WORTON — An injury suffered out-of-season kept Scottie Ford out of the lineup until the annual Kent Holiday Tournament here Dec. 13-14, when the KCHS junior went 5-0 to head the 150-pound bracket.
Ford pinned down his second Holiday title in as many years.
Also for host Kent County High School, in the coed varsity division, senior Ethan Clark was the runner-up at 157 pounds, sophomore Landon Merritt placed third at 126 and junior Noah Iacona finished sixth at 138.
Two other Trojans pulled out of the tournament after the first day.
In the girls varsity tournament, senior Alayna Brown was third at 155.
Freshman Tony Sanchez (183) and sophomore James Owens (140) placed second and fourth, respectively, in the junior varsity tournament.
“As far as all the wrestlers who finished the tournament, I believe we are right on track. Some more conditioning and continued drilling of the basics, and come end of season they will be in contention among their peers,” Kent County coach Chris Yiannakis told The Evening Enterprise in an email.
“Four top 3 placers and a 6th in the varsity tournaments is a nice accomplishment,” Yiannakis added. “JV had a great tournament as well, doubling their victories from the Andy Perez” [tournament at Cambridge-South Dorchester, Dec. 6-7.]
Speaking specifically about Ford and Clark, their coach said: “Our finalists are demonstrating what putting in the time and commitment can and will result in. Ethan and Scottie continue to excel despite injuries and illnesses. They are what I hope is not the last of a dying breed of athlete. An athlete who sees perseverance for what it is, a tool to reach any goal no matter how hard.”
This was the 51st edition of the Kent Holiday Tournament, founded by hall of fame coach Dan Zottarelli and now one of the longest-running tournaments in the state.
In the varsity tournament, defending champion Archbishop Curley, a private all-boys school in Baltimore, totaled a whopping 535 points to lead the 15-team field. The Friars boasted nine finalists, and crowned four champions.
For the second year in a row, William Penn Charter School of Pennsylvania placed second with 398.5 points.
Havre de Grace (358), Queen Anne’s (325) and Appoquinimink of Middletown, Delaware (321.5) rounded out the top five.
Kent County was ninth with 172 points — one spot better than last year.
Shorthanded KCHS filled fewer than half of the 14 weight classes.
Scottie Ford, who reached the finals after a pair of pins and a pair of technical falls, held off Appoquinimink’s Charles Hackett, 7-6, in the championship bout.
He scored the only takedown of the title tilt 48 seconds in, and by the end of the first period had built a 7-0 lead.
Working from the top to start the second period, Hackett turned Ford for a four-point nearfall with 35 seconds remaining in the period.
Ford, on the bottom again to start the third period, was penalized a point twice over the final 47 seconds for stalling — the last time with 3 seconds to go.
Ford decked Perryville’s Josiah Rose with 1:53 gone in their semifinal bout, which followed a 20-3 tech fall of Forest Park’s Justin Miller to complete pool competition.
Unbeaten Josh Allen of Bo Manor pinned Kent’s Ethan Clark early in the second period of their championship match to improve to 15-0.
Clark advanced with a 14-2 major decision of Appoquinimink’s Grant Garland in the semifinals.
Clark (14-2) had only three contested bouts in pool competition, and he won all three by pin — in 1:06, in 1:22 and in 3:02.
In last year’s tournament, Clark withdrew due to injury after winning his first two bouts and then receiving a bye.
Reaching the podium was a huge accomplishment for Landon Merritt (6-10), who was seventh last year in the same weight class.
Merritt was 3-1 in his pool to advance to the semifinals, where he was pinned by eventual champion Connor Birth of Havre de Grace.
In the consolation match for third and fourth, Merritt defeated Archbishop Curley’s Reef Kneidl, 17-10.
Noah Iacona (5-9) eliminated Queen Anne’s Jacob Carhart, 12-1, in a consolation semifinal, but then dropped a 6-2 decision to Forest Park’s Rodney Anderson in the match for fifth and sixth.
Alayna Brown went 2-2 in her weight class.
Her two wins were by pin — in 1:56 against Janna McClung of North Dorchester and in 3:26 against Bree Conard of Queen Anne’s — and her two losses were by pin, both in the first period.
In the junior varsity tournament, Tony Sanchez was undefeated through four rounds with two pins, a 15-0 tech fall and a forfeit. His only loss came in the final to Queen Anne’s Eli Denherder, an 11-0 major decision.
James Owens went 2-3, with all matches decided by fall.
In the consolation final, he was pinned by Cambridge’s Noah Maier.
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The Trojans resume their dual-match schedule Monday, Jan. 6 at home.
Heading into the winter break, they were battling sickness and injuries.
“Our plan was to use this time without a match to get in as much training as possible. Unfortunately, we will have to keep playing catch-up with all the ones missing out,” coach Chris Yiannakis told The Evening Enterprise. “Our hopes are to come through the break healthy and conditioned.”
Also, there are three wrestlers who need to be weight certified before they can compete.
Overall, Yiannakis said, “We have a core group of committed wrestlers including some of our new people that are going to carry us through. They may have to drag or push some of the others along, but we’ll compete if just for our own personal satisfaction of not giving in.”
