Don’t expect Westlake’s Peyton Burns to receive any invitations to the Bernstein household in Allen, Texas, for the holidays.

For the second consecutive year, Burns pulled out a dramatic, last-second win over a Bernstein in the 152-pound bracket at the state wrestling tournament. His 5-2 win over Ophir Bernstein of Allen Saturday at Austin’s Delco Center helped ease the pain of an unexpected second-round loss, and it triggered a run of three straight wins that gave Burns the bronze medal.

Burns stunned Eden Bernstein, Ophir’s older brother, a year ago with a late reversal to win the Chaps’ first gold medal in school history.

“I’m pretty sure they [the Bernsteins] are hating my guts right now,” Burns said with a smile. “I know they were talking a lot; I could hear his [Ophir’s] dad or brother in the stands. So this is for them.”

Senior classmate Sawyer Morris joined Burns on the podium with a third-place finish in the 160 division. Chase Betzer (130) and Trevor Hershey (171) both won their opening-round game match before suffering elimination, and Jim Gianakopoulous (140) dropped both of his matches.

As a team, Westlake completed the tournament tied for 11th place with 41 points. Allen won the team honors with 136.5 points.

Although his medal’s color couldn’t match the tinge of last year, it still suited Burns. The senior struggled at times this season as he carried the burden of being champion into every tournament.

Burns opened this year’s state meet with a pin win over Jake Clouter of Henderson but couldn’t find his rhythm in a 7-0 loss to Jeff Baker of Arlington Martin. Burns appeared tentative in the setback while displaying none of the quips and grins that usually mark his matches.

“I think that Peyton struggled some being a state champion,” Westlake coach Patrick O’Harra said. “He’s felt the pressure and hasn’t wrestled that great coming into this tournament.”

But the site of a Bernstein seemed to rejuvenate Burns. Facing elimination and a 2-0 deficit late in the third period against Ophir Bernstein in a consolation bracket matchup, Burns evened the score with a reversal and silenced the large gathering of Allen supporters perched above the mat.

Moments later, Burns caught Bernstein in a cradle and earned three more points as the clock ticked down.

“He [Bernstein] is a good wrestler, and I knew that I had to stay patient,” Burns said. “I just wrestled my match.”

Burns then held off Michael McKinney of Lewisville 1-0 and defeated Dusty Bess of South Grand Prairie 9-2 to win the bronze.

Morris, one of the meet favorites, plowed through his side of the bracket to reach the semifinals. He pinned Trevor Quick of Oak Ridge 37 seconds in their first-round match and outpointed Lupe Sillas of El Paso Bowie 7-2 to reach Saturday’s third round without a loss.

Eventual state champion Isaac Grieder of Lake Highlands, however, proved a handful. Refusing to get on the mat with Morris, the undefeated Grieder fended off a series of aggressive attacks from the Westlake buzzsaw for a 12-7 win.

“He [Greider] was just better on his feet than Sawyer,” O’Harra said. “Give him credit; he wrestled a smart match.”

Morris pinned Eric Sheldon of Arlington Martin and beat Lewisville’s Conner McKinney to finish third.

A series of tough breaks prevented Betzer from contending for a medal in a loaded 130 bracket. The senior, who finished fifth at 130 a year ago, rolled to a 9-0 win over Mitchell Senett of Fossil Ridge in the first round but saw his hopes of gold end with an 8-6 overtime setback to Jacob Ekster of Cypress Fairbanks. The winning point came on a controversial call that drew the ire of O’Harra and highlighted the minute difference between advancing and a defeat at the state meet; Ekster went on to win gold, while Betzer suffered another controversial loss in his first consolation match.
Betzer appeared bound for a sudden-death bout against El Paso Hanks’ Ryan Martinez, but an official granted Martinez a late control point that gave the Region I grappler a 3-2 win. O’Harra jumped up to debate the point while wielding a copy of the NCAA wrestling rules book, but the decision stood, and Betzer’s Westlake career ended after four trips to the state tournament.

“Chase had some tough breaks and some tough calls,” O’Harra said. “That was a terrible ruling at the end.”

Gianakopoulous lost by pinfall to El Paso Chapin’s Jordan Hildreth and fell 10-0 to Ryan Beckham of Arlington Bowie. Hershey won his opening match 7-3 over David Spicer of Liberty but had to withdraw after suffering a shoulder injury in a pin loss to Jose Alvarez of Hereford.