Month: January 2020

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior heavyweight wrestler Juan Navarro. On Saturday, Navarro won the heavyweight championship of the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham. He defeated Person’s Noah Harris 2-1 in the championship match. It was Navarro’s 30th win of the season and the 69th of his career. He has 17 pins this season. Navarro started eleven games at right guard for the Orange football team the past two seasons. Navarro is focused on qualifying for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum next month. Last year, he missed qualifying by one point. This year, the Mideast Regionals will take place at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville. Navarro went 38-11 with 18 pins in his first full season as a starter. This is his third year as a varsity grappler.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore swimmer Olivia Aitkin. Last week in the Big 8 Swimming championships at Taisean Aquatics Center at Duke University, Aitkin finished 7th in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:14.94. Aitkin also finished 13th in the 50 yard freestyle at 27.53 seconds. Aitkin joined Sydney Reavely, Abbygale Pearce and Sydney Lanier in the 200 yard freestyle relay where they finished in the top 10. This could very well be a year where Aitkin makes All-Big 8 Conference in three different sports. Last fall, Aitkin was named to the All-Big 8 Conference in women’s golf. Now, she’s preparing for softball season, which is her top sport.Aitkin was a member of the 2019 Big 8 Champions, where she hit .462 with 15 runs scores. She also earned a win as a pitcher. In the circle, Aitkin threw 25.2 innings and struck out 24 batters.

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.

On the same day, Orange wrestling Tayton Alvis earned his 20th victory of the season and his first individual championship at the varsity level. Alvis won the 145-pound title at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham. Alvis scored a takedown in the opening period and held on to defeat Terry Edwards of Wakefield 4-2 in the championship match on Saturday afternoon. In the semifinals, Alvis pinned Dawson Owen of Person in 51 seconds. Alvis is 20-12 with 13 pins this season. Last season, as a sophomore, Alvis wrestled at 138 pounds. He finished 27-14 with 19 pins as Orange won the Big 8 Championship and advanced to the 2nd round of the 3A State Dual regional tournament after beating Morehead in the opening round. Orange has already clinched a birth for the State Dual Playoffs for this season, and will go for the Big 8 Conference Championship this week with a road trip to Northern Durham and a home match against Chapel Hill on Thursday in Hillsborough.

Orange wrestling had five individual champions at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham on Saturday. It was Orange’s first individual tournament championship of the season. Joshua Dunn won the 113-pound title with three pins. He defeated Cary’s Ezra Jacks in 3:19. In the semifinals, Dunn pinned Luke DiGiuseppe of Wakefield in 1:37. He is now 27-9 this season with 19 pins. This week, Orange will go for its 17th consecutive conference championship when they face Northern Durham on Wednesday in Durham. The Panthers will host Chapel Hill for Senior Night on Thursday. Dunn helped put Orange in position for another conference title by beating Alden Vigus of Northwood in 1:01 on January 8. Orange goes into the Northern match with an overall record of 23-2. Dunn is also preparing for the 3A Mideast Regionals, which will take place at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville on February 14 and 15.

Boys basketball: With two games remaining in the regular season, the Gravelly Hill Grizzlies are in first place in the Orange Person Athletic Conference Northern Division. On Thursday, the Grizzlies defeated the Stanback Bulldogs 45-27 in Hillsborough. Gravelly Hill is 8-1 overall, 6-0 in the OPAC. Landon Dalehite and Kai Wade led the Grizzlies with 14 points each. Hayden Kirk finished with eight. Crawford Farmer finished with four, D.J. Norman had three and Nathan Sorrells had two.

Gravelly Hill will travel to Northern Roxboro on Tuesday. They will conclude its regular season with a home game against McDougle Middle School in Efland.

Girls Basketball: On Wednesday, the Stanford Chargers defeated Stanback 40-13. It was a balanced effort for the Chargers, who put nine players in the scorers column. Shannon Murphy paced Stanford with eleven points. Evelyn George added seven Olivia Jones and Dyreshia Farrish each scored six. Samiya Baldwin, Karleigh Johnson, Caden Robinson, Katie Wolter and Kennady Winters each scored two points.

Stanford will return to action on Tuesday against Southern Roxboro. Tipoff will be at 4:45. The Chargers will travel to Northern Roxboro on Thursday at 4:45.

Wrestling: Following a tight 47-46 win over Stanback on January 10, the Stanford Chargers have followed with two decisive victories. The Chargers defeated McDougle 96-12 on January 15. Two days later, Stanford defeated Gravelly Hill 72-30. The Chargers are 8-0.

Against the Grizzlies, Aidan Cain (98 pounds), Jared Hutchins (106), Josh Cowan (113), Luke Nevius (120), Jace Womble (132) and Josh Merrill (160) all won by pitfall.

For the season, Wyatt Hendrick, Vincent Stevens, Hutchins, Cowan, Womble and Vincent Joubert-Stenzel all remain undefeated for Stanford. The Chargers travel to Northern Roxboro Middle School on Wednesday.

The Stanback wrestling team continues to have a strong season. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs defeated Southern Roxboro 75-24 in Roxboro. At 76 pounds, Mason Pierce won via decision 13-7. Stanback’s Gavin Stone defeated his opponent 8-5 at 83 pounds.

At 90 pounds, Michael O’Melia won by pitfall in the third period. Pierce Prescod faced Southern’s Christian Lemaire, who defeated Prescod earlier this year. Prescod redeemed himself with a 7-2 victory.

Zoey Moreno pinned his opponent in the first period at 106 pounds. At 113 pounds, Will Meyer, replacing Lee Guntoyinbo (who was sick), won by pinfall in the opening period.

Abinijah Lewis won via pinfall at 120 pounds in the third period. Lewis replaced Ryan Rakouskas, who was also ill.

At 126 pounds, Jose Estrada-Parra won by pin in the opening period.

Edwin Hernandez Huerta claimed a victory at 132 pounds via pinfall.

At 138 pounds, Kaden Tatro won by pin in the second period.

Marcos Esparza won by pin at 160 pounds in the first period.

At 170 pounds, Joe O’Melia won by pin in the second period. Marcos McNeil won at 182 pounds, also via pinfall in the first period.

At heavyweight: Kellan McMullen won via forfeit.

Also last week, Stanback defeated Gravelly Hill 87-12 in Efland.

For the Bulldogs this season, Tatro, Esparza, and McMullen are all undefeated.

Prescod, Moreno, Hernandez Huerta, O’Melia and Carlos Vera de Lara each have only one loss this season.

Stanback will host Gravelly Hill on Wednesday in Hillsborough.

The OPAC Tournament will be held on February 8 at a location to be determined.

After winning two Orange-Person Athletic Conference championships at Stanford Middle School, Orange freshman Dillon Heffernan won his first individual high school title on Saturday. Heffernan captured the 106-pound championship at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High in Durham. In the championship match, Heffernan defeated Cary’s Ali Hason 4-3. The third period was tight. Heffernan started from the top and worked an arm brace to hold on to Hason, who desperately tried to gain an escape point to even the match. Heffernan held on for the win. Earlier in the day, Heffernan defeated Northern Durham’s David Smith via pinfall in 5:57. In the semifinals, Heffernan held off Person’s Derrick Laycock 10-9. Heffernan will join Orange in two dual matches this week. The Panthers travel to Northern Durham on Wednesday night, then will host Chapel Hill for the Big 8 Conference championship on Thursday in Hillsborough.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is track & field sprinter Keanu Mims. Last Saturday, Mims finished first in the 300 meters at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear at Dave Thaden Stadium in Chapel Hill. Mims finished with a time of 37.24 seconds, just short of qualifying for the 3A State Indoor Track & Field championships. Mims finished 2nd in the 55 meter dash at 6.94 seconds. Last spring, Mims joined Jose Torres, Thomas Kaltenbach & Cameron Michalski as Orange qualified for the 3A NCHSAA Outdoor State Track & Field Championships in the 4×400 relay at North Carolina A&T University. Mims competed in three different relay teams for Orange last season, his first at Orange. A junior, Mims still hopes to qualify for the indoor state championships this season before the outdoor schedule starts in March.