SEASON PREVIEW:
Covington is celebrating its 50th season of wrestling, and is coming off an outstanding season, where they finished with an overall record of 111-11, for the 4th highest winning percentage in Covington history. The Buccs battled to a fantastic 31-2 dual meet record, setting a school record for most wins, and finished with the 4th best dual meet record in school history.

Due to the pandemic, there was no OHSAA Dual Meet tournament last season, but Covington defeated Versailles who finished 5th at the invitation-only OHSWCA State Duals, and earned three wins over a Miami East squad that finished 4th at the Individual State Tournament. Covington finished with an outstanding 80-9 tournament record and won the Lima Central Catholic (LCC) Invitational for only the second time in school history. The Buccs placed 2nd out of 13 teams at Sectionals, with 9 district qualifiers – Michael Hagan, Carson Taylor, Kellan Anderson, Cael Vanderhorst, David Robinson, Connor Sindelir, Trentin Alexander, Ricky Stephan and Scott Blumenstock, plus alternate Jensen Wagoner; then took 9th place out of 50 teams at Districts where the team qualified 4 wrestlers to State for only the 5th time in school history – Michael Hagan, Kellan Anderson, Cael Vanderhorst and Trentin Alexander. Cael and Kellan became Covington’s 2nd and 3rd four-time state qualifiers.

At State, Covington finished with 3 state placers for only the third time in school history. Michael placed 8th, becoming Covington’s fourth freshman state placer, while Kellan placed 8th, becoming Covington’s eighth two-time state placer, and Cael placed 4th, becoming Covington’s third three-time state placer. Covington has had one or more state placers for 13 consecutive state tournaments and 14 of the past 15 state tournaments.

The Buccs lost four strong wrestlers to graduation – state placers Kellan Anderson and Cael Vanderhorst, state qualifier Trentin Alexander, and district qualifier David Robinson, but return a number of talented wrestlers.

Covington will be led by seniors Scott Blumenstock, Caleb Miller, Connor Sindelir, Ricky Stephan and Jensen Wagoner. Blumenstock, Sindelir, Stephan and Wagoner are returning district qualifiers, while Miller is a district alternate. The junior class includes Dalton Bishop and Brian Morrison, both of whom are returning district alternates.

The sophomore class includes Hayden Barker, Luke Brown, Michael Hagan, Jericho Quinter, Jackson Shiverdecker, Carson Taylor and Chase Vanderhorst. Hagan is a returning state placer, while Taylor is a returning district qualifier. Rounding out the roster are freshmen Jack Blumenstock, Ashtin Gardner, A.J. Garman, Aveyen Meek, Izaiah Sherman, Kaden Thompson and Zeb Woodward-Roeth.

Covington looks forward to competing with a mix of Division 1, 2 and 3 teams. The Buccs return to two prestigious mega-tournaments: the 52-team GMVWA Holiday tournament and the 38-team Lima Central Catholic (LCC) Invitational. They will also compete in the Dayton Christian, Bellefontaine, Versailles and Troy Invitationals, and will once again square off with some of the top dual-meet teams in the western part of the state, including Versailles and Allen East. Additionally, the JV team will travel to some competitive reserve meets including Versailles, Greenville and Vandalia-Butler.

The Buccs will host the Division 3 sectional tournament – whose participants have proven to be among the most successful among all divisions in Ohio at the state tournament. Please come out and support the Buccs as we look forward to another successful season!

SEASON IN REVIEW:
Covington put together a phenomenal performance during their 50th season of wrestling, even though many team members had a delayed start due to injuries from their preceding sport. In all, five starters missed a considerable number of tournaments and duals, as the entire team was unable to compete together in any one event this year. Despite this, the Buccs put together the 7th best record in school history, finishing 189-20 overall. This year’s senior class leaves our program as members of four of the top nine winningest teams at Covington (’18-19, ’19-20, ’20-21, ’21-22).

The team battled to a 10-3 dual meet record, and unfortunately was without 3-4 starters in each of our losses. Covington earned solid wins over Allen East, Milton-Union, Coldwater and Ben Logan, and put together a great performance in front of 100+ alumni in our victory over Piqua during our celebration of 50 seasons of Covington Wrestling. Longtime teammate Kamden Hughes, unable to wrestle due to injuries sustained in an auto accident in Jr. High, was often encouraging and motivating the team on the sidelines. Covington finished with a fantastic 179-17 tournament record this season – 4th best in school history. The Buccs won the Troy Invitational for just the second time since 2010, won the Bellefontaine Invitational, and won the inaugural Three Rivers Conference title. The Buccs placed in the top-5 of the LCC Invitational for the 4th consecutive season with placers Carson Taylor, Jericho Quinter, Michael Hagan, Chase Vanderhorst, Caleb Miller, Connor Sindelir and Jensen Wagoner, and finished in the top-10 of the GMVWA Invitational with placers Carson Taylor, Michael Hagan, Izaiah Sherman and Jensen Wagoner.

Additionally, the Jr. Varsity wrestlers combined to earn 16 individual placements overall, competing at the Versailles, Greenville and Butler JV invitationals, as well as the Vandalia-Butler Pools.

Covington placed 1st out of 14 teams to win their first Sectional championship since 2014, with 9 District Qualifiers – Carson Taylor, Jericho Quinter, Michael Hagan, Chase Vanderhorst, Jackson Shiverdecker, Aveyen Meek, Connor Sindelir, Jensen Wagoner and Scott Blumenstock, plus district alternate Caleb Miller. The Buccs then finished in 6th place out of 48 teams at Districts where the team tied a school record by qualifying 5 wrestlers to State for only the second time in school history – Carson Taylor, Jericho Quinter, Michael Hagan, Chase Vanderhorst and Scott Blumenstock. Michael Hagan became just the fourth Covington wrestler to qualify for state as a freshman and a sophomore.

At State, Covington finished with two state placers for only the eighth time in school history. After missing the opportunity to compete in the post-season last year as freshmen, due to football and weight-lifting injuries, Chase Vanderhorst placed 5th and Jericho Quinter placed 6th, becoming just the fifth and sixth Covington wrestlers to place as sophomores. The Buccs currently have a streak of state placers at 14 consecutive state tournaments – every tournament since 2008.

Additionally, two wrestlers made their marks in the record books this year. Connor Sindelir finished 10th in Career Near Falls (123), while Michael Hagan finished 8th in Single Season Pins (31).

Congratulations to everyone on the team for your hard work and success! Thanks to our statisticians, Megan Rose and Karyanne Turner, and the coaches at all levels of our program.