Stone tops new martial arts team standings

HEAVYWEIGHT Richard Stone amassed 49 points, edging Trinidad and Tobago-based Nicholas Dusard by a point, to top the Jamaica combined martial arts team rankings for 2016, gaining first pick for the 2017 squad.

Stone earned six points on the local-tournament circuit to edge Dusard's five, giving him the top spot. Both fighters accumulated 43 points on the international stage, each closing their seasons with silver medals at October's World Association of Kick-boxing Organisations (WAKO) Pan-Am Championship in Cancun, Mexico.

"It was hard to gather the points but I tried my best to persevere at all the competitions. This year should be harder with the competition increased," said the 24-year-old, who recently graduated with a degree in environmental biology from the University of the West Indies.

"I plan to defend my title in Greece at the International Sports Kick-boxing Association's (ISKA) Amateur Member Association World Championship," he added.

Stone and Dusard were followed by Ackeem Lawrence and new captain, Adrian Moore, who tallied 37 and 31 points, respectively.

Lawrence, a lightweight, was the star of last summer, winning gold on the ESPN-televised Night of Champions at the United States Open in Orlando, Florida.

Moore won gold at the December 2-3 International Karate Circuit Year End Nationals in Georgia. He had also won a points-sparring silver at May's ISKA World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany, and bronze at July's United States Open.

Akino Lindsay clinched fifth spot with 29 points ahead of Nicholai Reid and United States-based Kenneth Edwards (26), who earned all his points on the overseas circuit.