WORTON — The 51st edition of the Kent Holiday Tournament, one of the longest-running high school wrestling events in Maryland, kicks off today at 4 p.m and will continue on Saturday through to the varsity finals tentatively scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Kent County High School is hosting the 16-school tournament that has brackets for girls, junior varsity boys and varsity boys.
On the hour from 4 to 8 o’clock tonight there will be wrestling on multiple mats.
Action resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday.
For more, see https://sites.google.com/kent.k12.md.us/kchsholidaytournament/home?authuser=0
The Kent Holiday Tournament is the second tournament in as many weeks for the locals, who pulled back the curtain on their 2024-25 season Friday, Dec. 6 at the Andy Perez Memorial Tournament hosted by Cambridge-South Dorchester High School.
Coach Chris Yiannakis said he has come to think of that tournament as The Gauntlet “because if you survive it, you are ready for the season.”
“As usual we picked up a handful of injuries. Some will be a brief sideline and others probably season ending,” Yiannakis told The Evening Enterprise in an email.
For the newcomers, he said, “there was some internal distress — the fear of failing, dealing with loss and the pressure of performing.”
Senior Ethan Clark (8-1) had the best finish for the Trojans, second at 157 pounds.
Caesar Rodney’s Kenneth King defeated Clark in the championship bout, 8-4, in what Yiannakis described as a “great match.”
“The new 3-point takedown and 4-point near-falls are going to change what ‘close’ really is in a match,” he added.
Sophomore Avon Hubbard (2-6) placed sixth at 285, “doing well handling the lesser of his opponents and hanging with some more experienced ones,” Yiannakis said.
Others who finished were junior Noah Iacona, 4-4 at 138, and sophomore Landon Merritt, 2-7 at 126.
Three of Merritt’s losses came in matches that he was ahead. “His performance aside from the small positional mistakes was at a personal high level,” Yiannakis said.
JJ Hinefelt (113) and Cody Cummings (150) had their tournament cut short due to injuries.
According to coach Yiannakis, the varsity competition was especially steep with Caesar Rodney, Annapolis, North Caroline and Chopticon in the 13-school tournament field.
In the junior varsity event, Rhilynne Ashley-Pinder (113) and Tony Sanchez (190) went 2-2, while Alayna Brown (144) and James Owens (150) went 1-3 in their respective weight classes.
Ashley-Pinder demonstrated a great deal of technical skill, according to Yiannakis.
Sanchez won his first match by technical fall and another match by pin.
Brown recorded her first-ever win over a male opponent.
After losing his first two matches, Owens came out in his next match with a single leg to a half takedown and subsequent pin in just 34 seconds.
Leyder Cruz (285) suffered what appeared to be a season-ending injury in his first match.
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Clark, Iacona and junior Scottie Ford (150) head the list of returnees.
Injuries prevented Clark and Iacona from having full seasons last year, and Ford has just recently been medically cleared after suffering an injury during the football season.
Clark, who had two stints on the injured reserve list in 2023-24, went 14-2 at 150 pounds in limited action. He placed third in the Bayside Conference but, due to injury, opted not to wrestle in the state-qualifying region tournament.
Iacona was 12-9 at 126.
Ford is the most decorated of the returnees. He went 38-3 at 138 pounds, carrying an 18-match winning streak into the state tournament after capturing conference and region titles.
Sophomore Rhi Ashley-Pinder also was a state qualifier in the girls division.
“It’s going to be another bumpy ride this season,” Yiannakis said in his email to The Evening Enterprise.
He added, “We have a good group of returners, but with the loss of [2024 graduates] Anthony Wilson and Liam Gallo at the top end of the weights we will have an uphill battle to secure dual meet victories. That being said, the fresh faces give us hope of having depth throughout the rest of the roster which if done right will help us win some duals.”
Printed here is the roster prior to injuries suffered last weekend at the Andy Perez Tournament.
106: OPEN
113: freshman JJ Hinefelt; and sophomore Rhi Ashley-Pinder (110 girls)
120: sophomore Owen Hyland; and junior Nate Daley
126: sophomore Landon Merritt; and freshman Damian Sanchez-Whitley
132: OPEN
138: junior Noah Iacona
144 : freshman Barrett Gruszynski; sophomore Cody Cummings; and senior Alayna Brown (145 girls)
150: junior Scottie Ford; and sophomore James Owens
157: senior Ethan Clark
165: OPEN
175: OPEN
190: freshman Tony Sanchez
215: OPEN
285: sophomore Avon Hubbard; senior Leyder Cruz; and freshman Jayden Johnson
