Covington is coming off its most successful dual meet season in school history. The team finished with the first undefeated, un-tied campaign, battling to a perfect 29-0 dual meet record. Along the way, the team defeated a number of outstanding teams including sectional runner-up Oakwood, sectional champion and district runner-up Mechanicsburg, and a Dixie squad that finished third in the invitation-only state duals. The Buccs also defeated strong teams in Troy, Coldwater, Arcanum and Versailles. In addition to their dual meet success, Covington also achieved outstanding tournament results – winning the Northeastern and Troy Invitationals, finishing second at Ben Logan and finishing 17th out of 47 teams at the GMVWA Holiday tournament despite being the smallest school in the competition.

The Buccs lost five strong wrestlers to graduation – Matt Breisch, Dylan Gustin, Josh McMillion, Aaron Devenport and Josh Shefbuch – who combined for eight district tournament appearances and 432 individual wins over their careers. Despite this loss, the team returns some talented athletes, including a three-time state-placer, four district qualifiers and nine returning lettermen.

The Buccs are led by seniors Sam Angle, Andrew DeHart, Brandon Flora, Zach Shilt, and Tyler Tebbe. DeHart became Covington’s first three-time state placer with a runner-up finish at state last season. Both Angle and Flora are returning district qualifiers – Angle qualifying the past two years. Tebbe is a three-year letterman and district alternate, while Shilt returns to the team after wrestling as a freshman. There are two new additions to the team in juniors Michael Deaton and Cody Minnich.

The sophomore class includes Cody Adams, Alex Bitner, Cody Burton, Kyler Deeter, Bryton Lear, Gage Looker, Brian Olson, Brock Smith, Jake Sowers and Kody Von Aschen. Deeter is a returning district qualifier, while Olson and Smith are district alternates. Lear and Sowers are returning lettermen, while Burton, Looker and Von Aschen are new to the team.

Rounding out the roster are freshmen Dalton Bordelon, Justin Daniel, Alex Fries, D.J. Jennings and A.J. Ouellette.

The Buccs look forward to competing with the mix of Division 1, 2 and 3 teams that are on their schedule. Covington returns to the challenging GMVWA Holiday tournament and will compete in the Northeastern, Versailles, Troy and Ben Logan Invitationals. The Buccs will once again square off with some of the top dual-meet teams in the western part of the state, including Mechanicsburg, Brookville, Coldwater, Troy, Oakwood and Versailles. Additionally, the JV team will travel to some very competitive reserve meets including Greenville, Preble Shawnee, Versailles and Sidney.

Covington has home meets with Miami East, Tipp City, Troy, Coldwater, Lehman and Versailles and will once again host the Covington Duals tournament – which includes their Cross County Conference rivals, along with Lehman – where they hope to defend the first-place finishes they claimed the past four years. This season, the Buccs will travel to Lehman high school for the Division 3 sectional tournament – whose participants have proven to be the most successful among all divisions in Ohio at the state tournament over the past few years.