Orange Wrestling: Four Orange wrestlers went undefeated during its annual trip to Oakboro for the West Stanly Duals on Saturday.
In five dual matches, Orange went 4-1 on the day. The Panthers defeated Albermarle 47-27; defeated North Stanly 54-28; won over Scotland County 57-21 and rolled past West Stanly 50-27. Porter Ridge handed Orange its only loss 48-35.
Andre Hill, at 175 pounds, improved to 28-2 with five wins on the day. He pinned three opponents, finishing Kaine McLendon of Albermarle, Krizangel Flores of Porter Ridge and Wesley Shutt of West Stanly. Hill is now 28-2 with 20 pins this season. Hill was coming off a third-place finish at the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on December 22 and 23.
At 126 pounds, Braden Crawford also collected five wins to improve to 23-1 with 14 pins. Crawford pinned Maddox Cheek of Porter Ridge, Darius West of Scotland County and Mason Hyatt of West Stanly. He started the day with a technical fall over Andrew Weizer of Albermarle 17-2. Crawford has won his last nine matches.
At 138 pounds, Jared Hutchins earned three pins and two technical falls. He pinned Armando Popca of Albermarle, Max Montleleone of North Stanly and Donerio Graham of Scotland County. Hutchins also defeated Asland Demurchivev of Porter Ridge 15-0 in a tech fall. Hutchins earned another tech fall win over Kahle Martin of West Stanly 18-3. Hutchins who finished sixth at 138 pounds in the Tiger Classic, is 25-7 with 20 pins.
At 113 pounds, Logan Scarantino won four matches on the day, three by pinfall. Scarantino pinned Moises Carrillo of Albermarle, Henry Smith of North Stanly and Jared Gladden of Scotland County. He also had a forfeit victory over Porter Ridge. Scarantino is 18-4 with 12 pins this season.
Orange competed the whole day while having to forfeit in the 215 and 285 pound weight classes in each match.
Cedar Ridge Wrestling: Cedar Ridge was one of dozens of teams to compete in the Gate City Grapple at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex last weekend. The event moved to the Triad this year after residing in Charlotte since 2011.
57 teams from four states competed in the final event of the 2023 calendar year. Cedar Ridge placed four competitors en route to a 17th place finish.
The highest placer of the day was Pierce Prescod at 120 pounds. Prescod reached the consolation final, where he fell to Amir Wray-Hill of Deep Creek (VA) in a 9-2 decision. Prescod scored four wins in the event, including a thrilling victory over Hudson Catullo of Green Hope. Prescod won 7-6 in the opening round of sudden victory.
Prescod scored pins over Cody Michael of Northern Guilford and Faroq Busesou of Athens Drive. He reached the consolation final by beating George Coleman of Fred T. Foard. On the season, Prescod is 32-6 with 24 pins.
Kaden Tatro finished in sixth place at 175 pounds. Tatro opened by pinning Ricky Cedeneo of Riverbend (VA) in 1:01. Connor Reese of T.C. Roberson edged Tatro 4-2 in the second round, dealing the senior just his second loss of the season. In the consolation round, Tatro pinned Karvin Magwood of New Bern, and scored decision wins against Carson Wince of Shelby Crest and Ian Harris of Greensboro Page. James Ellison of Lumberton defeated Tatro in the fifth place match 5-0. Tatro is 32-4 this season with 16 pins.
Junior Ryan Rakouskas finished in eighth place at 157 pounds. Rakouskas opened with a Gurshan Singh of Deep End for his 19th pinfall of the season. After falling to Jacob Crump of North Pitt in the quarterfinals, Rakouskas pinned Reilly Berger of Woodmont in the consolation round. Rakouskas is 23-10 with 20 pins this season.
Angus Pritchard finished in eighth place at 150 pounds. Pritchard won his opening two matches to reach the quarterfinals. He started by pinning Jonathan Nguyen of Northeastern in the opening round, then pinned Trevon Waters of Central Cabarrus. Carson Main of Riverbend defeated Pritchard in the quarterfinals. In the consolation round, Pritchard defeated Patrick Martin of Catholic High School.