2016-17: BUCCS HAVE ROUGH DAY AT VERSAILLES

Josh Sowers looks for an opening for a shot opportunity against Versailles.

December 6, 2016 – Versailles
The Covington High School and Jr. High wrestling teams travelled to Versailles on Tuesday for a dual with the Tigers and had mixed results as the High School fell to Versailles while the Jr. High earned the win.

Covington High School had a rough day as they were down a couple starters and faced one of the top dual meet teams in the state. The result was a 62-6 defeat with Josh Sowers (152) earning the sole victory with a pin over Versailles’ Sean Besecker.

The Buccs found themselves on the short end of a number of exciting matches as Dolan Young (113) lost to Nick Monnier, 6-5, Riley Richards (132) lost to Steven Mangen, 2-1, Keringten Martin (145) lost in overtime to state qualifier Tanner Bey, Deron White (160) lost to Tyler Gigandet, 6-5, and Joey Schmelzer (170) dropped an 11-7 decision to state alternate Jonny Moorman.

Kyle Barga (126) lost by tech. fall to Justin Besecker, while Austin Flick (138), Gavin McReynolds (195), Bryce Keiser (220) and Carl Lankford (285) fell to Lane Feltz, state qualifier Jacob Rismiller, Isaac Grilliot and Jeffrey Ware, respectively. Versailles’ Cael Bey (106), Jacob Poling (113) and Bo Bey (182) earned forfeits for the Tigers. Covington’s Ross Bowman (160) picked up a nice win in JV action.

Covington’s Jr. High earned a solid 50-30 victory over Versailles on the strength of nine victories. Versailles started with a 12-6 lead as the teams traded forfeits by Covington’s Devin Newhouse (80) and Versailles’ Noah Brown (92) before Versailles’ Kobe Epperly (98) and Jack Osborne (104) earned decisions over Connor Sindelir and Jake Dilley.

Cael Vanderhorst (110) cut into the Tigers lead with a 13-2 major decision over Trevor Huber, but Versailles responded with a Noah Barga (116) pin over Bryce Smith. Nolan Neves (122) got the Buccs rolling with a pin over Carson Bey, followed by Logan Lowe’s pin over Alex Kaiser (128) that gave Covington the lead, 22-18.

The Buccs would then reel off 4 consecutive pins by Gavin Swank (134), Trentin Alexander (142), Hunter Clarkson (150) and Duncan Cooper (160). Versailles’ Caleb Rush (172) then picked up a forfeit before Covington’s Scott Blumenstock (220) defeated Evan Clark, 9-1. Clayton Stephan (245) then fell to Austin Nerdermen to conclude the dual. Caleb Miller (104) and Hunter Basye (122) picked up wins for the Buccs in JV action.

Covington High School competes next Wednesday, December 14, at home versus Preble Shawnee, while the Jr. High travels to the Tipp City Invitational this Saturday, December 10.