STEVENSVILLE — Kent County High School junior Scottie Ford repeated as a Bayside Conference champion and is looking to add a second consecutive region title to his impressive wrestling résumé.
Ford, classmate Noah Iacona and freshman Sabrina Tee advance to the Class 1A/2A East Region tournament this weekend at Queen Anne’s County High School.
The girls tournament was Friday.
The coed tournament, which is where Ford and Iacona will compete, is Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.
On the line is a berth in the state tournament March 6-8 at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.
Ford ran his record to 25-1 after capturing the 150-pound title Feb. 21 in the conference tournament held at Kent Island High School.
After a first-round bye, he advanced with an 18-1 technical fall over Wicomico’s Jourdan Norman in just 1 minute, 24 seconds and an early second-period pin of Colonel Richardson’s Anthony Alexander in the semifinals.
Ford then schooled Stephen Decatur’s Alex Riehl, 9-0, in the title bout.
Kent County also had a runner-up in senior Ethan Clark at 157 pounds. He improved to 33-3 on the season, with all three losses coming in tournament finals.
Like Ford, Clark also received a first-round bye. Then he stuck North Caroline’s Gabriel Glother in 1:10 and defeated Parkside’s Rocco Tully, 14-12, in the semis.
Stephen Decatur’s Amarian Manuel decisioned Clark, 17-10, in the final.
As the Bayside Conference champion, Ford was guaranteed a berth in the region tournament.
The top four place-finishers in each weight class at Baysides automatically qualified, which is how Clark punched his ticket.
In an email Friday morning, KCHS head coach Chris Yiannakis told The Evening Enterprise that Clark had opted not to compete in the regional tournament.
Iacona (19-17), who placed eighth in the conference at 138 pounds, accumulated enough points during the dual-match season to move on.
He went 2-3 at Baysides, winning by an 18-2 tech fall in the opening round and a 14-12 decision in the wrestlebacks. A 7-6 loss to Kent Island’s Gavin Taylor in the second round sent Iacona into the consolation bracket.
All told, KCHS entered seven wrestlers in the coed tournament and Tee in the girls tournament.
Tee placed fifth at 105 pounds.
Also competing for the Trojans: freshman JJ Hinefelt (13-13), sixth at 113 pounds; sophomore Landon Merritt (15-18), 125 pounds; sophomore James Owens (2-12), 144 pounds; and sophomore Avon Hubbard (11-19), eighth at 285 pounds.
In a previous email to The Evening Enterprise, Yiannakis said Ford performed well with his sights on a third consecutive trip to the state tournament and that Clark was “on top of his game” despite the loss in the finals.
“Noah, Landon and JJ are wrestling well. They just need to crest the peak to reach the next level. Each of them was in every match till the end,” Yiannakis wrote in the email.
Hinefelt is the first alternate for Saturday’s regional tournament.
Merritt was the second alternate, but pulled out because of a nagging shoulder injury, according to coach Yiannakis.