CHESAPEAKE CITY — Kent County High School senior Scottie Ford added more hardware to his trophy case last month with another tournament title.
He was crowned the 165-pound champion at the annual Battle at the Bridge, Jan. 9-10 at Bohemia Manor High School, after winning the Andy Perez Memorial Tournament and the Kent Holiday Tournament on back-to-back weekends in December.
Kent County placed ninth in the 17-school tournament, thanks to four wrestlers who reached the podium — Ford; senior Noah Iacona, second at 144 pounds; sophomore JJ Hinefelt, third at 113 pounds; and freshman Jake Stumpf, fourth at 138 pounds.
Ford was head and shoulders above everyone else in his weight class, giving up just three points overall in three bouts and justifying his first-round bye as the top seed.
Ford was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler in the upper weights.
In the quarterfinal round he scored an 18-2 technical fall over Gavin Logullo of Middletown, Delaware in 1 minute, 33 seconds and in the semifinals he excused Terrence Clark of Conrad School of Science, Delaware with a 16-1 tech fall in 1:42.
Ford wrapped up his championship run with a 7-0 decision of North Caroline’s Michael Dyke, the No. 3 seed.
Iacona also received a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed in his weight class.
He advanced with a pair of decisions — 8-3 against Alex Soto of St. Elizabeth, Delaware and 9-8 against Tyler White of Conrad School of Science — to reach the finals, where he was beaten on points by top seed Jacob Carpenter of North Caroline.
Carpenter advanced with a pair of tech falls, 17-1 and 16-0.
Hinefelt wrestled back to place third after losing in the semifinal round by technical fall to top seed and eventual champion Gavin Conteras of Elkton.
He was unscored upon in the consolation bracket, pitching a 9-0 shutout against Queen Anne’s Trevan Jackson and then 3-0 against Gabriel DiCcecco of Penncrest, Pennsylvania.
Stumpf, the No 2 seed in his weight class, made an early exit from the main draw after a 7-3 loss to eventual runner-up Kyle Napolin of Middletown in the second round.
Like Iacona and Ford, Stumpf received a first-round bye.
In the wrestlebacks, he defeated Ben Rutledge of Marple Newtown, Pennsylvania, 7-0, and Maverick Perry of North East, 13-4.
In the bout for third and fourth, Stumpf lost by major decision to Penncrest’s Jack Galloway.
Kent County’s tournament contingent included Beckett Vivier (126 pounds), Noel Farinacci (150 pounds), Aidan Butler (175 pounds), Danny Harris (190 pounds) and Caleb George (285 pounds). They did not score any team points.
What’s next: Weather and road conditions permitting, Kent County will host Parkside on Friday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.
