VANDALIA — The annual GMVWA Holiday Tournament provides the Covington Buccaneers an opportunity to find out just where they stand midway through the season with hopes of making it to state. The competition is extremely tough with all of the brackets filled with state caliber wrestlers from all divisions in high school wrestling.

Prior to the tournament things looked very bleak for Covington as some of the wrestlers were not able to complete due to illness. This led to only five Buccaneers making the trip, seniors Carson Taylor, Michael Hagan, Jericho Quinter and Chase Vanderhorst, along with sophomore Caleb Ryman.

Amazingly, with just five wrestlers, the Buccaneers were able to finish 17th out of 67 teams and seventh out of 33 teams in the small school division. The 83 team points accumulated was due to all five wrestlers competing very well and four of them placing in the top eight in each respective weight class.

Chase Vanderhorst put together an amazing performance after missing out on several tournaments to start the season due to an injury. Vanderhorst finished runner-up at 138 pounds in a weight class that was loaded with so many state level wrestlers. Chase won his first two matches via pin over Aaron Wells of Springfield (1:27) and over Trent Thompson of Tippecanoe (0:45). He followed with a 15-0 technical fall victory over Tanner Sampson of Brookville to advance to the semifinal against #2 seed Hayden Hughes of Graham, who is a returning state runner-up in Division II. In the semifinal match, Chase wrestled extremely well by staying technically sound against a very talented wrestler. Vanderhorst’s technique and discipline led to a 7-3 victory over Hughes and an opportunity in the championship match against Drew Gorman of Buford, who is a Virginia Tech wrestling commit. Vanderhorst came up short in the championship match against Gorman, but the loss didn’t diminish the overall performance of the Buccaneer senior who is hoping to become the fourth Covington wrestler to earn a third state medal.

Jericho Quinter placed fifth at 126 pounds in a loaded weight class. Quinter won his first three matches by defeating Kael Dodson of Lima Shawnee via 1:46 pin, pinning Christian Wilson of Carroll in 1:14 and then recording a 13-5 major decision victory over Yhantg Irwin of Vandalia-Butler. Irwin went on to finish fourth, which shows just how competitive this tournament is. Quinter dropped a bout to returning state placer Nathan Attisano of Legacy Christian, who went on to win the 126 pound weight class. Jericho then fell to Blaine Demarco of Graham, who finished third, and followed with a victory over Leroy Steagall of Indian Valley via forfeit to finish fifth.

Michael Hagan finished sixth at 132 pounds. He won his first two matches with an 8-1 decision against Evan Boulton of Springboro and a 1-0 victory over Cade O’Banion on Tecumseh. Hagan lost in the quarterfinals to returning state champion Dillon Campbell of Legacy Christina, who went on to win the 132 pound weight class. Michael battled his way back in the consolation rounds by pinning Zane Pickerrell (who placed seventh) of Zane Trace in 19 seconds and the defeating returning state qualifier Nolan Earles of Preble Shawnee 7-1. Hagan then fell to Kane Shawger of St. Xavier, who placed third. In his match for fifth place, Hagan came up short in a 5-3 overtime loss to Kaygen Roberts of Boyle County.

Carson Taylor finished seventh at 113 pounds by winning four of the six matches he wrestled. Taylor opened the tournament with a 57 second pin of Trystin Kennedy of Springfield and followed with a 17-1 technical fall victory over Tate Ditto of Lima Shawnee. He lost in the quarterfinal to D.J. Clarke of Buford, who eventually claimed first place in the weight class. Taylor rebounded with a 2:04 pin of Owen Koerner of St. Xavier, but lost a close 7-6 decision in the final seconds to Bronko Braun of Indian Valley, who placed fourth. Taylor finished out the tournament with a 1:29 pin of Brennen East of Walton-Verona for seventh place.

PIQUA

Piqua senior Max Kaye (144) had a strong showing, finishing fourth.

Kaye advanced to the quarterfinals with three wins, including a pin and a tech fall.

After losing to Max Ellis of Waynesville by major decision, Kaye recorded a tech fall win over Garrett Meador of Oakwood, pinned Max Weimer of Springboro and won by default over Brady Willman of Miamisburg.

In the third place match, he lost a 4-3 decision to Landon McCargish of Northmont.

TIPPECANOE

Tippecanoe’s Collin Isaac (150) finished fifth.

Isaac advanced to the quarterfinals with three wins, including a major decision.

After losing by pin to Luke Dolan of Brookville, Isaac pinned Ethan Carpenter of Ben Logan and won a 6-2 decision over Rostyslave of Ben Logan.

After being pinned by Clayton Shaddix of Great Crossing, Isaac won a 6-0 decision over Nathan Barnes of Big Walnut in the fifth-place match.

TROY CHRISTIAN

Troy Christian’s Caleb Slide (126) finished eighth.

Slife battled all the way back through consolation after losing by pin in his opening match to Yhantg Irwin of Vandalia-Butler.

He pinned Eli Stacy of Tippecanoe and Finn Bokros of Oakwood before decisioning Tristan Cromer of Clear Fork.

Slife followed that with a pin of Hayden Steinke of Troy, before losing an 8-2 decision to Irwin and being pinned by Josiah Puller of Wilmington in the eighth place match.