With Joey Harrison back in Burke’s lineup the last two weeks, unranked teammate Aeneas Renfrow has got the chance to prove himself at his natural weight class. Renfrow beat the #5 (twice) and #3 ranked wrestlers over the weekend on his way to winning the title at 120, which is his first tournament title in his life. “He is truly wrestling with a purpose, not only for himself, but for his daughter Ameliya,” explained Burke Assistant Coach Matt Rein. Renfrow and his teammates wear special headbands that pay tribute to Renfrow’s daughter who passed away on November 30th at only five months old.

With half of the 32 class A teams at this tournament, matchups between highly ranked opponents were inevitable. Every weight had 2 or more wrestlers ranked in the top 6, and half of the weight classes had at least 3 of the top 6. Millard South won the tournament title with 325 points behind the strength of 8 finalists, 2 champions, and 5 others finishing in the top 6 of their weight classes. The Patriots have now won 4 straight Metro tournament team titles in a row with Omaha Burke winning the 2013 title. Omaha Burke had the most individual champions with 3, while Millard West, Millard North and Omaha Westside each had 2 individual champions.

The most exciting match of the finals came at 138 where #5 Ronniel Wells won by fall in 5:35 over #1 Zac Charity. Charity nearly earned a takedown towards the end of the 1st period, but Wells wrestled through the position and the official waved off the takedown. Charity opened the scoring in the 2nd period with an escape and then a go-behind takedown. About a minute later, Charity used an underhook to thwart Wells’ double leg attempt from the open. Charity transitioned right to a hi-c leg attack and was driving Wells to the mat when Wells changed direction on a dime and used a whizzer to throw Charity to his back. Charity was able to avoid the fall and action went out of bounds. Wells had the lead 6-3 with approximately 40 seconds left in the period. Charity escaped 10 seconds later and Wells nearly had a double leg takedown at the edge of the mat. Charity secured double underhooks and looked to score at the end of the 2nd period, but Wells used solid defense to avoid any takedowns. Charity took some injury time, and Wells chose bottom to start the 3rd period. Charity nearly locked up a cradle and a roll-through tilt, before Wells nearly scored a reversal. Charity released Wells and they went back to work on their feet. Charity got right back to his underhooks and nearly threw Wells, but the action went out of bounds. Wells countered a shot from Charity to take a 10-6 lead. Charity hit a granby roll and Wells hit a well-time headlock just as Charity turned into him, and Wells eventually earned the pin.

Here is a short application of our rankings released prior to the tournament that help put the toughness of this conference into context:

Number of ranked wrestlers per weight class:
5 ranked wrestlers: 138
4 ranked wrestlers: 106, 120, 145, 152
3 ranked wrestlers: 113, 126, 132, 160, 170, 195, 285
2 ranked wrestlers: 182, 220

Top 4 ranked wrestlers were at 152
Top 2 ranked wrestlers were at 106
Top ranked wrestlers at the following weights: 106, 113, 126, 138, 145, 152, 160, 182
Top ranked wrestler losing 1 match over the weekend: 106, 126, 138, 152

Closest matches of the finals:
106- #1 Blake Jackson (M. South) won 3-1 in SV-1 over UR Jakason Burks (Burke)
126- #2 Eron Haynes (Central) won 4-3 over #1 Creighton Baughman (M. South)
195- #2 Javone Malone (Benson) won 5-4 over #4 Rajan Ellebb (M. South)

Metro Conference Champions:
106- Blake Jackson (Millard South)
113- Joey Harrison (Omaha Burke)
120- Aeneas Renfrow (Omaha Burke)
126- Eron Haynes (Omaha Central)
132- Nathan Rodriguez (Millard South)
138- Ronniel Wells (Omaha North)
145- James Burks (Omaha Burke)
152- Josh Jansa (Omaha Westside)
170- Matt Sorich (Millard West)
182- Darlondo Hill (Omaha Westside)
195- Javone Malone (Omaha Benson)
220- Alexander Dukart (Millard West)
285- Brandon Eastlack (Millard North)

Notable Results:
106- UR Ladamien Sturdivant won 8-7 over #4 Emilio Haynes
106- #1 Blake Jackson won 4-3 over #2 Cody Niemiec
113- #3 Nolan Niemiec won 2-2 in the ultimate tie breaker over #5 Cole Zebley
113- #1 Joey Harrison won 7-3 over #3 Nolan Niemiec
120- #3 Reid Dasher won by fall in 3:59 over #6 Aweys Salat
120- UR Aeneas Renfrow won by fall in 2:19 over #5 Austin Coufal
120- UR Aeneas Renfrow won 12-1 over #3 Reid Dasher
120- #5 Austin Coufal won 1-0 over #6 Aweys Salat
126- #2 Eron Haynes won 4-3 over #1 Creighton Baughman
126- UR Dae’Kwon Seavers won 7-4 over #6 Camden Russell
132- #2 Nate Rodriguez won 6-5 over #4 Jakody Rezac
132- UR Oscar Baird won 7-2 over #5 Rhett Dasher
132- #4 Jakody Rezac won by fall in 0:55 over #5 Rhett Dasher
138- #1 Zac Charity won 19-8 over #6 Ben Holman
138- #5 Ronniel Wells won by fall in 1:11 over #3 Derek Wagstaff
138- #3 Derek Wagstaff won 11-4 over #6 Ben Holman
145- #1 James Burks won 25-8 over #3 Josh Benak
145- #1 James Burks won 24-9 over #6 Eamon Morrison
145- UR Nolan Koehler won 5-3 in sudden victory 1 over #6 Eamon Morrison
152- #1 Connor Olin won 7-3 over #4 Kylan Byars
152- #3 Josh Jansa won by fall in 5:49 over #2 Dax Galloway
152- #3 Josh Jansa won by fall in 1:09 over #1 Connor Olin
152- #2 Dax Galloway won 11-4 over #4 Kylan Byars
160- #5 Conner Willey won 7-5 over #6 Isaac Trumble
160- #1 DJ Coleman won 20-7 over #5 Conner Willey
170- #3 Matt Sorich won 5-2 over #6 Levi Miller
170- #3 Matt Sorich won 4-1 over #2 Braden Trimble
182- #1 Darlondo Hill won by fall in 3:28 over #6 Doug Weidner
195- #2 Javone Malone won 5-4 over #4 Rajan Ellebb
285- UR Garett Rollag won 12-5 over #4 Joel Anstine