Sam Herron controls his opponent in a 103 pound match.

First up for the Buccs was Sam Herron (103) versus #4 seed, Zane Goldberg of Miami East. Herron fought Goldberg into the second round and reversed him, but Goldberg re-gained control and went on to defeat Herron 13-4.

Getting Covington on the scoreboard first was freshman Jerry Evans (135). He and Jake Myer of West Milton battled back and forth with Evans scoring the first takedown, but Myer getting the reversal to tie the score. Evans quickly reversed Myer and went on to get the first period pin to end the match.

Following Evans‚ lead, freshman 125-pounder Josh McMillion scored a quick takedown on Chris Mitchell of Kenton Ridge and never looked back. He quickly dispatched Mitchell with a pin at 1:16.

Sophomore Quentin Layman (130) found himself overmatched against Tom Blackmore of Troy, dropping his first bout of the tournament.

Sophomore Jake Jennings was the next wrestler on the mat for Covington in the 140-pound class. His challenger was the #1 seed, Sean Scaglia of Kenton Ridge. Jennings nearly scored the first takedown, but couldn‚t quite finish. Scaglia proved to be too much and went on to win the match, 12-3, despite Jennings‚ stellar effort.

At 145 pounds, Justin McMillion took to the mat against Zach Sturwold of Troy. The two battled to a 3-3 tie at the end of the first period with takedowns and escapes between the two of them. The score was tied 4-4 with one minute left in the third period until Sturwold let go of McMillion to give McMillion a one-point lead. The release proved costly because McMillion scored a takedown that gave him the lead and the match.

Ryan White (152) met #4 seed, Levi Harris of Greenville at center mat. At the end of the first period, White found himself in a 9-2 hole. Throughout the second and third period, White was on top of Harris, but couldn‚t turn him for back points to get the win.

The next wrestler for Covington was Travis Wamer, a 160-pounder. He grappled with Dane Cope of Indian Lake. Cope scored on takedowns to build a lead that held up for the win.

The final wrestler for the Buccs in the first round was Jake Wise in the 215-pound class. He man-handled Nathaniel Graham of Tipp City, getting a pin with just 40 seconds gone off the clock.

Taking the mat first in the quarterfinal round was freshman Matt Breisch (112) who advanced with a first-round bye. He met up with Bradley Carter of Kenton Ridge. Breisch had his work cut out for him having to deal with Carter‚s distinct height advantage, but overcame the deficit to win the match 13-8 and advance to the semifinals.

Following Breisch was freshman Dylan Gustin (119). After a first-round bye, Gustin took to the mat against another Dylan - #4 seed Dylan Numbers from Kenton Ridge. After yielding the first takedown, Dylan was given an escape when his opponent couldn‚t turn him. Gustin promptly earned the next takedown and pinned his opponent before the first period ended to pull off the upset and join Breisch in the semifinal round.

Next, freshman Josh McMillion matched up against Dustin Fugate of Milton-Union. With a 4-0 lead going into the second period, McMillion worked himself out of a cradle that looked like it might to do him in. At the end of the second period, the score was tied 5-5. The battle continued in the third round with McMillion getting the lead on a takedown. Scoring on near fall points secured the win for him as he too advanced to the semifinal round.

Continuing for Covington in the second round was another freshman, Jerry Evans. He tangled with #1 seed Justin Shilt of Greenville, but the going was tough and he suffered his first loss of the evening.

The wrestling continued with junior Justin McMillion and #3 seed Zach Prager from Greenville, meeting mat middle. Both wrestlers tested the water through the first period with neither scoring. In the second period, with McMillion on the bottom, he received one penalty point when Prager was called for locking hands. In the third period, with McMillion in the top position, he was hit with a controversial stalling call, which evened the score to a 1-1 tie. With just ten seconds remaining, Prager got loose from McMillion to take the lead 2-1. As time ran out, McMillion used a head-and-arm throw to take Prager down, but it was too late for the score and McMillion lost a heartbreaker.

Wrestling his first match of the night after sitting through a first-round bye was freshman Josh Shefbuch against #3 seed Eric Lennartz from Troy. Shefbuch, giving up a lot of weight and experience, lost the match despite an all-out effort.

The last match of the night for the Buccs pitted Jake Wise (215) against top-seeded state qualifier Justin Fletcher from Greenville. Fletcher attacked aggressively, but after a scramble, Wise gained control ˆ earning the first takedown. As they grappled on the mat with Fletcher working for a reversal, Wise found himself in a precarious position and his experienced opponent quickly took advantage, reversing and pinning Wise.

All Buccaneer wrestlers will compete on Saturday. The first consolation round begins at 10 am, while semi-finals start at 11:15 am.

Troy Invitational - Saturday
After day two of the Troy Invitational, the Buccs finished up in 8th place out of fifteen teams with 98 points. Indian Lake won the tournament followed up by Greenville and Troy. In all, Covington had seven of its twelve wrestlers place in the top six, with one - Dylan Gustin - becoming the first Covington freshman to make the finals at Troy in over fifteen years.

Saturday's action started with the consolation rounds of the tournament. Sam Herron (103) scored first for the Buccs as he faced Joey O‚Brien of Tipp City. Herron took control with four takedowns before racking up near fall points and getting the pin.

Next, both Quentin Layman (130) and Jerry Evans (135) gave it their all in their bouts, but fell short of victory, and were eliminated from the tournament.

Jake Jennings and Josh Barrer from Tipp City tangled at 140 lbs. Jennings looked to be in trouble when Barrer put him in a cradle, but Jennings hooked Barrer‚s leg, got a reversal, and took control to build a 9-4 lead. Barrer wasn‚t done though and Jennings had to keep up the fight till the clock ran out. The final score was 11-6 in Jennings‚ favor.

Justin McMillion (145 lbs) went to work on Casey Beck from Tipp City and built a 7-1 lead in the first period. In the second period, McMillion scored on a reversal, went to the double-arm bar and put Beck on his back for the pin.

Ryan White (152) took to the mat against John King from Milton-Union. With King in the lead at the start of the second period, White got control and took the lead with near fall points. The near fall points were earned when White put King on his back, but the clock for the second period ran out as the referee was slapping the mat. The two continued the battle through the third period and White came out the victor.

In a cross-county match, it was Jake Wise against Bill Heilman from Miami East. At the end of the first period, neither wrestler had scored, but that changed in the second period. Wise took the shot, but Heilman countered and eventually pinned Wise.

The last match of the consolation rounds put Josh Shefbuch on the mat against Jacob Welty from Graham Black. Shefbuch, wrestling up a weight class, gave Welty all he could handle, but it just wasn't enough and Welty won the match.

Semi-finals
The semi-finals of the championship rounds kicked off next with Matt Breisch (112) and Zac Peterson of Graham Black. Breisch met his match in Peterson and fought through two periods before getting pinned.

The next Buccaneer on the mat was Josh McMillion (125 lbs) against Adam Wittle from Indian Lake. McMillion had it rough and lost the match by pin.

Following McMillion was Dylan Gustin (119) against Jordan Bair from Graham Black. Gustin took it to Bair in the second round and after a marathon near fall, Gustin finally got the pin at 3:52 to advance to the finals.

Consolation quarter-finals
The consolation semi-finals were the next order of the day. In a re-match from an earlier tournament, Sam Herron (103) went up against Cody Harding from Kenton Ridge. Herron took a 7-2 lead into the third period and built on that lead until he pinned Harding with twenty-one seconds left on the clock.

Next up was Jake Jennings (140). He matched up against Hayne Housley from Troy. Housley initially took down Jennings, but Jennings got the reverse followed by two near fall points. The two grapplers battled through the second period, which ended knotted up 7-7. Jake began the third period from the bottom position and earned an escape only to be taken down by Housley making the score 8-9 in favor of Housley. Housley locked hands from the top position giving Jake a penalty point to again tie the score 9-9. With Jake still in the bottom position and time running out, Jake scored a reversal from a switch with 5 seconds left to earn an exciting Buccaneer victory.

Next up at 145 pounds was Justin McMillion vs Ben Retherford of Kenton Ridge - a wrestler who beat McMillion, 14-9, earlier in the season. Justin made short work out of the Cougar using a double grapevine to secure the fall in the first period.

Ryan White (152) must have liked what he saw from Justin's match, as Ryan followed suit with a first period pin over Fairborn's Micah Gwin.

Consolation Semi-finals
Matt Breisch (112) wrestled a close match against Miami East‚s Chris Heiss. Late in the third period with Matt ahead by a narrow margin of 3-2, Matt stayed aggressive and scored a takedown to secure a 5-2 victory and advance to the consolation finals.

Just as the starting whistle blew, Josh McMillion (125) hit an awesome throw against Lucas Fowler from Springfield North to put Fowler straight to his back. The head-and-arm toss earned Josh a pin with just 21 ticks off the clock.

Other Buccaneers who dropped bouts in this round - sending them to the fifth/sixth place match - include Sam Herron (103), Jake Jennings (140), Justin McMillion (145), and Ryan White (152).

Finals
The final matches began in a random-like order as opposed to the conventional 103 lb. start. Up first, Justin McMillion faced Cody Ray of Indian Lake in a battle for fifth place at the 145 lb. weight class. Battling illness, Justin couldn't keep up with his opponent, dropping the bout and finishing in 6th place.

Josh McMillion (125) took the mat next against the #3 seed Daniel Edwards of Greenville in a match to determine third place. The bout was tied, 2-2, heading into the third period, but Edwards scored a takedown and nearfall to win 7-3, dropping McMillion to 6th place.

At 152 lbs, Ryan White faced his old teammate, Kyle Chalmers of Troy. In a back-and-forth match, White came up on the short end, losing 6-8 to finish 6th.

Sam Herron (103) gave Covington its first win in the finals as he took the mat against Brandon Miller of Northwestern in a match to determine fifth place. Sam took control early and never looked back, winning by a pin in the second period.

At 140 lbs, Jake Jennings gave the Buccs another win with a victory over Joshua Buck of Belmont. Jennings finished in fifth place by pinning Buck after building a 7-2 lead.

In the final two matches of the tournament, freshman Matt Breisch (112) and Dylan Gustin (119) dropped their bouts to Zane Rove of Troy, 8-0, and Ben Ballentine of Springfield North, by fall, respectively. Breisch finished up in fourth place for the Buccs, while Gustin ended up as tournament runner-up.

The Buccs have a week off before traveling to Tipp City for a tri meet with the Red Devils and the Troy Trojans on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Final Team Scores:
Indian Lake - 200.5
Greenville - 192.5
Troy - 185.5
Graham Black - 178
Miami East - 120
Springfield North - 112
Kenton Ridge - 102
Covington - 98
Xenia - 90
Springfield Shawnee - 75
Fairborn - 63
Northwestern - 41.5
Tippecanoe - 40.5
Milton Union - 26
Belmont - 16