his career on the state mats by outpointing his opponents 78-18, with almost every point coming from kickout escapes.

“I feel like there is a little bit of pressure,” Joy said. “I’ve always said there isn’t, but there’s a lot of expectations. Obviously, I’m not perfect. I look at it as a privilege. I’ve done enough that in the sport where people expect things out of me. It’s pretty cool. My favorite thing is giving back and hopefully being a role model for the youth, not just as a wrestler but as a person.”

Highland’s Hail Mary answered in OHSAA state finals at 106 pounds

Highland's Brandon Bickerton hit the "flying squirrel" with success to score a takedown with one second left to win a Division I state title at 106 pounds.
Highland's Brandon Bickerton hit the "flying squirrel" with success to score a takedown with one second left to win a Division I state title at 106 pounds.

Perrysburg’s Ayden Dodd and Bickerton met once in the regular season and Bickerton won 6-4 in overtime.

What happened at the Perrysburg Invitational was certainly one-upped in the state finals at 106.

Dodd built a one-point lead and was fending off every shot Bickerton could possibly hit. That’s when Bickerton hit the “flying squirrel” to win. For those who might not know what that is, Bickerton essentially jumped over Dodd and when he was coming down, pulling his foe down with him.

The takedown came with one second left and Bickerton won 6-5.

“To be honest, I don’t even know what happened,” Bickerton said. “I saw it there. I’m not going to take Dodd down with a (single leg takedown) with 10 seconds left. It’s just not happening. I just had to pull something off. I saw it there, faked the shot, flying squirrel. It might not have worked, but it did and, gosh, that is the most exciting wrestling moment of my life.”

That moment could happen many more times for the U.S. Open and U16 Freestyle National champion.

“Right now I’m in line to be a four-timer after that,” Bickerton said. “It’s so tough to win state freshman year. I don’t think many people do it. It’s definitely there.”

Perry’s Aidan Fockler adds another OHSAA state title

Aidan Fockler added his second title and walked out of Perry as a four-time state placer. He's won both titles at 285 pounds.
Aidan Fockler added his second title and walked out of Perry as a four-time state placer. He's won both titles at 285 pounds.

The Panthers weren’t shut out in their third-place state finish and added individual title No. 35.

It came from 285-pound senior Aidan Fockler, who certainly left a mark on the Perry wrestling program. Fockler heads to Central Michigan with two state titles, a runner-up finish and a third-place finish.

“This was my third time in the finals and there was no way I was going to go out with a negative record,” Fockler said. “Coach (Brent) McBurney always tells us to not only be good wrestlers, but to be good people and good role models. It’s big for us to set that precedent for the next generation.”

Fockler left his mark in the final match with an 8-2 win over Painesville Riverside’s Antonio Bottiggi to close out his career 158-14.

“I want people to say I had heart and always wrestled my butt off,” Fockler said. “This is a great building block. I tied my future coach Matt Stencel in state titles. Now, I’m going to beat him in All-Americans.”

Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joy, Fockler, Bickerton win championships at OHSAA state wrestling