PHILADELPHIA - At the conclusion of the NCAA Wrestling Championships,

senior

showed his resiliency as he bounced back to capture fifth place in 174-pound weight class in his second match of the morning Saturday.

Earlier in the session, Covington was on the wrong side of a lop-sided loss to Cornell's Mack Lewnes before defeating Virginia's Chris Henrich, 3-2 in the fifth-place match. Covington earned All-American honors for the second consecutive year, but he focused more on what he failed to achieve -- a national championship.

"It hurts, it's something that stings. I don't get another chance to come back here next year," said Covington, who was the only OSU wrestler to advance to the tournament's final day. "I don't train to be an All-American, I train to be the best."

In the match with Henrich, Covington was deadlocked in the third period with his opponent after they both traded escapes in the second period.

Covington, who said he prides himself on his conditioning, saw an opportunity to strike Henrich as he grasped both arms around his opponent's waist and slammed him back first into the mat for the two-point takedown which was the difference in the match.

"I knew I could be patient in the first and then in the second and third just wear on him. I have better conditioning and I can tell when guys are breaking," Covington said.

After one year at Iowa, the Oregon native spent the final two years of his college career with the Beavers. As he paced down the hallway of the Wells Fargo Center toward the locker room, he admitted that it hadn't really hit him that he had just wrestled his last collegiate match. He said he plans to stay involved with wrestling as his career winds down.

"It was the greatest two years of my life, I wish that I would've came here from the beginning because I know I would've been a national champion," said Covington. He was the only Beaver to be named an All-American, an honor given to the top eight from each weight class.

The team finished in 21st place with 26 points.