Sectionals – Friday Night
Covington finished the first night of sectionals in ninth place out of sixteen teams with 27.5 points. Versailles is currently in first with 80 points, followed by Miami East (66.5). The Buccs advanced two wrestlers to the semifinals as Ritchie Watkins advanced with a bye before upsetting the number four seed, Josh Miller of Northeastern, by a pin in 50 seconds. Logan Brown also advanced with pins over Cody Snider of Miami East and Allen Wagner of Springfield Catholic Central. Covington’s 171 lber., sophomore Brian Ely, who earned the third seed with a 30-11 record, was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury sustained at Versailles the past weekend.
Ben Adams (145), a second seed, and Mitchell Herron (119), a third seed, were both upset in the second round, before advancing in the consolation rounds. Three other Buccaneer grapplers are also alive in the consolations. 130 lber. Ryan White lost to #2 seed Wes Kief of Miami East, before defeating John Rorrer of Dayton Christian, 18-4. At 135 lbs., Bobby Wiltshire dropped his opening match to #1 seed Jacob Gambill of Miami East, before defeating David Coons of Versailles, 4-1. Ezra Mohler (275) will also continue wrestling in the consolation bracket after losing to #2 seed Brad Laughman of Miami East.
Two Covington wrestlers saw their season’s come to an end. At 152, Justin Owens dropped two bouts, but wrestled well in both matches, especially considering this is his first year wrestling. At 215, C.J. Potter won in the first round with a pin over Rusty Klinger of National Trail, before dropping his next two matches to #2 seed, Mark Keiser of Versailles, and to Shane Marker of Tri-County North.
Sectionals – Saturday Night
Covington finished in ninth place out of 16 teams with 71 points. Versailles won the tournament (225.5), followed by Miami East (167) and Mechanicsburg (114). Two Buccaneer wresters advanced to the District tournament, while three other wrestlers placed in the top six. Logan Brown advanced with a second place finish at 189 lbs., falling to Eric Wright of Tri-County North in the finals. He will be joined by Mitchell Herron (119) who avenged a second-round loss by defeating Nick Huffman of Tri-County North, 12-7, to take third place.
Ezra Mohler (275) came very close to a district berth, losing an overtime decision in the consolation semi-finals to Gerald McWhorter of Northeastern in the go-to bout. He came back to earn the alternate spot by finishing in fifth place with a 30 second pin over Josh Ellinger of West Liberty Salem. Ritchie Watkins (125) also earned an alternate spot by defeating Josh Miller of Northeastern with a 31 second pin to take fifth place. After picking up a couple of wins in the consolation bracket, Bobby Wiltshire placed sixth, dropping an 8-4 decision to Charlie Boystel of Triad. Ryan White (130) and Ben Adams (145) fell in the consolation bracket prior to the consolation semi-finals.
The District wrestling tournament will be held at Xenia High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20 and 21.
