DECEMBER 28, 2013 – DAYTON
The Covington wrestling team put together a memorable performance at the 2013 GMVWA Holiday Tournament over the weekend, finishing 3rd as a team in the small school division and 8th out of 53 teams overall. It was Covington’s highest team placement ever in the tournament.
And the Buccaneers accomplished this with a complete team effort as all but two of the Buccaneer wrestlers earned valuable team points with victories.
Leading the way for the Buccs were tournament placers Ryan Ford, A.J. Ouellette and Daniel Jennings. Ford took runner-up at 132 pounds despite battling a sprained ankle suffered on the first day.
Ford opened the second day with an 11-3 major decision victory over Blake Sittloh of Eaton and then advanced to the championship bout with an 11-9 victory over Brandon Selmon of Princeton.
In Ford’s championship bout against Grant Aycox of Archer, Georgia, the Buccaneer sophomore struggled finishing his patent takedown attempts as the seasoned Aycox was able to counter his way to a 12-4 win.
Ouellette placed third at 195 pounds as he rebounded from a 4-2 overtime defeat in the championship semifinals to pin James Ritchie of Carlisle in the consolation semifinal and then defeat Kyle Dieringer of Versailles by the score of 5-2.
Daniel Jennings took fourth at 152 pounds as he stuck Jack Dorne of Ryle in the first period of their quarterfinal bout, but was unfortunately caught on his back by Graham’s Garrett Jordan in the championship semifinal.
Jennings rebounded to pin Joe Miller of Wayne in 57 seconds to advance to the consolation final against Picherington Central’s Aaron Yager. Unfortunately, Jennings dropped the bout via tech fall, 15-0.
Wrestling very well, but falling just short of placing was sophomore 106-pounder Connor Ryan. After winning his first two matches on Friday, Ryan faced top seed and eventual champion Justin Stickely of Graham in the championship quarterfinal.
And Ryan gave Stickely all he could handle and then some, but eventually gave up a series of points late in the match to fall 8-2.
Ryan’s tournament ended in his next match against Brady Wells of Campbell County, Kentucky by the score of 12-4.
Friday the Buccaneers put themselves into position to make a good run at a high team placement with stellar efforts across the board.
Connor Ryan (106) started things off well for the Buccs with a first round pin over Jakaria Hossan of Dublin Coffman, followed by a 3-1 decision over Jensen Quinn of Lakota West to advance to the quarterfinals. He will face Graham’s Justin Stickley.
He was joined by teammate Ryan Ford (132) who opened with an 11-4 major decision over Mitch Case of Springboro in the championship rattail, followed by a 14-second pin over Hunter Swingley of Bellefontaine in round one. Ford then picked up a 14-5 major decision over Defiance’s Ricky Barajas to advance to the quarterfinals where he will face Blake Sittloh of Eaton.
Daniel Jennings (152) also went undefeated on the day with consecutive pins over Willy Plaisir of Dublin Coffman and Anthony Lang of Lebanon. He will face Jack Dorn of Ryle in the quarters.
A.J. Ouellette (195) strung together 3 consecutive wins to join his three teammates. Ouellette opened with an 18-5 major decision over Julian Little of Springboro, followed by a pin over Charlie Jockers of Wapakoneta. He then earned an 8-2 decision over Brandon Swihart of Troy Christian. He will face Carroll’s Cassidy Stevens in the quarterfinals.
The other competing Covington wrestlers picked up some nice victories during the day before seeing their tournaments come to an end. Branden Robinson (126) earned a solid 6-4 victory over Troy’s district qualifier Mason Perkins, while Lance Miller (138) picked up a pin over Van Wert’s Jacob Crisenbery. Alex Fries (160) pinned Nicholas Riley of Carroll, while Ben Miller (182) earned a nice 7-4 victory over Matt Kennedy of Glen Este. Also competing for the Buccs were Deron White (145) and Justin Daniel (220).
