COLUMBUS — Before Perrysburg freshman wrestler Grey Burnett got to wrestle his 113-pound championship match, he had to watch Perrysburg sophomore Ayden Dodd (38-6) fall in the final second of his championship by a “flying squirrel.”

That “flying squirrel” was Medina Highland freshman Brandon Bickerton (42-5), who won 6-5 with a takedown with one second remaining. It showed up in the finals of the state wrestling tournament at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center Sunday.

In a match that saw four leading changes, Dodd was up 5-4 when Bickerton resorted to desparation — a move wrestling afficianados call the “flying squirrel” where he jumps high, in this case, nearly over Dodd, to force the takedown. It worked, or else Perrysburg would have been 4-for-4 in championship matches.

“The finals match was just great wrestling. Bickerton is amazing,” Perrysburg coach Scott Burnett said. “He (Dodd) was in the driver’s seat, didn’t have a stall call, but we’ve got to make him run away a little bit.

“It’s hard when moments get big like that for kids to hear, ‘Get away, get away,’ and his opponent, Man, he jumped and got the corner on him and threw Ayden off just enough where his hands were on the mat, and the guy got behind him. It was what it was.”

Grey Burnett followed with his championship match, but after watching what happened to Dodd he had to put it out of his mind.

“Yeah, it’s tough. We’re both partners, and I think we work harder than anyone in the state,” Grey Burnett said. “That really hurt, a questionable call, but I just had to not let that affect me too much. It bummed me out but I had to take care of business.”

In his match, Grey Burnett took a 3-0 lead after two periods, but his opponent, Lakewood St. Edward junior Ethan Timar (32-7), was able to put up two single points in the final half minute, but Burnett managed to pull out a 3-2 win.

Timar’s second point was for a stall whistled against Burnett, even though they were handfighting at the edge of the mat.

“So I get beat with 25 seconds left, gave up a point, and just had to stay in the handfight and play off his attacks, and it got to be a handfight at the end,” Grey Burnett said.

“I just had to stay focused, just can’t let the ref and the crowd dictate my emotions in one match. I think I did a really good job of staying focused and not letting it bother me too much, and I knew I had the state title in sight.”

Timar was a 106-pound state champion last year, making the win for the Perrysburg freshman even bigger.

“It was cool. Timar is a really tough opponent,” Burnett said. “Obviously St. Ed’s, best team in the state, and I was just grateful that I had a really good weight class—a lot of good guys and it’s really fun.

“Wrestling in the Schott is as much as I’ve ever had. I’m just grateful for opponent, and yeah, he’s really tough.”

Grey Burnett joins his father, coach Scott Burnett and his uncle, Eric Burnett, as state champions.

“It feels great. I’ve been working for this for a while. It means everything,” Grey Burnett said. “My dad is a three-time state champ, my uncle is a four-time state champ, so to win this freshman one is big. Hopefully some day I can say I’m a four-timer, so it’s nice to get this one.”

Grey says he only fears there may be some trash talk at family outings now.

“Maybe, but I only have one,” Grey said. “We’ve got a long, long way to go. It’s awesome.”

His father Scott doesn’t mind, and is hoping Grey adds more to his portfolio.

“Selfishly, as his father, I can’t even put into words how proud I am. He is a way better student of the sport than I ever was,” coach Burnett said.

“His dedication and focus to the sport equals mine, all the way, even into college. He grew into the weight class — wasn’t a big ‘13,’ but at the end of the year he was reasonably sized and he’s motivated and he wanted to win.

“We have a great team, so our culture is about winning, and we want to try to win championships to win a team championship. I’m just really proud of him because I know what he does and he does it without being told.”

To reach the final Burnett had to defeat a host of nationally-ranked wrestlers, including Timar. He opened by pinning Harrison junior Gavin Boner (45-8) in 4:53, he defeated Olentangy junior Kurt Mokros (32-8), 13-6, in the quarterfinals, and Massillon Perry sophomore Liston Seibert (39-7), 6-2, in the semifinals.

“It’s awesome,” Grey said. “I’m super glad I’m in this weight class because it’s so fun wrestling all these really good opponents. I’m just grateful for those guys. It was really cool to wrestle all these tough guys.”

For Dodd to reach the championship match, he won a 17-1 technical fall over Solon freshman Carmello Kolb (25-16), won an 11-3 major decision against Watkins Memorial junior Nolan Perry (37-12) in the quarterfinals and defeated Ashland freshman Mason Bauer (47-5), 4-0, in the semifinals.

“He’s had a great season,” coach Scott Burnett said. “He was committed — the way that our team is constructed and where he and Grey were sitting, we felt that having him go ‘6’ (106) and having Grey to ‘13’ (113) and navigating a full season gave us a stronger team lineup wise.

“He had a tough weight cut and he was totally committed to his weight cut and he did a great job.”

Other placers

Perrysburg sophomore Alex Denkins (39-9) placed fourth at 120 pounds, junior Josh Takats (37-13) was fourth at 190, and senior Jake Wood (40-12) was fifth at 157.

Denkins opened with a 9-5 decision over Teays Valley sophomore Josh Zimmer (32-9) and defeated Colerain freshman Tyton Kostoff (35-9) by a 9-4 decision, but lost to Clay sophomore Garrison Weisner (36-5), 9-3 in the semifinals. In the third place match, Denkins lost to Olentangy Liberty senior Jaxson Rosselli (20-3), 5-2.

Takats opened with an 8-7 win over Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit senior Brock Sherman (40-8) but was pinnned by Springboro junior Matt Kowalski in 2:48.

In the consolation bracket, Takats defeated Centerville junior John Moyer (40-12), 3-1, he defeated Dublin Coffman senior Storm Beane (39-10), 3-2, then defeated Cincinnati LaSalle sophomore Colin Woodridge (37-9), 4-3, but lost to Brecksville-Broadview Heights junior Riley McPherson (30-9) by an 18-3 technical fall in the third place match.

Wood started with an 11-3 major decision against Aurora junior Cole Walton (38-13), and then defeated Dublin Coffman sophomore Grayson Woodcock (41-3), 3-2, but lost in the semifinals to Sycamore senior and eventual state champion Eugene Harney(44-3), 5-2.

In the consolation bracket, Wood lost to Toledo Whitmer senior Jeremy Gintner (46-3), 2-1, but then won the fifth place match by defeating Lakewood St. Edward junior Bradley Eaton (21-11) by default.

At 138, Perrysburg sophomore Brody Bauman (34-12) lost to Cincinnati Princeton senior Micah Cottrell (43-5), 13-6, then defeated Olentangy junior Jake Piontkowski (43-6), 6-4, but lost to Cincinnati LaSalle junior Holden Huhn (43-5) by a 13-3 major decision.

At 144, Perrysburg senior Diego Chavez (36-13) defeated Mentor senior Antonio Shelley (39-10), 7-4, but he lost to Dublin Coffman senior Omar Ayoub (39-3), 10-3. In the consolations, Chavez lost to Canton GlenOak junior Ethan Leu (44-12), 7-6.

At 165, Perrysburg sophomore Shane Saito (34-130 lost to Pickerington North senior Donavyn Watts (46-6) by a 9-0 major decision and then he fell to Milford senior Austin Holman (45-6) by a 5-1 decision.