JANUARY 31, 2015 – LIMA
Covington earned its third straight top-2 finish at the Lima Central Classic (LCC) Thunderbird Invitational this weekend, finishing in 2nd place out of 40 teams. Mechanicsburg won the event, while Miami East, Archbold and Van Buren rounded out the top five teams. The Buccs set a school record with four wrestlers in the championship bout and three individual titles. The team also matched their school-record seven placers at the event.
Jarred Ganger (132) won Covington’s first individual title with a 7-3 victory over the no. 2 ranked wrestler in the state, Tyler Sarreshteh of Liberty-Benton. Earlier, Jarred earned a first-round pin over Eli Brown of Eastwood, followed by a 16-1 technical fall over Sean Small of Toledo Woodmore. He then pinned Nick Luke of Bluffton in the quarterfinals followed by a 23-8 technical fall over Nick Miller of Mechanicsburg in the semifinals.
Ryan Ford (138) won the Buccaneers’ next title with a convincing 11-3 major decision over Wes Fritz of Norwalk St. Paul, the no. 8 ranked wrestler in the state. Ryan earned a 23-8 technical fall over Tri-County North’s Joe Morrow in the first round, followed by a pin over Derick Smith of Spencerville. He then pinned both his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents, Evyn Pohlman of Delphos St. John’s and Devin Wells of Blanchester.
Ben Miller (182) kept things rolling for the Buccs, bringing home the team’s third title with a 5-2 victory over Jack Huffman of Lima Central Catholic, the 6th ranked wrestler in the state. Miller advanced with a first-round bye before pinning Josh Reel of Wayne Trace. He then pinned his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents, Kevin Mays of Northridge and Payten Whitticar of Van Buren.
Connor Ryan (106) finished in second place after dropping a technical fall to Mechanicsburg’s Alex Rhine. Connor started the tournament with a first round bye then defeated Kobe Cunningham of LCC, 9-3. He pinned Coldwater’s Justin Sigler in the quarterfinals and advanced to the finals with an 18-3 technical fall over Nate Vasquez of Toledo St. Joseph Central Catholic who is ranked no. 15 in the state.
Lance Miller (152) earned a third place finish with a dominating 14-1 major decision over Brandon Soules of Allen East. He won his first three matches by pin over Jose Canales of McComb, Vinny Pignataro of Lima Central Catholic and Garrett Grime of Archbold, who is ranked no. 9 in the state. He then fell in the semifinals to the no. 1 ranked wrestler in the state, Kaleb Romero of Mechanicsburg, before rebounding with a pin over Carey’s Cody Ferguson in the consolation semifinals.
Jared Ford (113) earned 5th place with a 7-0 decision over Gavin Grime of Archbold. He started the tournament by pinning Casey McGuire of Bluffton and Kenny Carpenter of Hillsdale. He then defeated Thomas Schnitker of Woodmore, 10-4, before dropping a 13-8 decision to Blanchester’s Kyle Denier and a 6-3 decision to Mechanicsburg’s Tyler Wetzel.
Brandon Magee (170) injury defaulted to 6th place after falling to Conan Nicely of Blanchester in the consolation semifinals. He received a bye in the first round before defeating Dustin Green of Tri-County North in overtime. He then dropped a 5-3 decision to Nate Fry of Ayersville, before pinning Alex Haunhorst of Delphos St. John’s. He followed with an 8-5 victory over Triad’s Cameron Miller to place.
Also competing for the Buccs were Coleman Ryan (120), Deron White (145), Gage DeHart (160) and Seth Thomas (220). Deron earned two pins, DeHart gained two victories and Thomas got a pin. For more information, visit baumspage.com.
Covington competes next on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Dual Meet Regional Semifinals versus Versailles. The event is at Covington high school and starts at 6 pm.
