JANUARY 22, 2014 – COVINGTON
Covington’s high school wrestling team put in a dominant performance on Wednesday, advancing through the first three rounds of the Regional dual meet tournament in impressive fashion. The Buccs received a bye in the first round as they watched Troy Christian defeat Triad, 34-20. Covington then defeated Troy Christian, 58-18, to advance to the Regional Quarterfinals against West Jefferson who bested Northeastern, 57-20. The Buccs put in a strong performance once again, triumphing over the Roughriders, 58-18, to improve their dual meet record to 22-0.
Covington started in the strength of Troy Christian’s lineup as Coleman Ryan (113) was pinned by Michael Sergent, before Josh Sowers (120) tied things up after receiving a forfeit. The Eagles would earn another pin as Garrett Hancock defeated Branden Robinson (126). The Buccs got on a roll after that, winning ten of the final eleven bouts.
Jarred Ganger (132) pinned Caleb Hoskins, followed by an exciting 8-6 victory by Ryan Ford (138) over Cody Ohnmeiss. Ross Bowman (145) then received a forfeit before Deron White (152) pinned Jordan Strine. Troy Christian would then win their final bout with a pin by Scott Douglas over Logan Fields (160).
Ben Miller (170) then earned a 14-6 major decision over Levi Sims, followed by a 6-4 decision by Brandon Magee (182) over Tristan Devlin. In the last match wrestled, A.J. Ouellette (195) pinned Brandon Swihart, before forfeits were received by Justin Daniel (195), Jordan Wolfe (285) and Connor Ryan (106).
Against West Jefferson, the Buccs got off to a 22-0 lead and never looked back. Josh Sowers (120) pinned Anthony Sabin, followed by Branden Robinson’s 10-2 major decision victory over Damir Pereria at 126 lbs. Michael Cox (132) then received a forfeit before Jarred Ganger (138) earned a 6-1 victory over Zander Wright. Ryan Ford (145) then picked up a strong 8-2 victory over Cody Dingess.
The Roughriders responded with consecutive pins by Ricky Ratcliff and Josh Doherty over Deron White (152) and Logan Fields (160) respectively. Ben Miller (170) answered with a pin over Steven Flucke, before A.J. Ouellette (182) received a forfeit. Justin Daniel (195) then picked up a key pin over Louis Weymss, who bumped up to avoid Ouellette. Ian Fries (220) then fell after wrestling in a tight match with Carter Harris – the no. 2 ranked wrestler in the state.
At 285 lbs, Jordan Wolfe picked up a pin over Brian Kirk before the Ryan twins – Connor (106) and Coleman (113) finished things off with consecutive pins over David Staten and Joseph Benedict.
Covington will host the Regionals Semi Finals and Finals on Wednesday, January 29. In the meantime, the varsity travels to the 40-team Lima Central Catholic Invitational this weekend, while the reserve team travels to the Vandalia-Butler JV tournament.
