BUCCS MAKE HISTORY AT STATE WRESTLING MEET – Covington Buccaneers Wrestling

The 2024 Buccaneer State Wrestlers: (L-R) – Caleb Ryman, Chase Vanderhorst, Michael Hagan, Jericho Quinter and Carson Taylor.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2024 – COLUMBUS
This weekend was a great experience for the five Buccaneer wrestlers who made it to state as seniors Chase Vanderhorst, Michael Hagan, Jericho Quinter and Carson Taylor earned state medals and sophomore Caleb Ryman wrestled extremely well in his second appearance at state.

Having four wrestlers place at state was the second time in the history of the program, with the first happening in 2014 accomplished by Jarred Ganger, A.J. Ouellette, Ben Miller and Ryan Ford.

This senior group of Chase Vanderhorst, Michael Hagan, Jericho Quinter and Carson Taylor is the most successful class in the history of the program as they combined to earn eight state medals, the most by any class in program history.

Chase Vanderhorst became the fourth Buccaneer wrestler to place at state at least three times as he finished fourth at 138 pounds. Vanderhorst advanced to the consolation finals with a 3-0 victory over Dakota King (54-5) of Barnesville. He then fell to Anden Ankney (50-6) of Tinora 2-0 to finish in fourth place. Vanderhorst finished his senior season with a 44-6 record.

Michael Hagan earned his second state medal in his fourth trip to state by placing seventh at 132 pounds. Hagan earned a victory via default over Lane Thacker (46-7) to close out his senior season with a 50-9 record.

Jericho Quinter also earned his second state medal in his career as he finished seventh at 126 pounds. Quinter recorded a 1:22 pin over Evan Kusmits (39-6) of Akron Manchester to finish his senior season with a 50-6 record.

Carson Taylor earned his first state medal in his second trip to state as he placed eighth at 113 pounds. In his final match at state, Taylor fell to Stephen Patterson (45-7) of Waynedale.

Sophomore Caleb Ryman came up one match short of placing at 144 pounds as he lost to two-time state champion and four-time state placer Brodie Dominique (56-1) of Archbold and third place finisher Landen Roeder (49-12) of Monroeville.

As a team, Covington finished tied for 11th place by compiling 37 points.

Chase Vanderhorst finished 4th at 138 pounds to become a three-time state placer and three-time state qualifier.

Michael Hagan finished 7th at 132 pounds to become a two-time state placer and four-time state qualifier.

Jericho Quinter finished 7th at 126 pounds to become a two-time state placer and two-time state qualifier.

Carson Taylor finished 8th at 113 pounds.

PLACEMENT MEDALS ARE GETTING CLOSER

Jericho Quinter works for control against John Wrobel of Crestwood.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2024 – COLUMBUS
The placement medals for the four Covington wrestlers are becoming more clear as one Buccaneer wrestler is in contention to finish anywhere between third and sixth place and three will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday.

Chase Vanderhorst (43-5) defeated Antonio Salazar (33-8) of Gibsonburg by the score of 10-0 in the consolation quarterfinal at 138 pounds Saturday evening to advance to the consolation semifinal against three-time state placer Dakota King (54-3) of Barnesville. If Vanderhorst wins he will wrestle for third place against the winner of the match between Ashton Homan (33-3) of Monroeville and Anden Ankney (48-6) of Tinora.

Carson Taylor (44-10) came up short by the score of 6-1 in the consolation quarterfinal against Tommy Slack (36-10) of Mentor Lake Catholic. Taylor battles Stephen Patterson (44-7) of Waynedale Sunday morning for seventh place at 113 pounds.

Jericho Quinter (49-6) lost a very close match to John Wrobel (47-4) of Crestwood in the consolation quarterfinal and will face Evan Kusmits (39-5) of Akron Manchester for seventh place at 126 pounds. The match between Quinter and Wrobel was extremely impressive as both wrestlers were amazing scrambling back and forth throughout all three periods. Unfortunately, Quinter came up on the short end in a result that could have went either way.

Michael Hagan (49-9) also dropped his consolation quarterfinal match in one that could have went either way as well. Hagan had an early takedown and locked up a cradle on Zane Pickerrell (41-6) of Zane Trace, but Pickerrell was able to shut down the cradle and record a stunning pin as Hagan attempted to turn his opponent for back points and a possible victory via pin. Hagan faces Lane Thacker (46-6) of Lakota in a match for seventh place.

Wrestling resumes Sunday morning at 9:30am.

Chase Vanderhorst finishes a takedown on his way to a 10-0 win over Antonio Salazar of Gibsonburg.

Carson Taylor shoots in deep in an attempt to get a takedown against Tommy Slack of Mentor Lake Catholic.

Michael Hagan locks up a cradle against Zane Pickerrell of Zane Trace.

FOUR BUCCS SECURE STATE PLACEMENT

Michael Hagan pinned Austin Hamilton of Coldwater to secure his second state placement.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2024 – COLUMBUS
For the second time in school history the Covington Buccaneers produced four state placers as seniors Carson Taylor, Jericho Quinter, Michael Hagan and Chase Vanderhorst secured state placement with huge victories Saturday morning at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

It was a rough road as things didn’t start out well in the championship quarterfinals, but the Buccaneers battled back to advance in the consolation rounds.

In the quarterfinals at 126 pounds, Jericho Quinter (49-5) dropped a heartbreaking match to Riley Greathouse (41-9) of Waynedale. Quinter was able to rebound in the second consolation round with a dominating 13-5 major decision victory over Nolan Earles (37-11) of Preble Shawnee. The next match for Jericho is against John Wrobel (46-3) of Crestwood.

At 132 pounds, Michael Hagan (49-8) faced Casper Caizzo (53-1) of St. Paul, a wrestler who won state in 2022 and finished third in 2023. Hagan wrestled aggressive, but lost the match to Caizzo, which high set up a huge matchup against Austin Hamilton (34-16) of Coldwater to earn state placement. Hagan won via pin in 2:38 and will face Zane Pickerrell (40-6) of Zane Trace in the third consolation round.

Chase Vanderhorst (42-5) wrestled Anden Ankney (48-5) of Tinora in the quarterfinals and was within a whisker of advancing to the semifinals at 138 pounds as he was so close to recording a winning takedown in the final seconds. Unfortunately the clock expired and Vanderhorst fell to Ankney 4-3 and was forced to wrestle Chris Bezzeg (34-15) of Perry in the consolation round where he won 14-7. Next up for Vanderhorst is Antonio Salazar (33-7) of Gibsonburg.

Carson Taylor (44-9) wasn’t able to get to the championship quarterfinals at 113 pounds as he lost his opening match Friday night to defending state champion Adam Mattin (43-2) of Delta, but he was able to secure state placement by winning back-to-back matches in the consolation rounds – first a 5-0 victory over Brady Carr (37-10) of Northmor and then an 8-2 victory over Johnathan Huntsman (32-8) of Barnesville. Taylor faces Tommy Slack (34-10) of Mentor Lake Catholic in the third consolation round.

Buccaneer sophomore Caleb Ryman saw his outstanding season come to an end with a 45-7 record after falling to Brodie Dominique (52-1) of Archbold, who is a returning state champion and three-time state placer. Ryman then dropped an 11-4 match to Landon Roeder (47-12) of Monroeville. Ryman is now a two-time state qualifier with two years left in his high school career.

Jericho Quinter records a takedown on his way to a win over Nolan Earles of Preble Shawnee.

Chase Vanderhorst locks up back points on his way to a 14-7 win over Chris Bezzeg of Perry.

Carson Taylor defeated Johnathan Huntsman of Barnesville to secure state placement.

Caleb Ryman closes out his sophomore season as a two-time state qualifier.

A GREAT FIRST DAY AT STATE FOR THE BUCCS

Carson Taylor locks up back points to secure a victory over Brady Carr of Northmor.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2024 – COLUMBUS
The Covington Buccaneers had a great opening day at the state wrestling meet as four wrestlers won their opening matches to advance to the championship quarterfinals and one more wrestler remained in contention to earn a state medal by advancing in the consolation rounds.

Overall, all five Buccaneers only need to win one more match to secure their individual spots on the podium.

At 126 pounds, senior Jericho Quinter (48-4) won his opening match with an 8-6 victory over Richard Flores (34-16) of Delta. Quinter faces Riley Greathouse (40-9) of Waynedale tomorrow morning in the quarterfinals.

Senior Michael Hagan (48-7) captured a thrilling 4-3 victory over Braylon Books (33-11) of Garaway. Hagan was trailing 3-2 late in the third period, but recorded a huge takedown with nine seconds left for the victory. Hagan takes on Casper Caizzo (52-1) of St. Paul in the quarterfinals at 132 pounds.

The quickest victory for a Buccaneer wrestler in the opening day was recorded by senior Chase Vanderhorst (41-4), who pinned Mitchell Tetreault (29-11) of Garaway in 44 seconds. Vanderhorst matches up with Anden Ankney (47-5) of Tinora in the quarterfinals at 138 pounds.

Buccaneer sophomore Caleb Ryman (44-6) also advanced to the quarterfinals at 144 pounds by defeating Alex Munn (20-6) of Berkshire by the score of 8-3. Next up for Ryman is a match against Brodie Dominique (53-1) of Archbold tomorrow morning.

The only Buccaneer wrestler who dropped his opening match was senior Carson Taylor (43-9) at 113 pounds, but it came against returning state champion Adam Mattin (42-2) of Delta. Taylor rebounded quickly by winning his next match by a 5-0 victory over Brady Carr (37-10) of Northmor. Taylor is one victory away from securing a state medal and he will face either Scott Fuller (46-6) of Genoa Area or Johnathan Huntsman (32-6) of Barnesville in the second consolation round tomorrow morning.

Wrestling resumes at 9:30am on Saturday with the championship quarterfinals.