FEBRUARY 3, 2018 – COVINGTON
In what was an exciting night of wrestling that took five hours to complete, the Covington Buccaneers defeated Eaton 30-29 and Sidney 49-16 in a tri-match on Saturday at Covington High School.
The evening opened with a highly contested dual between the Buccaneers and a very talented Eaton team.
The dual started at 138 pounds with Austin Flick recording a narrow 6-5 victory over Eaton’s Noah Towe, but the Eagles responded with a major decision victory at 145 pounds to take a 4-3 lead.
Keringten Martin picked up a fall in 2:41 seconds against Zac Schmidt of Eaton before Seth Hodapp picked up a technical fall victory at 160 to make the score 9-7 in favor of Covington.
Trenton Alexander recorded a pin at 170 in 2:46 over Nick Imhoff, but the Eagles responded with wins at 182, 195, 220 and 285 to take a 23-15 lead.
Needing bonus points in critical matches Covington went to work as Kellan Anderson picked up a technical fall victory at 106 over Owen Hewitt to get things started.
After a double-forfeit at 113, Cael Vanderhorst bumped up to 120 to pin Eaton’s Nate Wysong in :42 and then Riley Richards followed with a 15-1 major decision victory over Kamron Sealift to put the dual out off reach with one match left at 30-23.
That final match of the dual didn’t go Covington’s way however as Eaton’s hammer, Wade Monebrake picked up a pin for the Eagles at 132 to make the final score 30-29 in favor of the Buccaneers.
After a hotly contested dual between Eaton and Sidney that ended with the Eagles coming out on top 42-29, the Buccaneers took to the mat against the Yellow Jackets beginning in the 152 pounds weight class.
And Keringten Martin earned a win via default after an injury suffered by Sidney’s Daniel Blosser in the third period of a very competitive match. Martin dominated early with two takedowns in the first period for a 4-2 lead, but Blosser turned the tables in the second period with a five-point move. Martin was able to rebound with a reversal and two more takedowns before the match was called midway through the third period due to the injury suffered by Blosser.
After Sidney picked up a victory at 160 by Allen Tangeman, Buccaneer freshman Duncan Cooper bumped up from 160 to 170 to earn an impressive 13-2 major decision victory over Julian Barger to put Covington up 10-3.
The Buccaneers followed with a :57 pin at 182 by Gavin McReynolds to set up the most exciting match off the night between Sidney’s Josh Walker and Covington sophomore Joseph Franke at 195 pounds.
Walker was able to get the early advantage with a takedown and three near-fall points as he had Franke in desperate trouble at the edge of the mat. But Franke was able to slip and arm through to get out of danger and eventually reversed his opponent straight to his back for the fall right before the buzzer at 1:59.
Dylan Staudt then picked up a forfeit at 220 pounds, but Sidney was able to pick up a close 5-3 victory by Bryon Tunes at 285 to make the sore 28-6 in favor of the host Buccaneers.
Kellan Anderson followed with a pin at 106 pounds in 1:16 over Sidney’s Enrique Loaiza and Cael Vanderhorst pinned Grant Fair in 2:21 at 113 pounds.
Taylor Viney followed with a gritty 9-6 win over Naida Anne Stephens at 120 and Riley Richards picked up a hard-fought 4-2 win over Aiden Tangeman at 126.
After Sidney’s Jonathan Farmer picked up a victory via pin at 132, Covington’s Austin Flick held off Kyler Pleasant with a last second takedown to win 14-10 at 138 pounds.
Sidney’s Alex Ham closed out the dual with a 12-3 major decision victory at 145, but Covington walked off the mat with the 49-16 win.
Next up for Covington is a home dual on Wednesday against Brookville before the Covington Invitational on Saturday.
