VANDALIA —The Covington wrestling team put in a strong performance at the GMVWA Holiday wrestling tournament, finishing in fifth place out of the 29 Division II and III schools, and finishing in 8th place overall out of the 53 teams..

Carson Taylor (106) led the Buccs with a runner-up finish , dropping a 25-10 technical fall to Graham’s Beric Jordan. Taylor earned his fourth consecutive pin over Mason’s Marsel Sabirdjanov to advance to the finals.

Michael Hagan (113) and Izaiah Sherman (175) both finished in fourth place for the Buccs.

Hagan fell to eventual champion Brogan Tucker in the semifinals before pinning Springboro’s Michael Gosselin in the consolation semifinals, then dropped a tight 5-4 decision to Legacy Christian state runner-up Eli Campbell in his final bout.

Sherman fell to Kentucky state champion Noah Duke of Ryle in the semi-finals, before rebounding with a pin over Springboro’s Jack Hoffman, then dropped a 12-5 decision to Miami Trace’s Kylan Knapp.

Jensen Wagoner (190) finished in 7th place for Covington with a win by injury default over Piqua’s Landen Martin. Wagoner pinned his fifth consolation round opponent, Connor Whitt of Ben Logan, then won by forfeit over Miami Trace’s Jayden LeBeau, before falling to Vandalia-Butler’s Tyler Pennington.

Jericho Quinter (120) fell one win away from placing, dropping a close 2-0 overtime decision to Jonathan Alder’s state alternate Xavier Pierce. Connor Sindelir (157) dropped a back-and-forth 7-4 decision to Wapakoneta’s Corbin Mitchell in the fifth consolation round.

Piqua, Milton-Union and Tippecanoe all had one wrestler place.

Piqua’s Landen Martin (190) took eighth, Milton-Union’s Nathan Barker (150) took eighth and Tippecanoe’s Alex Shellhammer (175) took eighth.

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