Earlier this winter, Cedar Ridge junior Zoey Moreno became the first female Red Wolves wrestler to win a tournament.
While she didn’t quite reach the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Women’s Invitational Tournament last weekend, she didn’t leave empty handed.
Moreno won her bracket at the Women’s Wrestling Showcase, held at the RISE Sports Complex in Bermuda Run, last Friday. Competing at 120 pounds, Moreno was the only competitor from Hillsborough in the event.
Moreno defeated Anella Fabriziani of Willow Spring 7-4 in the opening match. It took Moreno 1:04 to score the opening takedown. Fabriziani came back with a reversal and two back points to take a 4-3 lead at the end of the first period. Moreno notched four points in the final period to earn the win.
In the second match, Moreno defeated Amyna Denton of Hayesville via pinfall in 49 seconds. In the finale, Moreno pinned Annaleigh Tinoco of North Henderson in 44 seconds.
On January 26, Moreno competed against eleven other wrestlers in the 120-pound division of the Mideast Regional at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville. Moreno defeated Jenna Phelps of Triton via pinfall in 1:09 of the opening round. Joce Carter of Hoke County, who went on to finish runner-up in the tournament, defeated Moreno in the 2nd round.
In the consolation round, Moreno pinned Ariana Anampa of Green Hope in 2:53. Jack Britt’s Samantha Dedeaux defeated Moreno in the consolation semifinals, which determined who would advance to the state tournament.
Moreno concludes her season with a 12-5 record.
In December, Moreno won the Green Hope Girls Grapple in Cary. Moreno defeated Ana Lytle of Wakefield for first place via pinfall in 33 seconds to win the championship.
Indoor Track:
The Orange Indoor Track & Field team will have five competitors in the 3A/2A/1A NCHSAA Indoor Track and Field State Championships at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem on Friday.
Junior Aedan Sampey cleared 11-feet, 6-inches in the pole vault during the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear at Fred Brady Stadium in Mebane on January 31. The minimum qualifying standard is 10-feet. Previously, Sampey qualified for the state championships when he cleared 11-feet at the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #2 on January 10.
Orange senior Issac Seymour will be going to the State Championships in the high jump. On December 10 at Dave Thaden Stadium, Seymour cleared 5-feet, 10-inches to finish in second place at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear #2 meet. The minimum high jump standard is 5-feet, 8-inches. At the Eastern Alamance on January 10, Seymour won the high jump with another top leap of 5’8′, two inches better than Bron Rogers of Walter Williams.
Last week in the final regular season meet of the indoor season, Seymour again cleared 5’8″. He finished third. Brayden Garrett of J.F. Webb came in first with a leap of 5’10”.
Seymour also won the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear #4 meet on January 21. He cleared 5’10” for a new personal best.
The Orange men’s 4×400 meter relay team qualified for the State Championships at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear on January 21. They won a meet, comprised of seven team, with a time of 3:42.16, beating the Wakefield squad by .23-of-a-second.
Also on January 31, Orange junior Katheryn Scully qualified for the high jump. She won the event with a leap of 5-feet. The qualifying standard for high jump in the state championships is 4’10”.
At the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear on January 21, Orange’s Grace Pell had a jump of 4’10”, earning her a spot in Winston-Salem. Pell qualified for regionals for the Orange women’s cross country team last November.
Orange junior Gabriel Schmid, who won the 3A State Cross Country Championship last fall, qualified for the state championships in the 3,200 meters during the first meet of the season on November 19 at the New Balance Dash for Doobie 3,200 in Pfafftown.