Month: December 2023

The Jim King/Orange Invitational is a staple during the opening weekend of December at Orange High School.

During a time of transition for the Orange wrestling team, the Panthers still crowned two individual champions on Saturday. At 126 pounds, junior Braden Crawford captured his first JKO championship.

In the most competitive championship match of a lengthy day, Orange senior Andre Hill earned his first JKO title at 170 pounds.

Crawford, whose sister Josie recently won a regional championship in volleyball for Orange, pinned Tiaj Thao of Davie County in the 126 pound championship match. Thao, the top-seed with a 11-0 record going into the final, shot in for the opening takedown. Crawford eluded Thao and gained his side, then pushed off his legs to put Thao on his back. Crawford scored the pin in 1:00.

Crawford, who is now 8-0 on the season, pinned East Chapel Hill’s Jackie Crozier of East Chapel Hill in 3:16 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Crawford defeated Connor Herbert of Hough 7-2. Following a scoreless first period, Crawford gained three back points on a near fall to take a 6-2 lead midway through the third period. In the semifinals, Crawford held off Tremayne McNeely of Eastern Guilford 5-1. Crawford scored a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the first period and never trailed again.

Hill, an offensive lineman for the Orange football team, had a hotly contested final against Giancarlo Evans of Hough. Evans led 2-1 at the end of the first period. On the coin toss to start the second period, Evans elected to start from the bottom. Hill struggled the entire period to gain the escape point to tie the match. Hill broke free, but Evans wrapped his arm around his leg to maintain contact. At first, the officials ruled Hill had not escaped, but changed course at the end of the period.

With things all square at 2-2 to begin the third, Evans got an escape. Hill gained Evans back with 1:04 remaining to take the lead, then held on for all he was worth to keep Evans from escaping. Hill’s grip was strong enough to gain the win 4-3. Hill, who was seeded #3, is 10-0.

In a tight team race, Eastern Guilford won the team title on the penultimate match of a long second day. In the 215 pound championship match, Xavier Wilson pinned Jiwaun Flemming of Pine Forest in 2:47 to earn the Wildcats six points.

Davie County could have tied the Wildcats in the final championship match of the day. At heavyweight, the War Eagles’ Ryder Strickland defeated Eastern Guilford’s Christopher Riley 3-1 in sudden victory, while only gave Davie County three points. Eastern Guilford won the team title with 264 points, while the War Eagles finished with 261.

Orange senior Jared Hutchins, who qualified for the state championships last year, finished 2nd at 138 pounds. Hutchins defeated Andrew Davis of Davie County 16-7, Jackson Rowling of Hough took a big lead early in the championship match, then held on to defeat Hutchins 6-4.

Hutchins pinned Cedell Alexander of Northern Durham in 2;50 of the second round. Hutchins scored a major decision over Andrew Matters of Cary 11-1 in the quarterfinals.

At 106 pounds, Orange senior Chris Winstead finished fifth, the only other Panther to place. Facing Tyron Grant of Pine Forest in the fifth place match, Winstead blocked a shot in the second period. He pinned Grant at 1:14.

The JKO also had a women’s event this year. Ava Lytle of Orange finished highest in the female tournament. She came in 2nd at 126 pounds. Alfa Dominguez of Cary won the final over Lytle 3-1 in the championship. At 165 pounds, Kode Phillips of Orange finished in fifth place. Millbrook was the women’s team championship with 137 points, barely holding off Wake County rival Cary, who had 134 points.

Photo by Amy Tatro 

With one of its most anticipated dual matches in team history on the horizon, the Cedar Ridge wrestling squad crowned another individual champion during its annual trip to Cary.

On Saturday, senior Kaden Tatro won his second individual championship of the season at the Green Hope Grapple at Green Hope High School on Saturday. It was his fifth individual championship.

Cedar Ridge placed four wrestlers to finish in fifth place in the team standings with 130 points. Athens Drive, who won the team championship at the Red Wolf Invitational last month, claimed the team title in Green Hope, as well, with 174 points. Cape Fear finished second with 154 points.

Competing at 175 pounds, Tatro received the #2 seed and wasn’t taken beyond the second period in any of his four matches. In the championship match, he defeated the top seed Dominic Hittepole of Wheatmore via pinball in 3:15. Tatro took down Hittepole in a mere 19 seconds to open the match and led 2-1 at the end of the first period. Starting from the bottom to open the second period, Tatro notched a reversal and earned the pin after he shifted his body weight forward on top of Hittepole to earn the pin.

Tatro is now 13-0 this season with seven pints and six technical falls. In the second round in Cary, Tatro pinned Webb Crumpler of Broughton in 1:16. He scored the first of two tech falls in the quarterfinals when he defeated Matthew Schneider of Overhills 15-0 in 2:28. Tatro earned a spot in the championship match with a a 15-0 tech fall over James Lee of Western Harnett in 3:12.

Tatro, a senior, now has 122 career wins, the sixth Red Wolf wrestler in history with 100 career wins. He needs eight more to tie Randy Greenough for fourth place on the all-time Cedar Ridge list. The all-time leader is Chandler Collins, who compiled 166 wins from 2003-2007.

Cedar Ridge senior James Este-Wittinger finished second at 190 pounds. Este-Wittinger, a fullback and linebacker on the football team, defeated Baby Soles of South View 5-1 in the semifinals. Zaid Marjan of Athens Drive won over Este-Wittinger in the finals. In the second round, Este-Wittinger pinned Trenton Westbrook of Cape Fear in 4:31. Este-Wittinger won an exciting match over Canon Thoren of Sanderson 3-2 in the quarterfinals. With the match even 2-2 going into the final period, Este-Wittinger won after getting an escape point with 1:16 remaining.

At 157 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Ryan Rakouskas finished in second place. Rakouskas, who won at 157 pounds in the Red Wolf Invitational, defeated Thomas Gingerich of Green Level 8-1 in the semifinals. Deshawn Cary of Harnett Central defeated Rakouskas 12-5 in the championship match.

Rakouskas pinned Hunter Langdon-Adams of Cleveland in the second round in 1:20. In the quarterfinals, Rakouskas defeated Jose Pereira of Wakefield 10-3.

At 113 pounds, Favio Jaramillo finished in third place. In the consolation final, Jaramillo defeated Christopher Geiger of Athens Drive 7-5 in the opening sudden victory round. In another tight finish, Geiger forced overtime with an escape point with six seconds remaining in the opening period. Jaramillo needed only 18 seconds to score the winning takedown in the extra round.

Jaramillo, who finished third at 106 pounds in the Red Wolf Invitational, defeated Max Bojdo of Sanderson 13-6 in the second round. Brian Dopp of South View held off Jaramillo 7-4 in the quarterfinals. Jaramillo defeated Hunter Barns of Wakefield 6-1 in the consolation semifinals.

Cedar Ridge has started 2-o in the Central Conference. On November 21, the Red Wolves won its league opener over Person 45-30, keyed by six pins. Tatro defeated David Garrett at 175 pounds. Rakouskas pined Addison Carey, while Jaramillo pinned Ryan Wilson at 106 pounds. Pierce Prescod, competing at 120 pounds, pinned Taveon Moss.

Last week, Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 52-24 in Graham. Grayson Collins, Rakouskas, Joe O’Melia, Jaramillo and Nathan Vendura all had pins for the Red Wolves. Tatro and Prescod both had technical falls.

Cedar Ridge will host Orange in a quad meet on Wednesday night.