Tuesday, December 06, 2011
The Covington High School and Jr. High wrestling teams opened their dual meet seasons in impressive fashion as both earned convincing victories over visiting Oakwood squads. The Jr. High Buccaneers used ten individual victories to cruise to a 60-18 win over the Lumberjacks, while Covington’s High School team followed with a 49-11 victory.
Covington’s returning state placer Kyler Deeter started things off for the high school at 145 lbs, earning seven takedowns and a near fall before pinning Robert Popp. Jake Sowers (152) and Ben Miller (160) then received forfeits for the Buccs before teammate A.J. Ouellette (170) overwhelmed Rocco Baker, pinning his opponent in the second period. Covington picked up two more forfeits by Garrett Shafer (182) and Brian Olson (195) before Jordan Wolfe (285) fell in his bout to Cameron Wedding.
Matt Carder (120) returned the momentum to Covington as he came out strong with a quick takedown and near fall before eventually pinning Emerson Calaway. At 126 lbs, Bryton Lear had an exciting match with Oakwood’s Steven Harrell and managed to pull out a tight 11-10 win. Oakwood picked up their second win of the dual as Dustin Freeman (132) dropped his bout to Mason Kooser. Covington’s Brock Smith (138) then finished strong, earning an 11-2 major decision over Daniel Ehler.
In Jr. High Action, there were a number of exciting, evenly-matched bouts, but the Buccs were able to come out with a win the majority of the time. Five Covington wrestlers earned pins during the dual. Deron White (122) found himself tied 4-4 to start the second period, but earned a quick reversal and the fall. Ian Fries (172) then earned the quick finish of the night with an 8-second pin.
Josh Sowers (92) came from behind to take the lead against a solid wrestler and earn a second-period fall, while teammate Ross Bowman (98) wrestled an exciting match to earn the first pin of his young career. Branden Robinson (110) secured Covington’s final pin of the dual in the first period after picking up a couple of nice takedowns.
Winning by forfeit for Covington were Tristan Francis (128), Jayden Nicely (134), Brandon Magee (160), Chandler Sampson (205) and Jacob Buchanan (86). Also competing hard and wrestling well for the Buccs were Dakota Zell (150) and Izaiah Brandon (80).
Covington high school travels to the Northeastern Invitational on Friday, while the jr. high competes next at the Tipp City Duals on Saturday, Dec. 17.
