COVINGTON – The Versailles wrestling team passed an early-season test on Tuesday as it beat Covington 35-22.
Covington has been one of Versailles’ toughest challenges in recent years so it was nice to get a win against the Buccaneers, coach A.J. Bey said.
“It’s good,” he said. “We’re going to see them here in a couple weeks at our invitational, and I’m sure we’ll have to go through them for the state duals and stuff like that. So we’re going to see them at least two more times. Things change. We’ll see what happens. The last one is the one that counts, so we’ll see what happens.”
In Tuesday’s matchup, Covington started out with a 4-0 lead as Covington’s Lance Miller won a 16-4 major decision at against Versailles’ Corey Dieringer in the 160-pound match.
Versailles took an 8-4 lead with the Tigers’ Jonathan Moorman defeating Deron White 7-3 at 170 pounds and Bo Bey winning by a 15-0 technical fall over Joey Schmelzer at 182 pounds.
Covington tied the match at 8-8 in the 195 matchup as Brandon Magee won an 11-2 major decision against Versailles’ Jacob Rismiller.
Versailles then took a lead it held the rest of the match beginning Kyle Gigandet pinning the Buccs’ Bryce Keiser 1:14 into the 220-pound match, putting the Tigers ahead 14-8.
Versailles’ Jeffrey Ware then won a close 4-3 decision over Covington’s Seth Thomas in the 285-pound match to extend the Tiger lead to 17-8.
The Tigers continued their winning streak in the 106-pound match with Jacob Poling pinning Covington’s Alexis Roth 90 seconds into the matchup, making the score 23-8 in favor of Versailles.
Covington broke Versailles’ winning streak in the 113-pound match with the Buccs’ Connor Ryan winning a 14-4 major decision against Versailles’ Marcus Marshal to make the score 23-12.
Versailles got a win in the 120-pound match with Preston Platfoot defeating Covington’s Coleman Ryan 7-5 to put the Tigers up 26-12.
In the 126-pound match Covington’s Jared Ford beat Versailles’ Steven Mangen 6-0 to cut the Tiger lead to 26-15.
Versailles’ Kyle Wuebker then beat Covington’s Keringten Martin 6-4 in the 132-pound match to put Versailles up 29-15.
Covington stayed in contention in the match with Ryan Ford defeating Versailles’ Tanner Bey 13-5 in the 138-pound match, cutting the Tiger lead to 29-19.
Versailles’ Tyler Gigandet lost a 7-1 decision to Covington’s Josh Sowers in the 145-pound match but secured the overall victory for the Tigers as they led 29-22 with just one match left.
In the final match of the evening, Versailles’ Nathan Henry pinned Gage Dehart with 26 seconds left in the second period of the 152-pound match to give Versailles a 35-22 win.
It was a well-rounded match for Versailles, Coach Bey said, as the Tigers continued to look strong in the early portion of the season.
“We had a good week last week up at Sidney, and the kids came out and wrestled real well,” Coach Bey said. “The kids stuck in there, and they gave up some regular losses instead of some majors and stuff so the kids are wrestling well.”
While there’s still a lot of season left, Coach Bey is optimistic about the outlook for the Tigers’ season.
“Anything can happen,” he said. “It’s pretty early, but we’re going to be solid.”
