Once again, too many bonus points allowed cost the Orange wrestling team with its season on the line.
Union Pines scored four pins and two major decisions to defeat the Panthers 43-33 in the opening round of the NCHSAA 3A State Dual Playoffs on Tuesday night at Panther Gymnasium.
In the subsequent second round, Northern Guilford routed the Vikings 46-19 to move into the quarterfinals.
Orange, who lost to Chapel Hill last week with the Big 8 Conference championship on the line, had its earliest exit in the state playoffs since 2004, at least. Chapel Hill ended the Panthers’ string of 17 consecutive conference titles last Thursday. It was Orange’s first conference loss since 2003, when they fell to Riverside.
Union Pines led 25-3 after four matches. Orange’s only victory in that span came from Tayton Alvis at 145 pounds, who defeated Gabriel Robbins 10-7.
Orange’s Xavier Tinnen pinned Collin VanCleeve in 39 seconds to cut Orange’s deficit to 25-9, but Union Pines got a pin from Jaheem Uzzell in 4:58 to get the points back.
Orange senior Juan Navarro, in his final match inside Panther Gymnasium, pinned Kellen DeVries in 4:48. Navarro is 33-9 with 18 pins this season.
At 106 pounds, Orange freshman Dillon Heffernan earned a forfeit victory, but the Vikings scored pinfall wins from Johann Diaz and William Worley at 113 & 120 pounds, respectively, to pull off the win.
Kessel Summers and Matthew Smith-Breeden picked up forfeit wins after the Vikings ensured victory.
While Orange was knocked out, Chapel Hill advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time in modern history. The Tigers will host Northern Guilford in the regional semifinals on Thursday night. The winner faces Wilson Fike or C.B. Aycock for the Eastern Regional Championship.
Orange finished the year 24-4, suffering as many losses this year as the previous three seasons combined. The Panthers went 28-2 last season and lost to Cape Fear in the 2nd round of the State Dual Playoffs. They upended Eden Morehead for its first win.
The wrestling team was the second squad from Orange to make the state playoffs this year. The Lady Panthers volleyball team lost to Clayton in the opening round of the state playoffs in October.
Orange and Cedar Ridge will now focus on the 3A Mideast Regionals at Cape Fear High School on February 14-15. The top four wrestlers from each weight class will qualify for the 3A State Championships, held at the Greensboro Coliseum starting on February 20.
Navarro will be one of the Panthers top hopes to reach Greensboro. Last season, he narrowly missed qualifying for the Mideast Regionals. In the consolation semifinals against Hillside’s Rodney Harris, which ended in a forced ride where Harris escaped and won 4-3.
Summers qualified for the state championships at 113 pounds. Last year at Southeast Guilford High, Summers pinned Shyheem Davis in 4:57. This season, Summers leads Orange with 36 wins and 22 pins.
Cedar Ridge’s Kady Watkins, who became the first female Hillsborough wrestler to compete for a state championship last year, will again be in the NCHSAA Girls State Tournament in Concord on Saturday morning. Watkins has seven wins with three pins this season.