SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2004
Filling just 11 of 14 weight classes, the Buccs wrestled solidly throughout the tournament and fell just short of second place, falling a mere 2 pts. behind runner-up Ayersville. A strong Coldwater team won the Invitational. In all, Covington had eight placers, with a couple of nice surprises.
Bobby Wiltshire (140 lbs.) and Logan Brown (215 lbs.) were both crowned tournament champions, as each upset the no. 1 seed in their weight class. Leading by just one point in the third period vs. Delphos Jefferson‚s Cody Hoehn, Wiltshire pancaked and pinned his opponent for his first tournament championship. Brown, who was wrestling up a weight class, would later use numerous takedowns to earn a convincing 10-5 victory over Ayersville‚s Nick Girlie, a returning state qualifier. Both Bucc wresters finished with 5-0 records with Wiltshire getting four pins and Brown, three.
At 189 lbs., Brian Ely dropped a tough 7-3 decision to Coldwater‚s Kyle Uhlenhake to take second place with a 4-1 record and 2 pins. Also finishing in second place, at 112 lbs., was Jordan Tebbe who earned 4 pins and a 4-1 record. C.J. Potter, who once again struggled to make the minimum weight of 210 lbs. for heavyweight, finished in third place with a 3-1 record and 3 pins.
Due to the modified pool format of the tournament, certain criteria, such as total team points, determined who would wrestle for first, third or fifth in a given weight class. Freshman Logan Hall got the short end of the stick as he was placed in the fifth place bout after losing a last-second decision to the eventual tournament champion, Travis Hussey of Ayersville. Hall came through however to take fifth with a 15-6 decision over Van Wert‚s Craig Hershy to finish with a 4-1 record and 2 pins.
At 135 lbs, Justin McMillion finished in fourth place with a 3-2 record and 1 pin, while Ryan Vanderhorst placed fifth in the 152 lb. class with a 3-2 record and 2 pins. At 160 lbs., Kyle Chalmers earned 2 pins and a 2-2 record, while at 171 lbs., Jake Wise went 0-4, but continued to improve. At 125 lbs., the entire crowd of spectators erupted into cheers when Japanese exchange student, Ienobu Kaneko reversed his opponent from Columbus Grove to earn his first pin ever. Kaneko finished with a 1-3 record.
The Buccs have two upcoming meets, one home and one away. The first is this Thursday, Dec. 16, at 6:00 pm at Urbana with Oakwood. The Buccs then have a home meet at 6 pm on Friday, Dec. 17, at the high school versus Troy and Tri-County North.
Final Team Scores: Coldwater (298.5), Ayersville (202), Covington (200), Spencerville (188.5), Wayne Trace (160), Delphos Jefferson (148), Fairview (137.5), Lincolnview (78), Van Wert (74), Sandusky St. Mary‚s Central Catholic (64.5), Bluffton (58.5), Columbus Grove (21).
