Jake Wise turns his opponent for back points on his way to taking third at 215.

Cody Swabb sizes up his opponent before he strikes.

Covington's underclassmen did more than their share in getting the Buccs into the third-place spot heading into the finals, but then it was the upperclassmen earning important victories in the last round to keep them there.

Sophomore Sam Herron (103 lbs), along with freshmen Matt Breisch (112) and Josh McMillion (125), all advanced to the finals, but fell short in their final bouts to finish in second place. Herron went 3-1 with 3 pins, Breisch went 3-1 with 2 pins, and McMillion went 2-1 with 1 pin.

Freshman Dylan Gustin (119 lbs) and sophomore Jake Jennings (140 lbs) both finished in fourth place for the Buccs, along with junior Justin McMillion (145). Gustin went 2-2 with 2 pins, Jennings went 3-2 with 3 pins, and McMillion went 3-2 with 2 pins and a technical fall.

In need of a victory in the final round to keep Covington from slipping on the leader board, senior Ryan White delivered in a big way. In the battle for fifth-place at 152 lbs, White faced Skylar Wohlgamuth from Ben Logan, a wrestler who defeated him 6-3 earlier in the day. Wohlgamuth got the early two points, but White tied the match up on a reversal. After Wohlgamuth was awarded an escape, White scored on another takedown followed by nearfall points. He then went on to cradle up Wohlgamuth and give the Buccs a pin, finishing 3-2 overall, with 3 pins.

Junior Logan Hall followed suit in his 171 lb. fifth-place bout with Chris Horne of Ben Logan. Hall kept after Horne throughout the first period to go ahead 8-0. In the middle of the second period, Horne made a desperation shot that cost him the match. When he came in, Hall pancaked him backwards onto his back. It didn't take long after that for Hall to get the pin, finishing 3-2 overall, with 3 pins.

In the final match for the Buccs, junior Jake Wise (215) competed for third place against Travis Richardson from Greenon. In the second period from the down position, Wise earned an escape, shot for a takedown and was able to extend his leg on a single-leg inside trip to go into the third period leading 3-0. He added to his lead with nearfall points and went on to win the match 5-0 to earn third place, finishing 4-1 overall, with 1 pin.

Other Championship Round Bouts

Covington's first wrestler in the championship round was Sam Herron against Luke Smith from Ben-Logan. Smith struck first with a lift and takedown and tried to pin Herron, but Herron bellied down to avoid it. At the end of the first period, Smith had a 5-0 lead. Smith took over where he left off and continued to work on Herron until he got the pin. Despite the loss, Herron still came away in second place for the tournament.

Matt Breisch and Slade Wilcoxen from Bellefontaine squared off in the championship round for the 112- pound class. The battle was on from start to finish, but in the end Wilcoxen won the match by a score of 4-3.

Dylan Gustin and Jeff Collins from Tecumseh wrestled for third place in the 119-pound weight class. Gustin suffered the loss as a result of a pin.

Josh McMillion and Tucker Armstrong from Kenton Ridge were center stage for the championship in the 125-pound class. McMillion looked to be pinned in the first round, but fought out of the hold. Armstrong continued to put the pressure on McMillion and eventually won by pin.

Jake Jennings and Daniel Klontz Springfield North were the wrestlers in the 140-pound class going for third place. Klontz scored on the takedown and went on to pin Jennings with eight seconds left in the first period.

Justin McMillion was the Buccs representative in the 145-pound class. He and Jeff Pencil from Northwestern were wrestling for third place. The two are not strangers to each other, having met in earlier season action. Pencil took the lead at the end of the first period, reversed McMillion in the second period, and then pinned him to collect third place and McMillion fourth.

1st Round

Starting the Buccs off right for the day was Sam Herron (103) versus Zach Walton of Greenon. Sam made quick work of Walton with a 0:21 second pin.

Following Herron's lead, Matt Breisch (112) took on Brad Boyle from Greenon. Breisch had his way against Boyle and racked up points with a series of takedown to go into the second period with a solid lead. He took Boyle down in the second period and pinned him at 2:52

Dylan Gustin (119) got in on the pin-to-win action against Dylan Numbers from Kenton Ridge. Gustin started the match in control and continued that way, take a 6-2 lead into the third period. From the bottom position at the start of the second period, Gustin turned on Numbers, but Numbers got to his feet before going out-of-bounds. On the restart, Gustin was taken down but held on to go into the third period with an 8-5 lead. In the third period, Gustin put Numbers to the mat and finished him off by pin at 5:23.

Quentin Layman (135) versus TJ Rigel from Tecumseh: Layman was pinned by the top-seeded wrestler in the first period.

Jake Jennings (140) was the next pin-man for Covington. He did it in lightning-quick fashion against Bobby Frost from Benjamin-Logan. Jennings took Frost to the mat quickly and then pinned him in forty-one seconds.

The next Covington victory was by Justin McMillion (145). He went toe-to-toe against Josh Berry from Kenton Ridge: Berry scored first on the takedown and was working hard, but McMillion worked out of the grip, earned an escape, and then used a slide-by to get his first takedown and a 3-2 lead to finish the first period. From the neutral position at the start of the second period, McMillion threw his opponent to his back for a pin at 2:34.

Travis Wamer (160) matched up against Jay Engle from Greenon. Wamer kept Engle working throughout the match, but in the end Engle defeated Wamer by pin.

Jake Wise (215) was the last Covington match of the first round. He locked up with Jeff Shaw from Indian Hill. Wise earned the first points on a takedown late in the first period. With the use of a double-grapevine hold, he put Shaw's shoulders on the mat at1:48.

2nd Round

Matt Breisch started the second round of wrestling for the Buccs. He went center-mat against Chris Mitchell from Kenton Ridge. Breisch took control of Mitchell quickly and worked for the first period pin, but couldn't get it. In the second period, Breisch took the down position, escaped, and shot on Mitchell before Mitchell knew what was happening. The end result was Breisch putting Mitchell in a near side cradle for the pin.

Josh McMillion was next up for the Buccs against Brian Levingston from Ben Logan: Through two periods, McMillion and Levingston battled back and forth with neither able to gain the upper hand. In the third period, with McMillion in the top position, he got Levingston to his back for nearfall points to take the lead. McMillion had to use his legs to tie up Levingston who was putting on a last ditch effort. With time running out, McMillion hung on to earn the win.

Jake Jennings was next up for Covington against Brandon Flanery from Northeastern. Jennings and Flanery tied up for a brief moment before Jennings scored a takedown and then released Flanery. The next takedown by Jennings came by way of an ankle pick and again a release. Jennings scored on two more takedowns to end the first period in the lead. The second period was again all Jennings and he ended it with a pin to win the match.

Justin McMillion and Landon Schmelzer from Ben Logan were the next two wrestlers. McMillion wreaked havoc on Schmelzer through the first period and squeezed him for back points to earn a tech fall decision.

Ryan White (152) had his first match of the day, after a first-round bye, against Skylar Wohlgamuth from Ben Logan: White had to work from a 6-0 deficit going into the third period and worked Wohlgamuth hard for nearfall points, but the clock became the enemy and time ran out for White giving Wohlgamuth a 6-3 win.

Logan Hall (171) wrestled his first match against Jeremy Sanders from St. Charles. In a fast and physical match, Hall and Sanders traded takedowns, escapes, and reverses to end the first period with Sanders in the lead 5-3. The second period was a mirror image to the first with Sanders gradually building a lead. In the third period, Hall fought hard, but was pinned as time ran out.

Jake Wise against Aaron Pisegalo from Tecumseh was the last match of the round for Covington. Wise got the first takedown points and held the 2-0 lead going into the second period. Wise kept after Pisegalo and built an 11-1 lead on nearfall points with Piseaglo only scoring on an escape allowed by Wise. In the third period, Wise maintained control to finish the match 13-5.

3rd Round

Ryan White went right after Ricky Craig of Bellefontaine and never looked back. He had Craig in trouble most of the first match, but couldn't pull the trigger for the pin. He continued the pressure until he got the pin at 3:50.

Travis Wamer and Trey Gieseck from St. Charle's were on the mat next. Wamer fell behind early in the first period 2-0 and fought hard, but Gieseck got the pin as the clock went to zero.

Logan Hall and Steven King from Northeastern: Hall jumped on King quickly and stacked him for takedown and nearfall points before King worked out of it, but Hall went right back at him for the pin.

4th Round

Herron v Bill Thomas from Indian Hill: Herron stuck Thomas to the mat on the whistle and got the pin thirty seconds later.

Dillon Gustin v Josh Lunsford Northeastern: Gustin scored quick on a takedown, but Lunsford answered with an escape. Gustin went back to work and took down Lunsford and then stacked him for nearfall points. Before he could finish Lunsford off, the match was stopped due to an injury suffered by Gustin. When the match resumed, Gustin picked up where he left off and pinned Lunsford at 3:14.

Jake Jennings v Josh Weekly from Northwestern: Jennings built a 4-1 lead in the first period when he got the takedown on Weekly. He followed up with two nearfall points to end the first period. In the second period, Jennings scored on a reversal to strengthen his lead after having Weekly on top of him for most of the period. In the third period, Jennings finally put Weekly down for good with a pin and one second left on the clock.

Justin McMillion v Kevin Weber from Springfield North: Both wrestlers fought for position until McMillion took his shot and muscled Weber to the mat and to his back all in one motion. The pin came 41 seconds to keep McMillion on the winning track.

Ryan White v Broc French from Northeastern: White had his hands full with French who was the number one seed in the tournament. White gave an all-out effort, but he still came up short, losing to French.

Logan Hall v Vet Smelko from Tecumseh: This match for Hall was as physical as his earlier match and stay 0-0 until the end of the first period when Smelko scored a takedown. The match ended in the second period when Hall re-injured a knee and couldn't continue.

Jake Wise v Cameron Bowling from St. Charle's: With the match tied at 0-0 going into the second round, Wise took the down position looking for the escape point. He got the point when he stood up and broke Bowling‚s grip. The one point lead held up through the remainder of the period. Using Wise‚s strategy, Bowling took the down position, but he was able to score a reversal and took the lead. A re-start after both wrestlers went out of bounds put Wise back on the bottom. He again got an escape point to tie the match up 2-2. At the end of regulation with the score tied, it went into overtime with the first takedown giving the wrestler the win. The first overtime period didn‚t break the tie so the next overtime with each wrestler getting the opportunity to earn an escape. Wise took the down position first and he did his part, but Bowling couldn't answer and the match went to Wise.

5th Round

Herron v Harting from Kenton Ridge: Herron struck first with a takedown and then went to work on Harting‚s head. Harting didn't tolerate that long and score on the reversal to tie the score. Herron fought back, got control, and went on to get the pin.

Josh McMillion v Jacob Pursley from Bellefontaine: McMillion took control of the match and built a 9-4 lead in the second period. Pursley reversed though and looked to have McMillion in trouble, but McMillion earned a reverse and went to work. He upped the score to 16-8 and then added more points to his lead. With thirteen seconds left, McMillion finished him off by pin.

Dylan Gustin v Heath Allen from Ben Logan: Dylan got pinned

Jake Jennings v Kurt Seeley from Ben Logan: Up against the number one seed, Jennings had a hard time getting anything on the more experienced wrestler. In the second period, Jennings was almost pinned, but he bridged up and when he was done he was facing Seeley. Seeley used his knowledge and skill to re-gain control and went on to win the match.

Justin McMillion v Hunter Pool from Ben-Logan: McMillion also found himself against the number one seed and stayed in the fight giving Pool all he could handle. With time running out, McMillion had Pool on his back and was working to the double-grapevine to finish him off, but the clock saved Pool from defeat.

Ryan White v George McGill from Northwestern: White had a seesaw battle against McGill. When it looked like McGill was in trouble, he worked his way out of the jam and when he put White in trouble, White worked his way out of the jam. The back-and-forth battle ended when White got on top of McGill, worked to his head, and pinned him.

Logan Hall and Zach Leonard from Northeastern were next on the mat. Logan took to the mat, despite his knee injury, and rather than risk hurting it further and not being able to finish the match, made short work of Leonard with a pin with just thirty seconds gone from the clock.

Jake Wise v Brian Sears from Northeastern David Fenning from St. Charle's: Wise struck first when he pulled Sears from the out-of-bounds line and then dumped him with a single-leg. Later in the match, Sears was able to work in a cradle on Wise and get him to his back. Wise fought hard, but couldn't escape the hold and was pinned for his first loss of the day.