Sam Angle picks up a pin against Tipp City.

The Covington high school wrestling team traveled to Brookville to face the Blue Devils along with Twin Valley South on Monday night.  The Buccs started off strong with a 60-9 triumph over South, but fell short against Brookville, dropping a 48-32 contest after spotting the Blue Devils 18 points in forfeits.

Seven of Covington’s eleven varsity wrestlers went undefeated on the evening.  At 119 lbs, Bryton Lear earned two first period pins over South’s Larry Webb and Brookville’s Jared Cruea.  Kyler Deeter (130) also picked up a pair of pins over South’s James Pemberton and Brookville’s Nick Lipinski.  At 135 and 140 lbs, both Brandon Flora and Tyler Tebbe each picked up a pin over Twin Valley South and a technical fall over Brookville. 

Andrew DeHart (152) earned a pair of pins over South’s Zachary Well and Brookville’s district qualifier Brendan Osborn, while at 171 lbs, Brian Olson racked up seven takedowns and a pin over South’s Joseph Taulbee before battling to a 12-1 major decision over Cameron Dunn of Brookville.  Sam Angle (145) finished 1-0 on the night.

Going 1-1 for the Buccs were Brock Smith (125, pin), A.J. Ouellette (160) and Justin Daniel (189, pin).  Cody Burton (215) dropped both his bouts, but scored a nice takedown against Brookville’s Connor Domsitz.

At 145 lbs, Jake Sowers dropped a varsity match against Brookville’s David Williams, but earned a pin in reserve action versus Logan Bray.  Joining Sowers with reserve victories over Brookville were D.J. Jennings (130, pin) and Alex Fries (140, pin).  First-year wrestler Kody Von Aschen (125) had things clicking with a 12-2 lead, but was caught and pinned in a nice move by Brookville.  Also competing were Alex Bitner (145), Dalton Bordelon (152) and Gage Looker (160).

Covington hosts Coldwater and Lehman this Thursday, January 20, at the high school.  Wrestling begins at 6 pm.

Northwestern JV Invitational
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Covington reserve wrestling team competed at the Northwestern JV wrestling tournament and brought home plenty of hardware.  All nine of the Bucc's competing wrestlers placed in the top-three of the eight-team event.  Team scores were not kept.

Going undefeated (3-0) for first place in their weight classes were Bryton Lear (125), Jake Sowers (140) and Dalton Bordelon (160).  Lear and Bordelon both pinned all three of their opponents while Sowers earned two pins.

Two Buccaneers finished as runners-up to their own teammates as both Zach Shilt (125) and Alex Fries (140) pinned their way to silver medals.  In an inspiring match, Fries battled back from a 9-point deficit to lead and then pin the third-place finisher from Milton-Union in an exciting bout. 

Also finishing in second place for Covington were Alex Bitner (145, 1 pin), with another come-from-behind victory, and Cody Burton (215, 1 pin).

Both Gage Looker (160) and Cody Adams (189) took third place for the bronze medal.  Looker picked up several key takedowns for a victory in his placement match with a Wayne wrestler.

Covington travels to Brookville on Monday in a double dual with the Blue Devils, Mechanicsburg and Twin Valley South.