Our 16th National All-Class dual team was one for the ages!
We were seeded #1 due to our history at the event, though pure hardware had Oklahoma Elite as the team to be concerned with. Originally, we had Gauna, Hutchinson and Joyce with a 50/50 on Thunder. Those guys would make us bullet proof. For legit reasons, those guys couldn't join us. But.... we still had four #1 All-Class ranked guys and two #2s.
With a 9 team round robin, the cream would rise to the top. Oklahoma had 8 state champions and three Fargo AA's. After the first seven rounds, we were both 7-0. Oklahoma's closest dual was a 46-13 win over South Dakota. They beat Kansas Red 44-9. To a man, our team woke up Saturday morning with a grin on their face and all eyes on the Okies. Every way I figured it, I saw us winning 7 matches to their 7. Thirty minutes before we started the day, I found out we had an injury, leaving us an open weight against what was Oklahoma's weakest weight. Through seven matches we found ourselves down 16-12. Brodye Kocher-Munoz gave us a huge boost at 155, finishing 8-0 for the tournament and closing the gap to 16-15! Remember, we lost our #1 Hutchinson and bumped Brodye up from our Red team before the tourney started. At 163, Donnie Jackson gave state champ Kingston Sikes who was 43-1, all he could handle, losing 8-5. Lost another close one at 173 before giving up a forfeit at 185. The stage was set.... Down 13 points with three matches to go. In my mind, we would win 198 and be down 10 with two to go. Deep into the 3rd period, in a 1-1 tie, Topeka Hayden's Jude Krentz, wrestling an atlas dude from Oklahoma. Locked into position for, you guessed it, a video reel high-flyer, launching the dude to his back for a beastly pin as the crowd shook the building. We were now down 7 with Cooper Reeves and Big Ben Traw to go. In typical Cooper Reves style, he attacked the Okie like somebody yelled sic em, pinning the kid in 1:16 to close the gap to 27-28. By that time the mat was surrounded with a rabid crowd as all of 288 pound Big Ben rambled onto center mat. I could see the fear in the Okie heavy and nobody blamed him. Up 1-0 in the second, Ben executed a textbook elevated underhook to a near side trip, sending the Okie to his back with the sound of an airplane crash as the ref cracked the mat for a fall to seal our FOUR-PEAT championship! I think I actually cleared a 6 inch vertical leap, for those that know me, I'll let you laugh about that. One of my greatest dual win memories with a group of Kansas hammers I will not forget. We finished with 7 undefeated All-Americans! Going 8-0 were Roman Tuttle, Trevor Christenson, Vincent Rosas, Brodye Kocher-Munoz and Cooper Reves on Kansas Blue. Kansas Red finished 3rd with Max-Evans Pryor and Osiris Unruh going 8-0 and an All-American finish. The MVP's for Blue were Christenson, who looked as tough as I've ever seen him against awesome competition and Cooper Reves who was superman once again. The Red team MVP's were Max Evans-Pryor who had a phenomenal tournament and Big O Unruh who also won MVP last year.
Thank you to our coaches, Ken Kepley, Clint Slyter, Parker Howell and Kevin Ecker! Amazing job guys. Thank you to Will Cokeley, James Cook, Dal and Doug Eck. Those guys pour their effort and hearts into our Kansas kids every year! Thank you to all of our parents that were the best fans in the country.
KANSAS PROUD - Chief
Last edited by Chief Renegade; 4 hours ago.
