2011 Inductee Brett Adkins, 1988
Bellevue’s Brett Adkins earned four letters at Bellevue High School in just one sport, but he made the most of that one sport – wrestling – taking the ultimate honor during his senior season.
A 1988 graduate of BSHS, Brett lettered during his freshman and sophomore years on the wrestling team, but really started to make noise during his junior year, going 22-8 overall in winning the Bellevue Invitational at 126-pounds. He made All-Northern Ohio League that year, finishing runner-up at 126 and was third at Sectionals and qualified for Districts.
During his senior year of 1987-88, Brett finished with a spotless 30-0 overall record. He placed first in the Northern Ohio League at 140-pounds, won both Sectional and District championships, and ultimately won the State Championship at 140-pounds, the second-ever wrestling state champion in school history.
During the 51st annual State Wrestling Meet, Brett defeated Kevin Frith of Morrow Little Miami in the opening round by pin in 1:10. What that stat does not tell you is how close Brett came to losing that match and his dream of state glory.
During the match, both wrestlers butted heads, a move that opened a three-inch gash above Brett’s right eye. The wound, which would eventually require four stitches to close, would not stop bleeding. Redmen Coach Chuck DeLuca was in “stall mode” trying to milk the “blood time” of five minutes and the injury time of two minutes. After those seven agonizing minutes, the trainers from The Ohio State University could not get the wound to stop bleeding. Coach DeLuca, who should have been nominated for Best Actor Oscar, convinced the officials to give him another two minutes of “equipment time” to get the headgear over what was now a rather large bandage wrapped around Brett’s head. While working on the headgear, coach told Brett that he had “15 seconds to pin this kid or the match will be over when that wound starts bleeding again.”
So, as any good wrestler will do, Brett listened to his coach and pinned Frith just seconds after action resumed, all the while dripping blood all over both wrestlers and the mat. Luckily, that was Brett’s only match of the opening round on Thursday night, allowing time for stitches and healing.
On Friday morning, Brett had a much less stressful second round, pinning Chad Boyer of Orrville in 4:23. Round three later that day was back to stressful mode during a match with Nick Paparosa of Bedford Chanel. Brett led 8-6 with 10 seconds to go but Paparosa gained a takedown with just three seconds left to force overtime. Brett earned an escape to lead 1-0 after one period. Neither wrestler scored in the second period. In the final period, Paparosa, needing a big move, went for a takedown that Brett fought off, turning the tables in getting a takedown and three back points for the huge 6-0 OT win.
The final match was on Saturday against the strong favorite, David Gregan of Twinsburg Chamberlain. It was all over in 41 seconds when Gregan lowered his head just slightly, Adkins grabbed his neck and pulled him down to the mat, where his shoulders followed and the pin was recorded giving Adkins the improbable state title!
Brett won 23 of his 30 matches by pin his senior season, and also took home the award for most pins in the least amount of time during the State Wrestling Meet. His average pin time for the season was 2:05.
Brett finished with a career record of 74-32 and received the Bellevue Gazette Award as the Outstanding Male Athlete in 1988.
He was a four-year wrestler at Ohio University, winning the conference championship at 142-pounds as a junior, runner up at 150-pounds as a senior. He participated in Nationals both his junior and senior seasons at Ohio University.
Brett and his wife, Andrea, reside in Bellevue with their four children. Brett is owner of Adkins Construction.
Watch Brett win the state championship (with audio) below: