Covington explained why he completely eliminated alcohol from his life

“It was hard to go through because I was so young at the time. A 19 year old guy, not even an adult, just a small child, incapable of making good decisions. It was hard, really hard, because I had wanted to fight for Iowa all my life under Dan Gable and Tom Brands, and now I had become a failure in the eyes of these guys. They lost hope in me, they abandoned me. They didn't think I deserved a second chance.”