January 26-27, 2018 – Lima
Covington finished in 11th place out of 44 teams at the Lima Central Catholic (LCC) Invitational over the weekend. The Buccs entered ten wrestlers in the event and five of their wrestlers finished on the podium with top-8 placements.
Cael Vanderhorst finished as the tournament runner-up at 113 lbs., dropping a 7-2 decision to Allen East’s Chase Caprella in the finals. Vanderhorst knocked off the no. 2 seed, Woodmore’s Tyler Sandwisch, 10-1, in the semifinals after defeating the no. 3 seed, Brian Chmielewski, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Vanderhorst opened the tournament with pins over Blanchester’s Gage Berwanger and Swanton’s Zeth Zawodni.
Keringten Martin (152 lbs) finished in 5th place with a 3-2 decision over Preble Shawnee’s Drew Combs. Martin dropped a back-and-forth 6-5 decision to Swanton’s 2-time state placer Chase Moore in the semis, then dropped another close 5-4 decision to the no. 2 seed Billy Luft of Newark Catholic in the consolation semifinals. Martin advanced in the championship bracket with a pin over McComb’s Andrew Smith, a 12-4 major decision over Columbus Grove’s Dylan Pitts and a 7-4 decision over Miami East’s Travis Ferguson.
Gage Kerrigan (195) also finished in 5th place with a come from behind pin over Ayersville’s Hunter Miles. To start the tournament, he advanced with a first round bye then pinned the no. 4 seed Trent Phoenix of Carey. He then advanced to the semifinals by pinning the no. 5 seed Dakota Sargeant of Columbus Grove before dropping a 6-5 decision to Troy Christian’s Craig Montgomery. He then dropped a 7-1 decision to the no. 1 seed Major Stratton of West Liberty-Salem in the consolation semifinals.
Riley Richards (126) finished in 7th place for the Buccs with a 7-2 victory over Cory Rawson’s Tyler Stoodt. He also earned a 10-0 major decision over Mariemont’s Angelo Mendez and pins over St. Joseph Central Catholic’s Travis Rhoads and Hicksville’s Luke Chamberlain.
Kellan Anderson (106) took 8th place for the Buccs earning a pin over Preble Shawnee’s Jackson Carter and a technical fall over Coldwater’s Nick Cline.
Austin Flick (138), Trentin Alexander (160) and Gavin McReynolds (182) each finished one win shy of placement, dropping their 4th round consolation bouts. Flick earned three pins, Alexander earned victories by decision and pin, and McReynolds earned two pins and a decision at the tournament. Deacon Shields (145, pin) and Bryce Keiser (285) also wrestled well for the Buccs.
Covington travels to Versailles on Wednesday to face the Tigers in the Regional Semifinals of the OHSAA dual meet tournament.
