Head coach Tom Barbee and the Buccs look to send multiple wrestlers to the state meet in 2010.

Covington also captured its second consecutive Northeastern Invitational championship and had their best finish at the Troy Invitational – 3rd place – since 1984. The Buccs also qualified seven wrestlers to the district tournament – the most since 2000. Although the Buccs lost three wrestlers to graduation, they return a lot of talent this year, including a state placer, 5 district qualifiers and 9 returning letterman.

The Buccs will be led by seniors Matt Breisch, Aaron Devenport, Jerry Evans, Dylan Gustin, Josh McMillion and Josh Shefbuch. Breisch, McMillion and Shefbuch are all returning district qualifiers – Breisch qualifying three times and McMillion, twice. Gustin is a returning sectional placer, while Devenport is a two-year letterman.

The junior class includes Sam Angle, Lon Bitner, Andrew DeHart, Joe Evans and Tyler Tebbe. DeHart became Covington’s third two-time state placer with a 4th place finish at state last season. Angle is a returning district qualifier, while Tebbe is a district alternate, and Evans a returning letterman.

Rounding out the roster are sophomore Jamie Hess and freshmen Cody Adams, Alex Bitner, Cody Burton, Kyler Deeter, Bryton Lear, Brian Olson, D.J. Seger, Brock Smith and Jake Sowers.

The Buccs look forward to competing with the mix of Division 1, 2 and 3 teams that are on their schedule. Covington returns to the challenging GMVWA Holiday tournament and will return to the Versailles Invitational for the second season. The Buccs will also square off with some of the top dual-meet teams in the western part of the state, including Mechanicsburg, Coldwater, Troy, Dixie, Oakwood and Versailles. Additionally, the JV team will travel to some very competitive reserve tournaments including Preble Shawnee, Sidney, Versailles and Vandalia-Butler.

Covington has home meets with Oakwood, Mechanicsburg and Lehman and will once again host the Covington Duals tournament – which includes their Cross County Conference rivals, along with Lehman – where they hope to defend the first-place finishes they claimed the past three years. This season, the Buccs will travel to Lehman high school for the Division 3 sectional tournament – whose participants have proven to be the most successful among all divisions in Ohio at the state tournament over the past few years.