Brady O'Keefe
RENO — It was a hard-luck day for Brady O’Keefe and Brandon Basa on the final day of the Reno Tournament of Champions at the Reno Events Center.
O’Keefe, who entered the day undefeated, went 1-3 and finished eighth place. He was injured (hip) at the tail end of his second loss, and opted not to wrestle the match to decide seventh place.
Basa, meanwhile, finished the tournament with a 4-2 record after losing a 6-4 four-overtime decision to De La Salle’s Logan Sumalong.
“I did what I set out to do which was place (medal),” O’Keefe said. “I’m disappointed I was eighth.”
O’Keefe’s bad luck started right out of the gate on Saturday.
The talented senior trailed fifth-seeded Kurt Mode of Crock County 3-1 after two periods, but he worked a reversal 15 seconds into the third period, tying the match at 3. He moved ahead, 5-3, 15 seconds later with a takedown. O’Keefe seemed content to ride Mode the rest of the way.
For whatever reason, O’Keefe let Mode go for the escape, which cut the lead to 5-4 with 13 seconds left, and four seconds later, Mode took down O’Keefe to walk away with a 6-5 win.
“I felt I could defend better on my feet than I could holding him down,” O’Keefe said. “I cut him loose with about 10 seconds left, but then I stopped thinking and stopped moving my feet. Coach wanted me to let him up with 20 seconds to go, but I felt I could hold (control) him.”
After a short break, a steamed O’Keefe came back against Mode’s teammate, Trey Shores.
It was no contest. O’Keefe led 4-1 after one, and then scored an escape and takedown in het final 25 seconds to gain a 7-1 lead after two. Shores scored on an escape with 1:25 left in the match, but O’Keefe scored two more points to wrap up the 8-3 win.
“I didn’t want to lose to their first string guy and their second string guy,” O’Keefe said. “I was mad.”
O’Keefe, seeded fourth, ran into De La Salle’s Taylor Omania.
Omania scored a quick takedown, but O’Keefe worked a quick reverse, tying the match at 2 after one period.
Each wrestler registered an escape making it 3-all with 56 seconds left. O’Keefe had control of Omania, but didn’t get a takedown. Omania rallied and scored a takedown in the waning seconds of the match to win, 5-3.
O’Keefe suffered a hip injury on the last takedown. Coach Justin Shine argued to no avail that his wrestler deserved a takedown. Shine thought it should have been 5-all at the end of regulation.
“He (Omania) got my leg underneath,” O’Keefe said. “That’s why I didn’t get credit for the takedown. Pain was shooting up my leg.”
The CHS coaching staff was incensed about the referee’s decision.
Basa’s day, unfortunately, was over early.
“This shows I have to work a little harder,” Basa said. “I just have to keep working. I am happy I made it to the second day.”
Sumalong went up 2-0 with a first-period takedown, but Basa tied it with a takedown with 1:28 left in the second period. Neither wrestler scored in the third period or the first overtime period. In the second OT, Sumalong scored a 2-point near fall for a 4-2 lead. With two seconds left in the third overtime, Basa tied it at 4. Sumalong scored a takedown in the fourth OT to win it.
“In the first two overtimes I go as hard as I can, so I don’t have to go a third overtime,” Basa said. “If I don’t get that cradle in the third, I wouldn’t have gone to the fourth overtime.”
One consolation is that Basa is a junior and will have an opportunity to medal at next year’s tournament.