FEBRUARY 9, 2013 – COVINGTON
Covington’s High School and Jr. High teams both put in strong performances Saturday at the Covington Duals Invitational – each going undefeated on the day to claim first place at the event. The tournament – which features the Cross County Conference schools with wrestling, along with Lehman – is the Buccs’ final regular season competition.

Covington High School finished 5-0 overall, defeating runner-up Miami East, 52-24, in the final dual to improve their regular season dual meet record to 24-3. Miami East finished 4-1 overall, followed by Tri-County North (3-2), Twin Valley South (3-2), Lehman (1-4), National Trail (1-3) and Arcanum (0-5).

The Buccs were dominating on the mats, winning 41 of their 44 individual matches wrestled, excluding forfeits. Covington defeated Arcanum, 58-0, Twin Valley South, 65-6, Tri-County North, 51-30, and Lehman, 66-6. Twelve of Covington’s fifteen competing wrestlers went undefeated in the duals.

Going 5-0 were Connor Ryan (106), Ryan Ford (126, 4 pins), Brock Smith (138, 5 pins), Daniel Jennings (145, 2 pins), Jake Sowers (152), Kyler Deeter (160, 4 pins) and Brian Olson (195, 4 pins). In his final bout of the day, Jake Sowers earned his 100th career victory. Also during the tournament, Ryan Ford broke the school record for single season takedowns and now has 251 thus far. He broke the prior mark of 234 held by state champion Logan Brown in 2006.

Covington’s other undefeated wrestlers included Justin Daniel (220, 4-0, 2 pins), Cole Smith (152/160, 3-0, 2 pins), Ben Miller (170, 2-0), A.J. Ouellette (182, 2-0, 1 pin) and Alex Fries (170, 1-0, 1 pin). Finishing with just one loss were Michael Cox (113, 4-1), Brandon Magee (170, 2-1) and Ian Fries (220, 1-1, 1 pin).

Covington Jr. High also went 5-0 on the day, earning a close 33-27 victory over runner-up Twin Valley South (4-1). Lehman (3-2) finished third, followed by National Trail (2-3), Miami East (1-4) and Arcanum (0-5). The Buccs defeated National Trail, 36-30, Miami East, 34-21, Arcanum, 48-12, and Lehman, 45-21.

Going 5-0 for the Jr. High were Jared Ford (92, 1 pin), Josh Sowers (104, 2 pins), Deron White (134, 3 pins), Levi Brown (142, 2 pins) and Luke Grieshop (245). Nick Risner (86) and Joey Schmelzer (116, 2 pins) each went 3-2 overall, while Ross Bowman (122) and C.J. Lanford (205) also won matches for the Buccs. This concludes the jr. high season, other than those competing at the Jr. High District tournament.

Covington High School competes next at the Division 3 sectional wrestling tournament at Lehman high school on Friday and Saturday, February 15-16.