Forget premature farewells and victories denied.
Cedar Ridge’s Fernando Martinez and Orange’s Acoya Isley are making their final days as high school wrestlers ones to remember.
Martinez and Isley have each reached their respective finals at the 3A State Wrestling Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Martinez, competing in the 113-pound tournament, entered as the #4 seed from the Mideast Region. On Friday night, he defeated South Johnston’s Israel Guerra 6-4 in the semifinals. Guerra was the Mideast Regional Champion who captured the title at Cedar Ridge High School last Saturday.
Martinez, who is 46-11 on the season, bolted out to a 6-2 lead and held on as Guerra scored a reversal in the final 30 seconds. Martinez got called for a stall warning late, but time expired before Guerra could send the match to overtime.
Martinez, who is 3rd in school history with 142 career wins, becomes the first Cedar Ridge wrestler to ever reach the final of a 3A State Championship match. He is the first Cedar Ridge grappler to reach a championship final since 2006 when Chandler Collins finished 2nd in the 2A State Championships at 140 pounds. Randy Greenough also came in second at heavyweight in 2006 for Cedar Ridge.
The only Cedar Ridge wrestler to ever win a state championship was Josh Collins, who captured the 2A/1A 189-pound championship in 2005.
Martinez started Friday with a dominant performance over North Davidson’s Levi White in the quarterfinals. Martinez bull rushed White, scored an immediate takedown and hooked him into a pinning combination to score the fall at 1:07. Martinez, who finished fifth in the state at 113 pounds in 2022, opened the tournament on Thursday with an 8-4 decision over Kane Bryson of Pisgah, the Western Regional champion. Bryson fell to 44-3 after the loss.
Martinez will face Jacob Kresicki of First Flight for the 113-pound state championship. At the very least, Martinez will become just the third Cedar Ridge wrestler in history to finish as a state runner-up.
Isley became the first Orange wrestler to reach a state championship final since Levi Anderson in 2019. Facing Dudley’s Tayshaun Glover in the semifinals, Isley shook off conceding an early takedown to win 10-4. In the midst of the first period, Glover had to be checked out by his coaches, which required a trash can to be placed on the mat. As Glover got instructions, Isley pounded his chest with his right hand, then proceeded to take the lead with a takedown. In the final period, Isley clung to a 5-4 lead after Glover scored a reversal. Isley used his strength to backslide Glover’s shoulders down for a near fall in the final seconds. Glover, the Midwestern Regional Champion, suffered only his second loss of the season against 52 wins.
Isley started the day with a dominant win over Justin Bullock of Fike. Isley scored his second pin of the tournament in 3:34. He was ahead 5-1 at the time of the pin. On Thursday, Isley reached the quarterfinals after he pinned Eddie Solo of Asheboro in 2:34.
It’s the first time that Isley has ever placed in a state tournament.
Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro fell in the semifinals at 182-pounds. North Iredell’s Brixon Burgess defeated Tatro 9-1 to advance to the final. Earlier in the day, Tatro defeated Trevor Schweitzer, the Eastern Regional Champion out of First Flight, 6-4. Tatro conceded a late escape but held on to win, his 54th victory of the year. Tatro, who surpassed 100 career wins earlier this year, will take on either Landon Pope of Pisgah or Braxton Berger of West Rowan in the consolation semifinals.
In the opening round, Tatro defeated Pope 4-2.
Orange’s Jared Hutchins reached the semifinals at 132 pounds. Hutchins went into attack mode against West Brunswick’s Luke Connick, the Eastern Regional Champion, and scored a pin in just 1:25. Central Cabarrus’ Jackson Baglio defeated Hutchins in the semifinals. Hutchins, who is 27-6, will face either Cristian Rothrock of Douglas Byrd or Kevin Obrien of West Rowan in the consolation semifinals. Rothrock held on to defat Hutchins 10-8 last week in the 132-pound Mideast Regional Final.
Orange’s Braden Crawford remains in contention to place at 126 pounds. Crawford had one of the most thrilling matches of the day in his consolation opener. Against Pisgah’s Matthew Mehaffey, Crawford trailed 5-0 at the end of two periods. He roared back to even it up with ten seconds remaining in regulation with three near fall points, then got the match-clinching takedown 13 seconds into overtime.
Crawford’s next victory wasn’t nearly as dramatic. He defeated Skylar Oxford of West Carteret 20-7. Crawford will face Cain Solis of Montgomery Central in the consolation quarterfinal on Saturday morning.
Cedar Ridge’s James Este-Wittinger (195), Jalen Williams (126) and Ryan Rakouskas (145) all competed in the state championships for the first time on Thursday.
Orange’s Ben Musser ended his season in the consolation round on Friday.