Forget back flips. Wes Boehm was hardly cracking a smile after his Omaha Burke team won its own invitational Saturday.

The source of his frustration? Narrow misses in three of his fourth-ranked Bulldogs’ five finals matches.

“Not at all,” Boehm answered when asked if he was happy with his team’s performance Saturday. “We’ve got kids wrestling with no heart right now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to win a tournament. But we’re not close to where we need to be.”

Boehm’s group got championships from second-ranked Jimmy McWilliams at 112 pounds and No. 3 140-pounder Justice Bridgeford. But three other Bulldogs lost matches that were within striking distance in the third period.

“That just comes down to heart,” Boehm said. “It’s one thing to lose one like that when you’re going 100 miles an hour and working as hard as you can. It’s another to lose them the way we did today.”

Third-ranked Millard South crowned champions in top-ranked Jake Miller (119) and Large Kings (189). Norfolk, which finished third, had winners in Colby Lind at 145, 171-pounder Thomas Mohan and Jordan Heiderman at 215 pounds.

Despite missing its closer, No. 6 Omaha North did plenty of closing. Wrestling without top-ranked and unbeaten heavyweight Ron Coleman, who was out getting healthy for the stretch run, the Vikings won five of their six title matches.

Brittney Taylor battled her way to a 5-1 win over Burke’s Jake Wilcoxen at 103 pounds; Kenny Martin and Ray Perkins pinned their way to titles at 125 and 152, respectively; and Reggie Holt-Wesley and Chris Tyler earned hard-fought victories for North.

The day’s top match had to be at 135 pounds, where Harlan’s Anthony Hough outlasted Cody Green of Papillion-La Vista South 1-0 in sudden death overtime. Hough and Green went three regulation periods and three overtime frames without a score.

When Hough won the flip to decide whether he’d be on top or bottom, he said it was a no-brainer.

“I wasn’t going to get out,” Hough said. “I’ve never been a part of a match like that.”

Hough’s teammate and Missouri football recruit Matt Hoch added the heavyweight crown for the Cyclones, who finished fourth as a team.

• Team standings: Om. Burke 224.5, Millard South 221.5, Norfolk 210.5, Harlan 188.5, Om. North 180.5, Papillion-La Vista South 128, Ralston 105, Clarinda Academy 59, Om. Burke JV 1 58.5, Om. Northwest 33, Om. Benson 20, Om. Burke JV 2 14.

• Championship matches: 103 pounds: Brittney Taylor, Om. North, def. Jake Wilcoxen, Om. Burke, 5-1. 112: Jimmy McWilliams, Om. Burke, def. Nick McGrath, Ralston, 4-0. 119: Jake Miller, Millard South, pinned JaQuandre Perkins, Om. North, 1:32. 125: Kenny Martin, Om. North, pinned Kelson Owings, Millard South, :40. 130: Reggie Holt-Wesley, Om. North, def. Dakota Showalter, Millard South, 8-6, OT. 135: Anthony Hough, Harlan, def. Cody Green, Papillion-La Vista South, 1-0, 4OT. 140: Justice Bridgeford, Om. Burke, tech fall Mitch Lienemann, Norfolk, 28-13. 145: Colby Lind, Norfolk, def. Rob Larson, Harlan, 6-5. 152: RaVaughn Perkins, Om. North, pinned J.J. Zekpa, Millard South, 3:31. 160: Chris Tyler, Om. North, def. Cole Vonderhoe, Norfollk, 7-4. 171: Thomas Mohan, Norfolk, def. Austin Williams, Om. Burke, 8-5. 189: Large King, Millard South, def. Nate Kroupa, Om. Burke, 5-1. 215: Jordan Heiderman, Norfolk, def. Marcus Streit, Harlan, 5-0. 285: Matt Hoch, Harlan, def. Aaron Wichman, Norfolk, 13-4.

Contact the writer:

850-0781, nickrubek@hotmail.com

« High Schools

Share