Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Covington high school wrestling team had a strong first day at the 47-team Greater Miami Valley Wrestling Association (GMVWA) Holiday tournament. The Buccs racked up a number of wins early in the day to move into the top ten of the field, but had a hard time winning the close ones at the end of the day to keep many wrestlers in contention for placement.
Winning their opening round bouts were Brock Smith (103), Sam Angle (125), Tyler Tebbe (140), Andrew DeHart (145), Josh McMillion (152), Aaron Devenport (160) and Brian Olson (171).
Two Buccaneer wrestlers advanced to the championship quarterfinals. At 145 lbs, Andrew DeHart recorded a pin over Evan Semad of Cincinnati LaSalle before earning consecutive technical falls over Chris Miskell of Miamisburg and Oakwood’s Will Lebouef. At 152 lbs, Josh McMillion earned pins over Kyle Imlay of Centerville and Garrett Tharpe of Bellbrook to advance.
Kyler Deeter (130) is the lone Covington wrestler alive in the consolation rounds. Deeter dropped his opening bout to the no. 6 seed Josh Beemer of Lima Bath, but then rebounded with three consecutive wins. Deeter pinned Robert Stevens of Turpin, earned a technical fall over Anthony Rossi-Berg of Fenwick, and then won a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Tyler Hardin of Eaton.
Going 2-2 for the Buccs were Matt Breisch (119) and Aaron Devenport. Breisch dropped a back-and-forth opening round decision to Josh Clift of Cincinnati Glen Este, but rebounded with a pin over Josh Elandt of Delta and a major decision over Elijah Price of Sidney. Devenport defeated Lance Shisler of Greenville by major decision and earned a pin over Aaron Mullen of Fenwick, before dropping his next bout to Brandon Arahood of Eaton.
The Buccs had a rough second-consolation round though, losing a number of tight decisions. Brock Smith dropped a 6-5 decision to Jake Bible of Lima Bath, followed by Matt Breisch’s 6-3 loss to state qualifier Cody Harting of Kenton Ridge. Sam Angle then fell 4-3 to Brad Temple of Lebanon followed by Tebbe’s 6-5 loss to Greenville’s Zach Stull and Devenport’s 5-3 loss to Kale Rheude of Turpin.
Also competing for the Buccs were Dylan Gustin (135) and Josh Shefbuch (189).
Wrestling resumes on Wednesday at 11:00 am.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
After the second day of wrestling at the GMVWA holiday tournament, the Covington high school wrestling team finished in a strong 17th place out of 47 teams with 75.5 points – despite being the smallest school in the competition. The Buccs used wins by nine of their eleven competing wrestlers to give Covington its highest finish at the tournament since finishing in 12th place in 2005.
Andrew DeHart led the way with his second consecutive runner-up finish by placing second at 145 lbs to Graham’s state runner-up Matt Stephens. In doing so, Andrew became Covington’s first three-time placer at the prestigious tournament. DeHart advanced to the semifinals with a pin over Matt Kohler of Oregon Clay, before winning his semi-final bout with a 7-4 decision over Kentucky state placer Korey Shotwell of Campbell County.
DeHart also broke the school record for career near falls by piling up (15) two and three-point near falls during the tournament to give him a current total of 144 near falls, breaking the old mark of 138 which was set by Justin McMillion in 2008.
Both Kyler Deeter (130) and Josh McMillion (152) each finished one win short of placement on Wednesday. Deeter opened the day with his fourth win of the tournament – an impressive 5-4 decision over John Dotson of Oak Hills before losing his final bout to Greenville’s state qualifier Evan Warner of Greenville.
McMillion dropped his quarterfinal bout to eventual champion Kyle Bryant of Piqua and then lost in the fourth consolation round by decision to the fourth-place finisher, Conner Spencer of Vandalia Butler.
The Buccs return right back to competition this Saturday as the varsity team travels to the Troy Invitational, while the reserve squad will compete at the Versailles Invitational.
