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Chris Nutter won the sectional title in 1987 at 119 lbs.
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Since 1981, there have been 26 sectional champions come out of Covington High School. Seven Covington wrestlers captured the sectional title twice and two wrestlers did it three times.
In 1981, three wrestlers won sectional championships. Brad Hall (98 lbs.), Don Emenegger (132 lbs.) and Kirk Tisdale (155 lbs.). 1981 was followed up by one wrestler, Ryan Kimmel (138 lbs.), in 1982.
Four Covington wrestlers from one of the best wrestling teams in school history earned championships in 1983. Jim Shields (98 lbs.), Rob Vanderhorst (126 lbs.), Craig Vanderhorst (138 lbs.) and Jason Kingrey (167 lbs.) spearheaded a dominating class. Jim Shields, Craig Vanderhorst and Jason Kingrey earned back-to-back sectional championships in 1984 as they were joined by newcomer, Kent Musgrave (126 lbs.)
In 1985, Rob Vanderhorst (138 lbs.) won his second sectional title after failing the previous year.
Another strong group of wrestlers came along in 1986 and 1987 as two wrestlers won back-to-back sectional championships. Brian Olson (185 lbs.) and Scott Taylor (175 lbs.) were joined on the top podium by Mike Hagan (155 lbs.) in 1986 and Chris Nutter (119 lbs.) in 1987.
Two wrestlers from the 1988 team captured sectional gold. Tony Iddings (160 lbs.) and Tim Fitzpatrick (171 lbs.) represented the Buccs as sectional champions. Randy Sowers (160 lbs.) wrestled his way to a sectional title in 1989 to complete a decade of excellence.
The 1990s started with one wrestler becoming the first three-time sectional champion. Eric Vanderhorst won sectional titles in 1990 (152 lbs.), 1991 (171 lbs.) and 1992 (189 lbs).
No Covington wrestlers won sectional titles for three straight years from 1993-95, but Eric Hunt and Jason Durbin broke the streak in 1996. Hunt won his title at 145 lbs. while Durbin finished at the top spot at 189 lbs.
Two out of the next three years saw a Covington wrestler become a sectional champion as Noah Turner won a title at 152 lbs. in 1997 and Scot Fetters joined the list in 1999 at 215 lbs.
The next three years were dominated by Mike Stephan as he won titles in 2000 at 160 lbs., 2001 and 2002 at 171 lbs. Brandon Owens (171 lbs.) and Marti Finfrock (189 lbs.) joined Stephan on the victory stand in 2002 while Steve Batdorf won the 160 lb. class in 2001.
After a three-year droubt, the Buccs finally recorded their 26th sectional champion in junior, Logan Brown in 2005. After an unbeated regular season, Brown continued his domination in the sectional tournament at 189 lbs.
Brown duplicated the feat in 2006 and then went on to become Covington's first ever state champion and finish with a perfect 52-0 record.
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