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| Brian Olson became the sixth state placer in school history by taking 6th at 182 pounds. |
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Covington entered this season with a lot of excitement as they returned a talented group of hard-working wrestlers. The team overcame a number of obstacles – having no seniors and typically forfeiting four weight classes – to produce another very successful campaign. Despite spotting opposing teams up to 24 team points, the Buccs finished with a 21-6 dual meet record – their 4th straight season of 20 or more victories. Head-to-head, the team was only beaten twice in duals. Their victories included solid wins over Springfield, Tipp City and Troy, and an exciting victory by tie-breaking criteria over Tri-County North to claim their sixth straight championship at the Covington Duals and their 10th straight unofficial Cross-County Conference title. The team also finished as runners-up at the Northeastern Duals.
The Buccs also performed very well in tournaments throughout the season. Competing as one of the smallest schools at the GMVWA Holiday tournament, Covington finished 21st out of 53 teams and had three placers – Kyler Deeter, Ben Miller and Brian Olson – for the first time since 2007. Afterwards, the Buccs put in a solid performance at the Troy Invitational, taking 5th place out of 17 teams with six placers. Making their first appearance at the Lima Central Catholic (LCC) Invitational, the team finished 16th out of 37 squads as Kyler Deeter, Jake Sowers and Brian Olson each placed at the prestigious tournament. Additionally, the Jr. Varsity wrestlers combined to place nine times, despite having two of their events cancelled due to weather.
Covington put in another strong performance at Sectionals as they finished in 3rd place out of fifteen schools and qualified seven wrestlers to Districts – Brock Smith, Kyler Deeter, Jake Sowers, Cole Smith, Ben Miller, Brian Olson and Justin Daniel – for the first time since 2009. At Districts, the Buccs finished in 10th place out of 49 schools – up two spots from last season, and their highest finish since placing 7th in 2001. The team qualified two wrestlers to the state tournament – Kyler Deeter and Brian Olson – while Jake Sowers became a state alternate. Brian finished as a District runner-up, while Kyler placed 3rd and Jake, 5th.
At the State Championships, both Brian Olson and Kyler Deeter represented Covington well. Brian Olson became just the fifth Covington junior to place at state and sixth state placer in school history as he earned a 6th place medal. This gives the Buccs at least one state placer in seven of the past eight seasons. Kyler Deeter finished as Covington’s 15th two-time state qualifier.
Both wrestlers added their names to the record books this year. Kyler Deeter finished this season 5th in Single Season Wins (49), 3rd in Single Season Pins (32), 6th in Single Season Takedowns (150) and 4th in Single Season Team Points (268). Kyler now stands 3rd in Career Wins (134), 4th in Career Pins (77), 6th in Career Near Fall (119), 6th in Career Takedowns (292) and 4th in Career Team Points (728). Brian Olson finished 10th in Single Season Wins (45), 9th in Single Season Takedowns (119) and 10th in Career Takedowns (248).
Congratulations to everyone on the team for the effort you put in and the successes you achieved. With everyone returning and working hard, next season can be a very memorable one. A special thanks to volunteer coach Tony Smith, jr. high coaches Mike Stephan and Todd Vanderhorst and youth coaches Randy Sowers and Brad Hall. We also want to thank Ben Robinson, Rob Kiser and the Piqua Daily Call for their outstanding coverage in the newspaper and BuccsWrestling.com, statistician Chelsea Wackler and the Wrestling Parents and others who supported the team this year.
Coaches Tom Barbee, Eric Vanderhorst
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