For two decades, it has been an annual tradition for the Orange wrestling team to compete for a Big 8 Championship in the final days of January.
It will be no different this year.
On Tuesday night, the Panthers defeated Northern Durham 81-0 at Poe Gymtorium in Durham to officially clinch a birth in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament. Now, the Panthers will have 24 hours to face Chapel Hill in Hillsborough.
The Panthers, now 23-3 overall, 6-0 in the Big 8, will go for its 17th consecutive championship on Thursday night.
Northern had several athletes out due to illness. Of the 14 matches, Orange won nine by forfeit.
The only match of the evening that went the distance came at 152 pounds, where Noah Davis defeated Shamari Zachan 8-4. Davis is 25-15 on the season.
Tyler Larkin, Juan Navarro, Josh Dunn, John-Michael Bourlon, Kessel Summers, Matthew Smith-Breeden, Henry Joubert-Stenzel, Korbin Nevius and Nathan Hecht all had forfeit wins for Orange.
Navarro, a senior heavyweight, claimed the 70th victory of his career. Summers now has 34 wins, which leads the team. Smith-Breeden, who won the opening two matches of the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High on December 20, improved to 33-13.
The Panthers claimed four wins via pinfall. At 106 pounds, freshman Dillon Heffernan defeated Khamain Dixon in 2:53. Heffernan, who won the Silver Fox Invitational at nearby Riverside High School on Saturday, is 29-14 with 13 pins this season.
Tayton Alvis, who won the 145-pound championship at the Silver Fox, pinned Northern’s Chelsey Posadas in only 18 seconds. It was Alvis’ 14 pin of the year and his 21st victory.
At 182 pounds, Brendon Worsham pinned Hayden Douglas in 1:38. Worsham improved to 26-12 with 16 pins in his first season as a starter.
Xavier Tinnen completed the sweep for the Panthers by pinning Tyler Kendall at 195 pounds in 2:39. Tinnen improved to 18-6 with ten pins.
The winner of the Orange-Chapel Hill match will take the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference for the state dual tournament. The 32-team tournament begins Tuesday.
The top-seed from the Big 8 will face the #2 seed out of the Tri-County Conference. Currently, Western Harnett is in second place in the Tri-County, behind only Union Pines.
The 2nd round of the 3A State Dual tournament will take place moments after the first round ends at a location to be determined. The bracket opposite the #1 Big 8 seed has the champion of the Patriot Athletic Conference going against the #2 seed from the Coastal Conference.
Cape Fear, who defeated Orange in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs last year, is currently undefeated in the Patriot Athletic Conference.
The regional semifinals and finals of the state dual tournament will be held February 6 at a location to be determined. The 3A State Championship will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse on February 8.
Orange and Chapel Hill have battled for the Big 8 Championship each of the last four years. Typically the regular season finale for both teams, the Panthers defeated the Tigers 37-21 last year at Tiger Gymnasium. In 2018, Orange defeated Chapel Hill 60-15, and went on to win the 3A Eastern Regional Championship before falling to Piedmont in the state championship match.