Friday, February 19, 2016
Covington had a strong first day at the Division 3 sectional tournament at Lehman on Friday, finishing the first day in 3rd place overall out of 21 teams. Versailles currently leads, followed by Mechanicsburg. The Buccs advanced 8 of their 13 competing wrestlers into the semifinals, with the other 5 still alive in the second consolation round.
Connor Ryan (113) opened with a first-round bye, followed by a 15-0 technical fall victory over Ethin Hoffman of Arcanum, while Jared Ford (126) pinned Brookville’s Cory Teegarden, followed by a 9-1 major decision over Mechanicsburg’s Sam Rozmus.
Ryan Ford (138) earned consecutive pins over Nationals Trail’s Robert Nave and Miami East’s Andrew Harmon, while Josh Sowers (145) pinned Arcanum’s Ethan Baker and Dixie’s Steven Brown. Gage DeHart (152) pinned Springfield Northwestern’s Blake Speakman before defeating Versailles’ Nathan Henry, 6-2.
Lance Miller (160) earned consecutive pins over Miami East’s Colton Kowalak and Arcanum’s Christian Layman, while Brandon Magee (182) pinned Chance Chapman of Milton-Union and Clayton Finney of Tri-County North. Seth Thomas (220) then joined his teammates in the semifinals with a first-round bye and a pin over Miami East’s Caden Hellyer.
Alexis Roth (106) advanced with a bye before falling to Dixie’s JC Fox, while Coleman Ryan (120) advanced with a bye then fell to Versailles’ Preston Platfoot. Keringten Martin (132) had a bye then dropped a 13-8 decision to Versailles’ Kyle Wuebker, while Joey Schmelzer (170) lost, 11-6, to Brookville’s Austin Delk. Carl Lankford (285) dropped his quarterfinal bout to Troy Christian’s Seth Douglas.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Covington continued their strong performance at the Lehman Division 3 sectional tournament on Saturday, finishing in 3rd place out of 21 teams and advancing 8 wrestlers to the district tournament. The Buccs had one champion, two runners-up, three third-placewinners and two fourth-placewinners.
Brandon Magee (182) won his first sectional title with an exciting 15-10 overtime decision over Bo Bey of Versailles. Magee advanced to the finals by pinning Miami East’s Daniel Everett in the semifinals.
Jared (126) and Ryan Ford (138) both advanced to the finals before dropping their last bout. Jared earned an 8-0 major decision over Milton-Union’s Dylan Schenck, before dropping a 6-2 decision to Miami East’s Alex Isbrandt, while Ryan earned a 13-5 major decision over Versailles’ Tanner Bey before dropping a 3-1 decision to Mechanicsburg’s Tanner Smith.
Connor (113) and Coleman Ryan (120) both finished the tournament strongly by taking 3rd place in the finals. Connor defeated Troy Christian’s Drew Whaley, 9-4, after advancing with 14-0 major decision in the consolation semifinals over Milton-Union’s Jordan King. Coleman avenged an earlier defeat over Versailles’ Preston Platfoot, after advancing with a pin over Springfield Northwestern’s Jacob Lees.
Seth Thomas (220) also concluded the tournament strongly with a 3rd place finish, defeating Versailles’ Jacob Rismiller, 6-3, in the finals. Thomas dropped a 5-3 semifinal bout to Mechanicsburg’s Dylan Hartley, before rebounding with a consolation semifinal pin over Brookville’s Justin Eyler.
Gage DeHart (152) and Lance Miller (160) both qualified with 4th place finishes. DeHart advanced with a 5-1 consolation semifinal win over Milton-Union’s Austin Menker, before falling to Mechanicsburg’s Corey Bogan in the finals. Miller advanced with a 12-3 major decision over Lehman’s Collin Haller, before dropping a 9-6 decision to Dixie’s Isaiah Pritchard.
Josh Sowers (145) finished in 6th place overall, but saw his solid season come to an end along with teammates Alexis Roth (106), Keringten Martin (132), Joey Schmelzer (170), and Carl Lankford (285).
District wrestling is next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27, at Troy’s Hobart Arena.
