Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Covington High School and Jr. High wrestling teams put in strong performances at the Covington Duals Invitational on Saturday. The tournament, which includes all Cross-County Conference teams plus Lehman, was sponsored and assisted by the U.S. Army, who got to witness one of their next recruits in action as Covington senior and four-year starter Tyler Tebbe helped lead the Buccs to their fifth consecutive title. The Buccs placed 1st amongst the seven schools, which included runner-up Tri-County North, along with Miami East (3rd), Arcanum (4th), Twin Valley South (5th), National Trail (6th) and Lehman (7th).

Covington opened with a 41-24 victory over Arcanum and followed up with a 64-6 victory over National Trail. They then defeated Miami East, 60-24, and Twin Valley South, 57-12, before facing Tri-County North for the championship and winning 48-18.

Going undefeated for the Buccs were Bryton Lear (119, 3-0), Brock Smith (125, 5-0, 1 pin), Kyler Deeter (130, 5-0, 1 pin), Sam Angle (145, 5-0, 2 pins), Andrew DeHart (152, 5-0, 4 pins), Dalton Bordelon (152, 2-0), A.J. Ouellette (160, 4-0, 2 pins) and Brian Olson (171, 5-0, 1 pin). Finishing 4-1 were Brandon Flora (135, 1 pin), Tyler Tebbe (140, 2 pins) and Justin Daniel (189), while Cody Adams (215) went 2-2.

There were a number of highlight matches when the Buccs faced Tri-County North and Arcanum. Olson picked up two key victories with a 7-3 decision over Arcanum’s Dustin Shiverdecker and an exciting 3-1 overtime victory over Tri-County North’s Jacob Schlater. Tebbe led, but eventually dropped a decision to Arcanum’s state placer Jerod Beatty, while Flora split his highlight matches – dropping a decision to Taylor Loxley of Arcanum, but picking up a major decision over Nick Wirrig of Tri-County North.

The final bout of the tournament featured Covington’s Kyler Deeter and Tri-County North’s three-time district qualifier and former state alternate Jacob Huffman. Each wrestler entered the match with only 2 losses on their records and the first period went as expected with Huffman picking up a takedown and Deeter earning a reversal to tie the score 2-2. The next two periods were all Deeter, however, as he racked up 15 consecutive points and stormed to a 17-2 technical fall victory.

Other wrestlers winning matches for Covington were D.J. Jennings (130), Alex Fries (140), Alex Bitner (145) and Jake Sowers (152). Also competing for the Buccs were Zach Shilt (125), Kody Von Aschen (130) and Gage Looker (160).

In Jr. High action, Covington finished in 2nd place out of 6 teams, dropping the championship dual to Tri-County North, despite winning five of the six matches wrestled. Going undefeated for Covington were Cole Smith (142, 5-0, 4 pins), Brandon Magee (160, 4-0, 1 pin) and Chase Hinnegan (160, 1-0). Matt Carder (110, 3 pins), Ben Miller (150, 3 pins) and Ian Fries (172, 1 pin) each finished 4-1 overall, while Alex Schilling (116, 2 pins) went 3-2 on the day.

Covington competes next at the Division 3 Sectional tournament held at Lehman High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-19. There are 20 schools competing at the event and the top four in each weight advance to the District tournament.