It was a historic season for the Covington wrestling program as it set a new standard of success with five state qualifiers, four state placers and a state champion in 2014. Plus, the team won a sectional championship, a district runner-up trophy in the individual tournament, a regional runner-up trophy in the OHSAA Team Duals, and place fifth at state as a team at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Along the way the Buccaneers tallied a 28-1 dual meet record with its only blemish a narrow 39-33 defeat in the OHSAA Regional Final against Dayton Christian – a dual that went down to the final bout. The Buccaneers won the Northeastern Invitational, the Versailles Invitational, the Covington Duals, placed second at the Troy Invitational and LCC Invitational and third in the small school division at the GMVWA Holiday Tournament.

In the Division III Sectional at Sidney-Lehman, the Buccaneers won the tournament with an astounding 247 team points – the highest total scored in the five years Lehman has hosted the event. In the process all 13 Buccaneer wrestlers finished in the top four in each weight class to advance to the district tournament – a new school record for district qualifiers. Covington also crowned four sectional champions; Jarred Ganger (126 lbs.), Ryan Ford (132 lbs.) and A.J. Ouellette (195 lbs.).

The following weekend at the district meet in Troy, Covington finished second as a team to Dayton Christian and has six wrestlers place in the tournament – five earning qualifying bid to state. Jarred Ganger (132 lbs.), Ryan Ford (132 lbs.) and A.J. Ouellette (195 lbs.) each won district championships, while Ben Miller (170 lbs.) placed second and Daniel Jennings (152 lbs.) placed fourth to each state births. Sophomore Connor Ryan placed fifth at 106 pounds to become a state alternate.

The memorable season was capped by an amazing effort by the Buccaneers at the state wrestling meet as a school record five wrestlers competed in the tournament and four of the wrestlers placed, another school record.

Jarred Ganger, a junior 126 pounder, claimed the second individual state championship in school history, joining former Buccaneer Logan Brown from 2006. Ryan Ford, a sophomore, placed third at 132 pounds, while senior A.J. Ouellette took fifth at 195 pounds and junior Ben Miller placed sixth at 170 pounds. It was the second state medal earned by Ouellette, who place fourth at 182 pounds last season, as he became the fourth two-time state placer in school history, joining Craig Vanderhorst, Logan Brown and Andrew DeHart. The fifth Buccaneer wrestler to compete at state was senior Daniel Jennings, who finished his career as a two-time state qualifier.

With all it accomplished, this team goes down as one of the best wrestling teams in Covington history – if not the best – and with just five seniors graduating the future is even brighter.