The Covington Buccaneer wrestling team treated their parents to a special evening Thursday night during their tri meet with Cross County Conference rivals Twin Valley South and National Trail. First, the wrestlers and statisticians honored their parents, presenting them with flowers and thanking them for their guidance and support. Then, they went out and won both of their duals in convincing fashion, first defeating Twin Valley South by the score of 80 to 0, and following up with a 74-6 triumph over National Trail. This capped off an undefeated dual meet record versus CCC opponents, earning the Buccs an unofficial league championship.
Twelve wrestlers went 2-0 on the evening including Sam Herron (103 lbs, 1 pin), Jordan Tebbe (112 lbs), Jake Jennings (119 lbs, 1 technical fall), Quentin Layman (125 lbs), Richie Watkins (135 lbs), Justin McMillion (140 lbs, 1 pin), Ryan White (145 lbs, 1 pin), Bobby Wiltshire (152 lbs), Brian Ely (171 lbs, 1 pin), Logan Brown (189 lbs), Jake Wise (215 lbs, 1 pin) and C.J. Potter (275 lbs, 1 pin).
Additionally, Logan Hall and Nick Christian split time at 160 lbs, each going 1-0 and earning a pin over their opponent, while Jesse Pearson (130 lbs) finished 1-1. Unfortunately, three of the Buccs varsity wrestlers – Tebbe, Layman and Brown – received forfeits from the other squads and were unable to get any live wrestling in.
There was plenty of action in between rounds, however. While the Trail Blazers and Panthers competed, the Covington wrestlers hosted a free poster signing in the high school cafeteria for the youth wrestlers and other fans. The team poster signing was a big hit as the line stretched around the cafeteria and into the hallway. In all, the wrestlers gave their parents a very memorable evening.
In jr. high action, the Buccs faced off with CCC favorite Twin Valley South, but fed off the energy from the high school squad and defeated the Panthers, 48-27, despite bumping up eight wrestlers into higher weight classes to maximize the number of matches wrestled. The Buccs didn’t let their lack of size hinder them as they won six of these eight matches plus two others to earn a convincing victory. Winning their bouts were Sam Angle (80 lbs, 1 pin), Lon Bitner (86 lbs), Brandon Flora (92 lbs, 1 pin), Cory Ely (98 lbs, 1 pin), Ben Wilson (104 lbs), Andrew DeHart (110 lbs), Tyler Tebbe (116 lbs) and Joe Evans (160 lbs, 1 pin). At 122 lbs, Josh McMillion dropped a tight 7-6 decision while Aaron Devenport (128 lbs) and Nick Adams (142 lbs) lost by fall. In reserve action at 80 lbs, Zach Shilt was on fire as he earned a couple of takedowns and near fall before pinning his opponent in the second period.
This concludes the regular jr. high season, while the high school team will host the Sectional tournament at Covington High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18.
