1998-99 COVINGTON BUCCANEERS

1998-99 BUCCANEERS: Front Row (L-R) – B.J. Owens, Doug Apple, Justin Bone, Ryan Clark, Jeremy Thompson. Second Row (L-R) – Steve Batdorf, Ben Clark, Patrick Gibson, Scott Batdorf. Top Row (L-R) – Coach Tom Barbee, Eric Speer, Scot Fetters, Marty Finfrock, Brandon Owens, Asst. Coach Eric Vanderhorst.

Tom Barbee returned to coach Buccaneer wrestling after nine successful seasons under the direction of Jack Schwamberger, who was the head coach at Covington for 16 combined years in two separate tenures. Schwamberger coached the Buccs from 1974 to 1980 and then again from 1990 through 1998 and in the process had 12 individual wrestlers qualify for state.

Barbee, along with first-year assistant coach and former two-time state qualifier Eric Vanderhorst, kept the Buccaneer tradition rolling by sending three wrestlers to the state meet – the most in one year since three wrestlers qualified in 1987. The three wrestlers who qualified for state were Scott Batdorf (145 pounds), Brandon Owens (160 pounds) and Scot Fetters (215 pounds). It was the second straight state appearance for Fetters, who also qualified for state a year ago.

Scot Fetters won a Sectional Championship and finished runner-up at Districts to advance to state, while Scott Batdorf and Brandon Owens finished third at Districts to qualify for state.

As a team, the Buccaneers compiled a 16-5 record in dual meets, a 46-20 record in tournaments and an overall record of 62-25.

BUCCANEERS IN ACTION