SMA wrestling team, with four district champs, gets mindset from its coach

Clarence Arrington is finally getting to finish what he started.

The Sarasota Military Academy wrestling coach came to the school in 2012 after retiring from active duty. His job was to coach JROTC and lead the newly created wrestling program.

The Eagles were not eligible for the postseason in their inaugural year and Arrington would not get the chance to lead them to glory in the years that followed. The administration chose to replace Arrington with Hall of Fame coach Ron Jones in 2013.

It's not like Arrington lacked experience. He wrestled at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and in the U.S. Army's World Class Athlete program. He then started his own youth academy while stationed in Fort Hood, Texas, called the Fort Hood Mat Katz.  

Arrington went to coach Braden River High, remaining on as SMA’s JROTC coach. When Jones left before the 2016-2017 season, the administration asked Arrington back to the program.

That turned out to be a great decision. The program won the Class 1A-11 district title on Feb. 17, and won the duals district title (one school vs. one school) over Lakewood High on Jan. 6. Four Eagles won their weight class at the February event, and nine wrestlers qualified for the regional tournament overall.

Arrington’s military mindset, and that of his athletes, makes SMA the perfect place to cultivate a wrestling culture. There is no football team to steal the school’s strongest athletes. Students are taught discipline. Attitude matters. When 10 retired Army drill sergeants roam the walkways every day, you learn to do things perfectly, Arrington said. Senior wrestler Jacobe Scott said it helps him get in a wrestling zone. He’s always calm, he said, so there are no nerves during a match, and he’s never distracted.

“I’ve known the veteran kids since they were freshmen,” Arrington said. “It’s easier to get them (SMA students) to practice. They have tougher skin and take everything in stride.”

Another advantage: Wrestling is a year-round activity at SMA. Outside of the Florida High School Athletic Association season, Arrington takes his team to tournaments everywhere from New Orleans to Chattanooga, his old stomping grounds. The team even participated in a preseason nationals tournament at Northern Iowa University this year.

Practice, the Eagles do. Senior wrestler Mason Gordon, who won the 170-pound division at districts, said Arrington biggest impact has been in the details. Arrington helped Gordon with his positioning of his head and trigger hand on high crotch takedowns. Scott agreed, saying Arrington is “very demanding” but has helped him gain confidence on the mat.

Arrington knew this group had potential after the school’s holiday break. Usually, he said, the wrestling room starts crowded and thins as the months pass. This year, the thinning was less severe. SMA has enough kids (12) for a full lineup, plus second-stringers alongside them, waiting for a chance in future years. Arrington said he looks up to those kids the most.

“We all improved a lot over the summer,” Gordon said. “We just had to do what we were capable of doing.”

Having finally received a chance to do what he was hired to do, Arrington and his team have made the most of the opportunity, and they’re not done proving themselves yet.