Bulldawg wrestling gets underway at Ellison

By TJ MAXWELL

Cove Leader-Press

The varsity boys wrestling team ended the Ellison Dual tournament with a 4th-place team finish. The standouts were Lane Teeter (3-0), Michael Venardos (3-2), Dalton Penick (3-2) and Christian Schaefer (3-2). 

“This was our first tournament of the year and I was proud of our kids and how they battle all the teams,” said Cove head wrestling coach Jeremy Shannon. “We have lots to improve upon.”

On Friday, the Cove varsity girl and the junior varsity boys went to Ellison and competed. 

“Of the 18 kids that we took, 16 medaled in there respective weight classes,” said Shannon. The varsity girls included Jasmine Kim, Arianna Martinez, Kaylan Sullivan, Ariel Lewis, Jordan Welsh and Haley Petet.  

The JV boys included Tre Lout, Tyler Teeter, Michael Venardos, Jeremiah Donaldson, Adam Smalley, Carlos Santiago, Dalton Penick, Jose Ortiz, Jonathan Grabowski, Alex Hartman, Matthew Clemente and Ethan Binz. 

“Early in the season this is a good confidence booster to propel us into the season,” said Shannon. “The biggest thing for these kids is just to get an opportunity to get on the mat and compete. The more mat time they get the better they will be.”

Cove returns to the mat Thursday at shoemaker for a 5:30 p.m. match.