Troy Invitational - Friday Night

Two Buccaneer wrestlers advanced to the semifinal round as Covington finished the evening in ninth place out of sixteen teams, with 33 points. Lakewood St. Edward is currently in first with 107 points, followed by Northmont and Indian Lake.

Ben Adams, at 140 lbs., was the first to make the semifinals with a pin over Larew of Urbana and a tech. fall over Josefousky of Lehman. He will face Christman of Indian Lake tomorrow. At 189 lbs., Logan Brown also advanced with pins over Wilt of Graham and McVety of Indian Lake. He faces Kemp of Springfield North in the semifinals.

Winning their first round matches were Justin Owens (152 lbs.) with a technical fall over Stacy of Urbana, Ryan Vanderhorst (160 lbs.) with a pin over Griffieth of Troy and Brian Ely (171 lbs.) with a pin over Martyez of Kenton Ridge. Each lost their second round matches and will compete in the consolation rounds tomorrow.

Also wrestling in the consolations are Michael Corkhum (103), Mitchell Herron (119), Ritchie Watkins (125), Ryan White (130), Bobby Wiltshire (135), Brandon Hartzell (145) and C.J. Potter (215).

Wrestling resumes Saturday at 9:30 am. The finals are at 4:30 pm.

Troy Invitational - Saturday Night

Covington used a solid team effort to finish in sixth place at the sixteen-team Troy Invitational tonight, after starting the day in ninth place. The Buccs earned their highest finish at the tournament since the 1998-99 season. Many of the wrestlers earned valuable team points in the consolation rounds allowing Covington to pass Northwestern, Springfield North and Urbana.

Sophomore Logan Brown won the 189 lb. championship with a dramatic 8-6 overtime decision over D. Michel of Northmont. Brown finished the weekend with a 4-0 record and 2 pins. He was joined by three other Buccaneer placers, all of whom won their final match. Ben Adams (4-1, pin, tech. fall) finished in 3rd place at 140 lbs. as he used a variety of takedowns to defeat M. Spirk of Northmont, 13-5. At 119 lbs., Mitchell Herron pinned J. Black of Graham to finish in 5th place with a 4-2 record and 3 pins. Also finishing 5th at 171 lbs. was Brian Ely (4-2, 3 pins) who edged Wayne Loeffler of Northwestern 3-2 in his final match.

Many of the remaining wrestlers who contributed to the team's finish by picking up valuable wins include 130 lber. Ryan White (1-2, 1 pin), 135 lber. Bobby Wiltshire (1-2, 1 pin), 145 lber. Brandon Hartzell (1-2, 1 pin), 152 lber. Justin Owens (2-2, pin, tech. fall), and 160 lber. Ryan Vanderhorst (2-2, pin).

Final team standings were 1. St. Edwards (275.5), 2. Northmont (179), 3. Indian Lake (166), 4. Greenville (135.5), 5. Troy (116), 6. Covington (103.5), 7. Northwestern (103), 8. Springfield North (100), 9. Urbana (87), 10. Tipp City (86), 11. Springfield Shawnee (80), 12. Lehman (73), 13. Troy Christian (60.5), 14. Graham "B" (55), 15. Kenton Ridge (24), 16. Alter (22).

Covington will host Coldwater and Miami East in a tri meet at 6 pm on Saturday, Jan. 10, at the high school.