The youngest Orange wrestling team in recent memory may be finding its stride at the right time.
After finishing 4th in the DASH Tournament in Willow Springs last weekend, the Panthers won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham on Saturday. The Panthers had five individual champions, four of whom won titles for the first-time in their varsity careers.
Orange captured the team championship with 212.5 points, it’s first team tournament championship this season. Cary finished 2nd at 154 points. Person finished third at 132.5 points.
Senior heavyweight Juan Navarro, who finished 2nd last year at Riverside, won the first individual championship of his career. For the third time this season, Navarro faced a challenger from Person in a tournament. This time, it was Noah Harris, who replaced starter Marcus Vincent due to illness. Navarro defeated Harris 3-1, his 30th win of the season and the 69th of his Orange.
Panther freshman Dillon Heffernan won the 106-pound title. Heffernan, who won two Orange-Person Athletic Conference championships at Stanford Middle School, quite literally held on to defeat Cary’s Aki Hason 4-3 in the championship match.
At 113 pounds, Orange’s Joshua Dunn pinned Cary’s Ezra Jack at 3:19 in the final. Dunn pinned Wakefield’s Luke DiGiuseppe in 1:37 in the semifinals.
Tayton Alvis earned his 20th win of the season in the 145-pound championship match, where he defeated Wakefield’s Terry Edwards 4-1.
At 160 pounds, Korbin Nevius pinned Cary’s Jake Wolfram in 1:53 to win the championship. Nevius is now 23-9 with ten pins this season.
Navarro, who narrowly missed qualifying for the 3A State Championships last year, had a scoreless first period against Harris. Early on, Harris grabbed Navarro’s leg in a single-leg attempt, but Navarro stood on one leg long enough to regain his balance.
In the second period, Harris scored the initial escape point, but Navarro got Harris’ back for the only takedown of the match. Navarro fended off Harris’ takedown attempts in the third period.
In the 106 pound match, Hason led 3-2 at the end of the second period. Starting from the bottom in the third period, Heffernan scored a reversal to take a 4-3 lead 19 seconding the frame. After two restarts, Heffernan held on to an arm bar and Hason looked for an escape to even the match, but ultimately couldn’t find a way out.
At 113 pounds, Jack led Dunn 2-1 at the end of the first period after a reversal. In the second period, Dunn worked from the bottom to gain Jack’s back, then clamped on a half-nelson to force Jack’s right shoulder down for the pin at 3:18.
Brandon Worsham nearly became the sixth Panther to win a championship on the afternoon. He finished runner-up at 182 pounds, narrowly falling to Wesley Sharpe of Voyager Academy 2-1. Worsham battled for an escape point in the final seconds that could have sent the match to overtime.
This week, Orange looks to complete another undefeated run through the Big 8 Conference. The Panthers, with a 23-2 overall record, 5-0 in the Big 8, will travel to Northern Durham on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the Panthers host Chapel Hill for Senior Night. If Orange defeats the Tigers, the Panthers will clinch its 17th consecutive conference championship.