Unbeaten and unstoppable: South Dade’s Bartelt on rare run of wrestling success

Wrestling star Sawyer Bartelt, a 220-pound junior, hasn’t lost a high school match — or suffered even a takedown — since he arrived at South Dade as a freshman.

That’s a string of 86 nearly-flawless matches.

A two-time Florida and USA champion, Bartelt seems destined to leave South Dade with four state championships to his credit.

Last month, Bartelt verbally committed to Iowa State, choosing the Cyclones after also making visits to North Carolina and Penn.

This Friday and Saturday, Bartelt will lead South Dade in the dual state championships at Osceola High in Kissimmee.

But Bartelt can do more than wrestle.

“He’s well-rounded,” South Dade coach Vic Balmeceda said, “and he loves the spotlight.”

Indeed, Bartelt is also the starting middle linebacker for South Dade’s football team, and he could’ve played the sport in college if not for his wrestling talent.

He has a 3.7 grade-point average (4.3 weighted), and he has designs on a career as an engineer.

Bartelt is even good at bowling — despite using unorthodox form.

“Instead of throwing the ball like a softball pitcher, with his hand moving up, he bowls backward,” Balmeceda said. “He moves his hand down.

“I consider myself a good bowler. I tried to tell him that his technique was wrong, but then he throws the ball and — pow! — the pins are crashing all over the place.

“After I saw that, I just said, ‘Never mind.’”

Bartelt is such a natural that he has also danced at three South Dade shows, the most recent one with a 1980s jazz theme.

“I dressed up in a bow tie,” Bartelt said. “A girl on our school’s dance team asked me to dance, and I did it for school spirit. She’s a close friend. It was fun.”

Bartelt, 17, certainly has fun on the wrestling mat. A native of Coral Gables, Bartlet was such an active little kid that a family friend suggested he try wrestling.

That was 13 years ago, and Bartelt has been doing it ever since, traveling all around the country to compete in national tournaments.

South Dade assistant coach Humberto “Duck” Reyna Jr., who runs the Gladiator club program, has been working with Bartelt for nearly a dozen years.

“What I noticed about him was that, even as a little kid, he was always confident,” Reyna said. “You ask other kids if they are going to win, and, typically, they say they don’t know.

“Sawyer has always believed he will win. He is top of the food chain.”

Bartelt, listed at 5-11, isn’t tall. Balmeceda believes he is actually 5-9½ or 5-10. But Bartelt is so athletic that he can do a back flip, and he is mentally and physically stronger than any wrestler in the state, according to his coaches.

At Iowa State, Bartelt figures to get down to 197 pounds in order to compete against grown men.

Iowa State entered this week ranked third in the nation. Iowa, ranked second, has former South Dade wrestler Bretli Reyna on its roster. He is the son of Humberto Reyna.

Bartelt said he chose Iowa State for its “calm environment” on campus, its “amazing” facilities and the way the Cyclones support wrestling.

He also liked the way the strength coach improved one wrestler’s dead lift by 400 pounds in just two years.

Bartelt, who has a Cuban mother and an American father, speaks limited Spanish — except when it comes to ordering food. He’s fully bilingual for things such as ordering a bistec milanesa.

As for his wrestling style, Bartelt said he aims for consistency.

“I like to use my brain when I wrestle, adjusting to situations,” Bartelt said. “But I stick to the basic fundamentals.”

Except when he’s bowling.

This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 2:33 PM.