To most sophomore wrestlers, a trip to the state meet is a dream that seems so far off. But, to Logan Brown, it’s a dream realized.

Logan earned a trip to the 2004 state wrestling tournament after one of the best individual seasons in school history. The sophomore 189 pounder won a school record 49 matches with only 5 defeats to make it to state. Along the way he recorded 31 pins, another school record.

The competition at state is always stiff, but in Logan’s case, it was brutile. Eleven of the sixteen wrestlers in his weight class were seniors, including three returning state placers. Three wrestlers were juniors and only two sophomores, including Logan, rounded out the 189 lb. bracket.

Looking to get the nurves out of the way in the opening round, Logan was dissappointed to learn he would have to wait until day 2 to wrestle. His scheduled opponent, Bobby Samsa of Shadyside had to pull out of the tournament due to a skin condition, giving Logan a bye in the first round.

Logan began the second day by taking on eventual state runner-up, R.J. Hickey of Elyria. After wrestling much of the match even with Hickey, Logan was caught in a 5-point move, which eventually cost him a 9-2 decision loss. Hickey would go to finish second after a 3-2 loss to Larry Reichard of New Albany in the championship match.

This moved Brown into the consolation bracket where he wrestled Dave Schlack of Carey. In a largely defensive battle, Brown lost a 1-0 decision to Schlack as he was unable to get an escape in the third period to tie the match and put it into overtime.

All the while, back in Covington folks were keeping tabs on Logan via the internet and word of mouth. Word traveled fast of the results as the basketball team prepared to face Botkins in the sectionals at Piqua High School. Despite the narrow defeats, everyone who knows Logan is convinced he’ll get another shot at state in the next two years.

“This kid is special,” said one supporter. “He’s the type of kid that will bust his tail to get back there. This was a good learning experience for him and it will make him want it more. You wait, Logan will be back there (at state) again.”

“I wish I could have went over there to support him,” said another. “I tell ya, it’s obvious he wrestled pretty darn good. To lose 9-2 to the state runner-up is nothing to hang your head about. Also, he was only one move from advancing in his consolation match. If he gets an escape or a takedown, who knows, Logan may have placed. Everyone at state is so equal. It doesn’t take much to separate the placers from the non-placers.”

Logan finishes his sophomore season with a 49-7 record. Three of his losses came at the hands of a 3rd place state finisher and one of his losses came to the state runner-up.

Not bad for a kid still learning and growing.

State Results at 189 lbs. (Round 1)
Eric Wright, Lewisburg Tri-County N. pin Lucas Sullivan, Gnadenhutten Indian Va. 2:40
Josh Kerchmar, Wellington dec. Eric Haubert, Sycamore Mohawk 4-3
Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw dec. Dave Schlack, Carey 7-4
Larry Reichard, New Albany pin Jesse Trimble, Day. Northridge 0:52
R.J. Hickey, Elyria Cath. over Josh Gracia, Archbold default
Logan Brown, Covington – advanced with a bye
David Jones, Williamsport Westfall pin Jessie Groff, Magnolia Sandy Valley 1:56
Jesse DeWeese, Burton Berkshire maj. dec. Tony Brown, Kansas Lakota 20-7

Consolation Round One at 189 lbs.
Eric Haubert, Sycamore Mohawk dec. Lucas Sullivan, Gnadenhutten Indian Va. 9-2
Dave Schlack, Carey pin Jesse Trimble, Day. Northridge 0:59
Josh Gracia, Archbold) advanced with Byebye
Jessie Groff, Magnolia Sandy Valley pin Tony Brown, Kansas Lakota 2:57

State Results at 189 lbs. (Round 2)
Eric Wright, Lewisburg Tri-County N. pin Josh Kerchmar, Wellington 0:58
Larry Reichard, New Albany dec. Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw 5-0
R.J. Hickey, Elyria Cath. dec. Logan Brown, Covington 9-2
Jesse DeWeese, Burton Berkshire dec. David Jones, Williamsport Westfall 3-2

Consolation Round Two at 189 lbs.
David Jones, Williamsport Westfall dec. Eric Haubert, Sycamore Mohawk 3-1 OT
Dave Schlack, Carey dec. Logan Brown, Covington 1-0
Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw tech. fall Josh Gracia, Archbold 17-2
Josh Kerchmar, Wellington pin Jessie Groff, Magnolia Sandy Valley 1:27

Championship Semifinals at 189 lbs. (Round 3)
Larry Reichard, New Albany dec. Eric Wright, Lewisburg Tri-County N. 8-2
R.J. Hickey, Elyria Cath. dec. Jesse DeWeese, Burton Berkshire 8-2

Consolation Quarterfinals at 189 lbs.
David Jones, Williamsport Westfall dec. Dave Schlack, Carey 8-2
Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw maj. dec. Josh Kerchmar, Wellington 12-4

Consolation Semifinals at 189 lbs.
Eric Wright, Lewisburg Tri-County N. pin David Jones, Williamsport Westfall 1:56
Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw dec. Jesse DeWeese, Burton Berkshire 5-4

Fifth Place Finals at 189 lbs.
David Jones, Williamsport Westfall dec. Jesse DeWeese, Burton Berkshire 4-2

Third Place Finals at 189 lbs.
Eric Wright, Lewisburg Tri-County N. over Ryan Oxford, Massillon Tuslaw default

First Place Finals at 189 lbs.
Larry Reichard, New Albany dec. R.J. Hickey, Elyria Cath. 3-2