Despite being depleted of all of their weapons, the Covington Buccaneers finished the day in fifth place at the Miami East Invitational. Miami East (5-0) won the tournament, Madison Plains (4-1) was second, Dixie (3-2) third, Northwestern (2-3) fourth and Springfield Shawnee (0-5) fifth.

To start the invitational, the Buccs were missing 3 wrestlers due to various reasons. To top it off, the Buccs’ 171 pounder, Brian Ely had to pull out after his first match due to the flu. Showing heart and determination, Ely won his only match of the invitational before it was determined he was too ill to continue to wrestle the rest of the day.

The depleted Covington roster lost to Dixie, 28-38 in round one, then lost to Northwestern, 27-51, and Madison Plains, 26-50, before defeating Springfield Shawnee, 42-37. The Buccs dropped their final dual to Miami East, 13-52.

Despite a disappointing team finish, a number of Covington wrestlers had success. Logan Brown went 5-0 with 2 pins at 189, upping his season record to 29-1. At 119, Mitchell Herron wrestled to a 4-1 record with 1 pin. Brandon Hartzell also finished 4-1 at 145 lbs., with 1 pin. At 215, C.J. Potter went 3-2 on the day.

The Buccs travel to the Ben Logan Invitational on Saturday (1/24).