It was a special weekend for a young Buccaneer Wrestling team at the GMVWA Holiday Tournament at Vandalia-Butler High School. Not only did the young Buccs place 18th out of 46 teams at the tournament, Buccaneer coach Tom Barbee was inducted into the GMVWA Hall of Fame.
Coach Barbee’s induction was more than deserved considering he has been involved in Covington wrestling for over 30 years – 33 as head coach. He was there in the beginning and has built a program that has produced 26 state qualifiers, four state placers and a state champion.
Three of Barbee’s proteges found a place on the podium at the tournament – a tournament that fielded teams from all three divisions.
Here is how it shook out over the two-day tournament.
Friday, December 28, 2007
The Covington wrestling team put in a solid effort during the first day of the Holiday tournament at Vandalia-Butler as they finished the evening in 17th place out of 46 teams. Nine of the eleven starting wrestlers won matches on the day to give the Buccs a total of 58 team points.
Three wrestlers are still in the championship bracket and will wrestle in the quarterfinals on Saturday. At 130 lbs, Andrew DeHart earned a first round pin over Oak Hill’s Robby Merck, then upset the No. 3 seed, Adam Jacobs of Miamisburg, with a 13-5 major decision. He will face No. 6 seed, Adam Callahan of Carlisle.
At 152 lbs, Justin McMillion pinned Shadrack Brausch of Wilmington in his first bout, before advancing in the next round with a pin over Kyle Williams of Hillsboro. He faces the No. 3 seed, T.J. Rigel of Tecumseh.
Logan Hall, wrestling at 171 lbs, is the final Buccaneer in the championship bracket. Logan won his first bout with a pin over Luke Klosterman of Kenton Ridge, then found himself in a dogfight with Fairmont’s Jon Seitz – a returning district qualifier. The two battled back-and-forth, but Hall emerged victorious with a tight 8-7 decision. Logan will wrestle the No. 1 seed, Derrick Yant of Delta, next.
The only other Covington wrestler to advance to Saturday’s rounds is Josh McMillion (140 lbs). McMillion dropped his first bout to the No. 8 seed, Dillon Kwiat of Tiffen Calvert, before reeling off consecutive pins in the consolation bracket over Carlisle’s Christian McLaughlin and Sidney’s Thomas Minniear. Josh faces the No. 1 seed, Brian Peace of Ryle.
Matt Breisch (112 lbs) got the Buccs started off well with a 2-1 victory over Anthony Windsor of Wayne in a rat-tail match. He followed that up with a 10-5 victory over Isaac Bray of Wilmington. In his next bout, he dropped a 13-8 overtime decision to Greenview’s Tim Hoskins, the No. 7 seed, and couldn’t recover in time for his following bout – dropping a decision to Chris Heiss of Miami East.
Also winning bouts for the Buccs were Zach Shilt (103 lbs), Sam Herron (119 lbs), Aaron Devenport (145 lbs) and Jake Jennings (160 lbs). Freshman Tyler Tebbe (125 lbs) and Cory Ely (135 lbs) also got valuable experience in the tournament.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Covington wrestling team used a solid performance to give themselves a top-20 finish at the GMVWA Holiday tournament. The Buccs finished in 18th place out of 46 teams – their second highest finish at the tournament. Graham – the number one ranked team in the nation – won the event. The Buccaneers placed three wrestlers at the mega-tournament – the most for Covington since they entered the field four years ago. Freshman Andrew DeHart (130 lbs) finished in 4th place while seniors Logan Hall (171 lbs) and Justin McMillion (152 lbs) finished in 6th and 7th place, respectively.
In his quarterfinal bout, DeHart dropped a last-second 5-3 decision to Carlisle’s Adam Calahan to move to the consolations. He then put on an impressive performance on his way to an 11-0 major decision over Princeton’s Lee Cumberland, the no. 8 seed. In the consolation quarterfinals, DeHart made short work of Valley View’s Michael Land, earning a pin in 33 seconds. This set up a consolation semi-final bout with Hamilton’s Matt Scheve, the no. 5 seed. Andrew again put in a solid performance with a 12-4 major decision to advance to the consolation finals, but dropped his final bout to the no. 4 seed, Jesse Walker of Northmont, to finish in 4th place.
Covington’s Logan Hall also dropped his first bout of the day to the no.1 seed, Derrick Yant of Delta – a returning state placer. He then rebounded in his first consolation match with a 21-9 major decision over Dane Cope of Indian Lake, a returning district qualifier. In his consolation quarterfinal bout, Hall earned a hard fought 8-4 victory over the no. 4 seed, Mark Geter of Hamilton, a returning state qualifier. Logan then dropped his consolation semifinal bout to the no. 3 seed, Mason Reid of Ryle. Reid is Kentucky’s defending state champion at that weight. In his final match, Logan dropped a decision to Valley View’s state qualifier, Trey Michael, to finish in 6th place in arguably the deepest weight class in the tournament. The 171 lb. class included three state placers, six state qualifiers and nineteen district qualifiers.
At 152 lbs, Justin McMillion also dropped his first match of the day to Indian Lake’s T.J. Rigel, a returning state qualifier and district champ. McMillion then rebounded in his first consolation bout with a 17-5 major decision over Conner Coyle of Ryle. Justin lost a nail-biter in the consolation quarterfinals, dropping an 8-7 decision to Simon Kenton’s Ryan Vaughn. In his final match of the day, wrestling for 7th place, Justin pushed the action against Milton Union’s John King, the no. 8 seed. McMillion was leading 7-1 when his opponent was forced to default the match due to injury.
The lone wrestler for Covington that started the day in the consolation rounds was Josh McMillion (140 lbs). He drew the no. 1 seed, Bryan Peace of Ryle – a defending Kentucky state champ – in his first bout and was eliminated from the tournament.
