This Krop senior took down one of high school wrestling’s toughest
The most shocking sentence in Florida high school wrestling this year was: Somebody took down Sawyer Bartelt.
That “somebody” is Krop senior Nathan
Adras, who accomplished something no high school wrestler ever had by executing a two-point takedown on Bartelt, who is a multiple-time national champ and All-American from South Dade.
Bartelt, who has signed with wrestling power
Iowa State, went on to pin Adras in the 215-pound state final. It was Bartelt’s fourth straight state title, and the Bucs star finished his prep career with an astonishing record of 139-0.
“It feels surreal that I [scored the takedown] because I made history, but I really wanted to beat him,” Adras said. “I guess [the takedown] softened the blow of losing, but that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to win.”
Adras said he heard the crowd roar when he earned the two-point takedown.
“I was zoned in,” Adras said. “I thought: ‘Okay, that’s the first step to cracking [Bartelt].
“But then his demeanor changed. I think I spooked him, and he got way more focused.”
Adras, a senior who knew nothing about wrestling before joining Krop’s team as a freshman, has no scholarship offers as yet.
Krop coach Shakir Francois said Adras — who has a 2.8 grade-point average and wants to study business in college, followed the game plan against Bartelt perfectly.
“We strategized,” Francois said of the planning that went into scoring the takedown. “We knew Sawyer was going to come in heavy, and we countered with a lateraldrop move.”
After the match, Bartelt graciously told Adras: “I can tell you’ve been practicing.”
But that’s the thing. Adras practices far less than most wrestlers. He was a four-year starter on Krop’s football team, playing his senior season as a 5-11 and 230-pound middle linebacker.
While the Krop wrestlers who do not play another sport train yearround, Adras didn’t join
Francois’ team until Nov. 4 — the day after the Lightning football season ended.
That lack of time to train for wrestling has long put Adras at a disadvantage.
Because of a lack of knowledge in wrestling, Adras got off to a slow start in his career, going 8-14 as a freshman and 13-14 as as sophomore. But he had a bit of a breakthrough by going 27-10 as a junior, and then he exploded this season with a 39-4 record.
Three of those losses were to Bartelt in the GMAC final, the regional final and the state final.
Adras’ most significant win this year was a 5-3 overtime decision over Steinbrenner High’s Baxter Hoffman. The scored had been tied 3-3 until Adras engineered a twopoint takedown in OT to win the match.
“That’s the biggest win of Nathan’s career,”
Francois said of the victory over Hoffman, who finished his season with a record of 46-9.
Adras is Krop’s first wrestling state finalist since 2006 — the year he was born.
That season, Krop had two state champs: Damion Stevenson (160 pounds) and Aymen Babushka (130).
Francois said one thing Adras did to improve the most was to get into better shape, dropping his body-fat percentage from 28 percent to 12 percent — a massive reduction.
Adras also learned a lot from older wrestlers, including Julius Weaver.
“Julius is the one who got me into the sport,” Adras said. “He kept bugging me about it.”
Francois is glad it happened.
“The best thing about Nathan is that he’s a sponge,” Francois said. “He has great adaptability.”
Adras will not agree with that assessment.
“I’m very technical,” Adras said. “If I’m doing something wrong, I will fix it instantly and do it the new way.”
Even so, Adras said he felt “uncomfortable” at his first wrestling practice as a Krop freshman.
“I didn’t think [wrestling] was for me,” Adras said. “I wasn’t used to working that hard at that [fast] pace. I was going to quit, but I don’t like quitting.”
Instead of giving up, Adras started working harder.
“Out of nowhere, I fell in love with wrestling,” said Adras, a Miami native with Haitian ancestry.
“I like the aspect of winning by myself” as opposed to a traditional team sport such as football, Adras said.
Adras did a lot of winning this year.
And even in his final defeat to Bartelt, Adras earned major respect.