December 4, 2007 – OAKWOOD
The Covington Buccaneer wrestling team kicked off their season with a nail biter as they traveled down to Oakwood to face the host Lumberjacks. The young Buccs dropped their first bout at 189 lbs. as Chris Klingensmith earned a fall over Steven Ray. Bumping up to wrestle 215, Covington’s Logan Hall answered with a number of takedowns before pinning Matt Suits to even the team score 6-6. At 285 lbs, Charlie Bruyere, wrestling in his first bout, came out strong for the Buccs, but eventually fell to Jake Horlacher. Oakwood would make it two in a row, as Kevin Lee (103) got the best of Zach Shilt with a fall to extend their lead to 18-6.
Matt Breisch (112) got a little momentum going for Covington in a battle of returning district qualifiers with a hard-fought 5-1 decision over Daniel Jacobs. Ben Wilson then picked up a forfeit at 119 lbs. to bring Covington closer, 15-18. At 125 lbs, Oakwood’s Brandon Bustillo, another returning district qualifier pinned Tyler Tebbe to extend Oakwood’s lead to 24-15. Andrew DeHart helped to turn things around for the Buccs at 130 lbs. In the marquee match of the evening, DeHart, a jr. high state placer last season faced Oakwood’s returning district placer, Paul Hochwalt, and controlled the match throughout three periods en route to a 7-2 victory.
The Lumberjacks would answer at 135 lbs, as Kordic Jameson turned a one-point bout with Cory Ely into a victory by fall to extend Oakwood’s lead to 30-18. Covington’s Dylan Gustin (140) got the Buccs back on track with a first period pin over Will LeBoeuf to narrow the score to 30-24. The McMillion brothers followed suit in the next two bouts as Josh (145) and Justin (152) both earned second period falls for the Buccs over Brian Huey and Josh Hootman, respectively to give Covington their first lead of the night, 36-30.
At 160 lbs, Jake Jennings secured the victory for Covington by extending the team score to 42-30 with a first period pin over Oakwood’s Daniel Kendig. In the final bout of the evening, Covington’s Josh Shefbuch built up a 4-0 lead over Oakwood’s Daniel Pohlman before giving up a defensive pin while trying to earn near fall points. This brought the final score to 42-36 in what turned out to be the closest dual between the schools since they began squaring off in 2003.
In Jr. High action, the Buccs found the going tough as they dropped their dual with the Lumberjacks, 61-17. Covington started off strong at 80 lbs as Brock Smith earned a couple takedowns and a near fall before pinning Daniel Ehler. At 86 lbs, Covington’s Justin Millhouse found himself down 6-0 before rebounding to earn a victory by fall over Mike Flood. Jonathan Unger followed suit for Covington at 92 lbs with a dominating 15-0 technical fall over Steven Harrell.
From this point on, things got tough for the Buccs. At the next two weights, both Jacob Sowers (104) and Kyler Deeter (110) wrestled well and battled hard, but found themselves on the short end in their matches, losing 10-12, and 5-7, respectively. Covington failed to pick up a victory in the final bouts, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Competing in these matches were Jordan McIntosh (116), Mac Stark (122), Alex Bitner (128), Brian Olson (134), Kyle Oda (142), Ben Sherman (150) and Cody Minnich (160).
