Month: January 2022

It has been a successful start to 2022 for Orange wrestling.

After beating Northwood to all but sew up the Central Carolina Conference championship, the Panthers captured the Quentin Crosby Tournament at Dudley High School in Greensboro on Saturday.

Four Panthers captured individual championships as Orange won its second team tournament title of the season. The Panthers finished with 148.5 points. Greensboro Page finished second at 101 points.

It was another impressive outing for 220 pounder Elijah Acosta, who captured his second tournament championship this year. Acosta, won rolled to the Jim King/Orange Invitational Championship last month, earned three pins en route to the title in Greensboro. In the championship match, Acosta defeated Jaquaid Owens of Dudley 5-2. Owens was the only grappler to go the distance with Acosta all day. Acosta opened by pinning Braylon Clark of Southwestern Guilford in 5:30. In the quarterfinals, Acosta pinned Noel Jennings of Eastern Alamance in 1:11. Acosta reached the finals after he pined Carter Bland of Southern Guilford in 2:50.

Acosta finished third in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on December 22. He defeated Asheboro’s Eduardo Soto-Canas 8-3 in the consolation final.

Orange’s Dillon Heffernan finished the Tiger Holiday Classic in 2nd place. In Greensboro, he captured the championship at 126 pounds, edging Allen Cohen of Eden Morehead 6-5 in the championship bout. It was the only competitive match of the day for Heffernan. In the semifinals, he pinned Eastern Alamance’s Mason Taner in 4:43. Heffernan had a 16-3 lead at the time of the pin. In the opening round, Heffernan had a technical fall over R.J. Reynolds Hamzah Mahmoud 16-0. Heffernan opened the season 15-5 with ten pins.

After losing 2-1 in the 195 pound championship match at the Tiger Holiday Invitational, Acoya Isley won the 195 title in Greensboro with three pins in three matches, none of which went beyond the first period. Isley pinned Christian Brown of Page in 1:09 for the championship. Isley pinned Dudley’s Collin Morehead in 33 seconds. In the opening round, Isley finished off Thomas Tippeconnie of R.J. Reynolds in 21 seconds.

It was the second individual championship of the year for Isley. He won the 195 title at the JKO Invitational.

Senior Brendon Worsham, who qualified for the 3A State Championships after a runner-up finish in the Mideast Regionals, won the 182 pound championship. Worsham defeated Lexington’s Chris Cartrette 9-1. In the semifinals, Worsham pinned Edwin Cantu of Morehead in 52 seconds. It was Worsham’s first tournament championship of the season. To open the season, Worsham won 17 of his first 22 matches with eleven pins.

Talan Pearley had his best-ever showing in a tournament, finishing 3rd at 138 pounds. After dropping his opening round match, Pearly pinned Eastern Alamance’s Jahzion Patterson in 1:18. In the consolation final, Pearley pinned Lexington’s Michael Mays in 54 seconds.

At 132 pounds, Orange’s Jared Hutchins finished third. Hutchins opened with a pin of Shawn Bass of Dudley in 1:56. Ivan Benitez pinned Hutchins in 2:33. In the consolation bracket, Hutchins pinned R.J. Reynolds Amarr Lumpkins in 2:52. Hutchins clinched third place with a 10-4 win over Donovan Edwards of Southwestern Guilford.

Orange’s Kale Womble finished 3rd at 113 pounds. In the third place match, Womble pinned Lexington’s Andres Couto in 4:25.

At 120 pounds, Braden Crawford finished 3rd. After losing in the opening round, Crawford won three straight matches in the consolation round. He pinned Page’s Omari Williams in 2:50. In the consolation semifinals, Crawford defeated Tucker Rakes in 4:12. In the consolation final, Crawford defeated Lexington’s Jason Allen 12-2.

Last Thursday, Orange defeated Northwood 43-24 in Pittsboro to improve to 5-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Panthers have clinched a share of the conference championship. They’re scheduled to host Eastern Alamance on January 19 in Hillsborough. If the Panthers win, they take the overall conference championship.

For the swimmers at Orange and Cedar Ridge High Schools, the Orange County SportsPlex is a second home.

Unlike most other athletes who practice in the afternoons, swimmers typically work out before school, usually showing up for practice at 6AM several days per week.

Naturally, it was where Orange held its senior night last Wednesday. Inside the daycare center that was once the home of the workout center in the Sportsplex’s formative years, the swimmers were honored by head coach Ron Geib while Orange Principal Jason Johnson, Athletic Director Mark McCauley and retired baseball coach Dean Dease watched on. While several Cedar Ridge and Orange seniors qualified for February’s 3A Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, one Cedar Ridge relay team that runs the gamut on the experience spectrum made it a senior night to remember.

Cedar Ridge senior Olivia Aitkin, junior Abbygale Pearce, and freshmen Sophia Stinnett and Quinn McCrimmon set the school record in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:55.00. On the night, the team of Aitkin, Pearce, Stinnett and McCrimmon qualified for the Central Regionals in the 400 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle relay. In the 400, they recorded a time of 4:14.69, finishing second in the meet that also included Orange, Northwood and Walter Williams.

The Orange contingent of sophomore Katie Belle Sikes, Sandra McCouch, Melissa Campbell and Ellie Wileman won the 200 yard freestyle event at 1:50.02, edging a team from Walter Williams by three-tenths of a second. Sikes, McCouch, Campbell and Wileman had already qualified for regionals in the 200 yard medley relay. On Thursday, they finished second behind a team from Northwood at 1:59.67.

The irony on senior night was a number of freshman set personal bests in their young careers to advance to Greensboro. Cedar Ridge’s Stinnett qualified for four regional events. In addition to the two relay races, she finished 2nd in the 100 yard freestyle at 58.09 seconds. Stinnett also qualified in the 100 yard backstroke at 59.67 seconds.

In the 100 yard Butterly, McCrimmon earned a trip to Greensboro in the 100 yard butterfly, finishing third at 1:07.05. Orange senior Melissa Campbell also automatically qualified at 1:07.26.

Orange sophomore Katie Belle Sikes, who finished second in the 3A State Championships in the 50 yard freestyle last February, won the 200 yard freestyle at 1:56.81. Belle, who had already qualified for the Central Regionals in four different events earlier this year, also won the 100 yard backstroke, touching the wall at 59.71 seconds.

Orange senior Sandra McCouch set a new personal best in the 200 yard Intermediate at 2:29.65. McCouch qualified for Regionals in the opening meet of the season in November.

The Orange men’s swimming team remained undefeated, winning dual matches against Northwood 107-28. They Panthers also defeated Cedar Ridge 97-48 and Walter Williams 119-0.

Two Orange freshmen helped the Panthers win their dual meets and solidified their status for regionals. In the 100 yard butterfly, Luke Roman finished 1st at 1:00.08. Another freshman, Alex Andre, won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:14.16. Cedar Ridge Phillip Cauwels came in second.

Overall, Roman qualified for three regional events. Roman and Andre teamed with junior Andrew Weeks and another freshman, Nick Baczara, to win the 200 yard freestyle at 1:42.52.

The Cedar Ridge men’s team had several strong freshmen of their own.

On November 22, the Cedar Ridge men’s relay team of Hill, Matthew Czar, Nikhil Agans and Jason Pattison won the 200 yard freestyle 1:41.56 in a meet that also included Orange and Eastern Alamance.

The 3A Central Regionals will take place Saturday, February 5 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The 3A Central Diving Championships will be held Thursday, February 3. Orange’s Statz Zitko, who has already finished in the top three in the 3A State Championship three times in his career, has qualified for regionals once again.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior swimmer Melissa Campbell. During Orange’s first meet of the year at the Orange County Sportsplex, Campbell qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals in four separate events. Competing against Cedar Ridge and Eastern Alamance, Campbell finished first in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.26. Campbell also finished first in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:17.48. She teamed with Katie Belle Sikes, Sandra McCouch and Ellie Wileman to qualify in the regionals for the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay. On Thursday night, Campbell and the rest of the Orange seniors were honored at the Orange County Sportsplex during senior night with a meet against Cedar Ridge, Walter Williams and Northwood. On senior night, Campbell teamed with McCouch, Sikes and Wileman to finish first in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Campbell has been going to the Orange County Sportsplex since she was six, when she started swimming. In addition to competing for Orange, she swims for the Hillsborough Aquatic Club. As a sophomore, Campbell qualified for the 3A State Championships at the Cary Aquatic Center. She hopes to reach that prestigious stage once again next month.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior basketball guard Phoenix Smith. On December 6, Smith scored on a baseline shot with three seconds remaining off a feed from Julie Altieri to defeat Northern Durham 45-44. The victory ended a 26-game losing streak for the Red Wolves women’s basketball team. The following week, Cedar Ridge defeated Raleigh Charter 30-20, where Smith scored seven points. Even during the toughest of times, Smith has remained dedicated to Cedar Ridge basketball. Last winter, because of Covid and injuries, the team often only had five players. Smith was the starting point guard and went forward with games knowing she wouldn’t be substituted. This year, Smith was a member of the 3A State Championship volleyball team for Cedar Ridge. She walked under the spotlight at Reynolds Coliseum and was introduced in front of over 1,000 fans as the Red Wolves faced North Iredell in November. Smith is also a track and field runner in the spring. In addition, she is active with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and is a three-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge.