• Photo Showcase: Greise Invitational, Jan. 28

* * *

There are sources of pride, and then there's the way Brad Hildebrandt and his Omaha Skutt wrestling team look at their annual tournament.

The Jesse Greise SkyHawk Invitational has had one team champion in its history.

The tournament hosts.

That streak didn't end Saturday as Class B No. 1 Omaha Skutt outlasted a field that included Omaha Burke, the second-ranked team in Class A, for the team title.

“We had some guys step up and wrestle really well,” Hildebrandt said. “Burke is a great team. I mean, they are really tough. I just really feel good about our performance today.”

Skutt had three bracket champions in the pool tournament, including outstanding wrestler winner and Iowa recruit Thomas Gilman at 132. Gilman defeated Omaha Central's Ronald Wells by major decision and pinned Jimmy McWilliams of Burke. Wells and McWilliams are the Nos. 1 and 3-ranked wrestlers in Class A, respectively.

Other winners for Skutt were JT Sloboth at 113 and 160-pounder Grant Randall.

But Hildebrandt lauded the efforts of a couple of junior varsity wrestlers who stepped in for absent starters.

He said the message this week was to stay in tune to each match.

“We didn't focus on winning it,” he said. “We just wanted to perform in every match.”

After a schedule that Hildebrandt called “absolutely brutal,” he likes where his team is heading toward the postseason.

“Our guys are really coming out the back side of (the schedule) well,” he said. “They've kept the faith and are really coming on. I think we're right on track.”

Burke had five bracket winners: Brent Curtis (106), Jake Wilcoxen (120), Jared Green (138), Jordan Hammond (145) and Justice Bridgeford (152). Each of the five is ranked in the top two at their respective weight classes in the Class A ratings.

Jamarques Codling at 195 and heavyweight Rod Barber gave Boys Town a pair of champions. Other winners were Mike Gregerson of Omaha Central (126), Omaha Creighton Prep's Jake Anderson (170), Trew Bushhousen of Lincoln Southwest (182) and Omaha North's James Jones (220).

• Team scoring: Omaha Skutt 218.5, Omaha Burke 191.0, Lincoln Southwest 107.0, Boys Town 96.0, Omaha Central 91.0, Omaha Creighton Prep 89.5, Plattsmouth 89.5, Omaha North 85.5.

• Bracket champions: 106 pounds: Brent Curtis, Omaha Burke. 113: JT Sloboth, Omaha Skutt. 120: Jake Wilcoxen, Omaha Burke. 126: Mike Gregerson, Omaha Central. 132: Thomas Gilman, Omaha Skutt. 138: Jared Green, Omaha Burke. 145: Jordan Hammond, Omaha Burke. 152: Justice Bridgeford, Omaha Burke. 160: Grant Randall, Omaha Skutt. 170: Jake Anderson, Omaha Creighton Prep. 182: Trew Bushhousen, Lincoln Southwest. 195: Jamarques Codling, Boys Town. 220: James Jones, Omaha North. 285: Rod Barber, Boys Town.

Contact the writer:

402-850-0781, nickrubek@gmail.com

twitter.com/nickrubek