Cedar Ridge Wrestling

Orange and Cedar Ridge will have momentum going into the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic next weekend.

The Panthers came away 5-0 in the Wayne Warrior Classic held at Eastern Wayne High School in Goldsboro on Saturday. Meanwhile in Franklin County, Cedar Ridge freshman Fernando Martinez and senior Daina Pritchard each had a solid weekend, going 5-0 as the Red Wolves competed in the Franklinton Rampage Duals at Franklinton High.

Cedar Ridge finished the day 3-2, but its match against Franklinton ended tied 42-42. The Rams won on criteria one, which was most first points scored–a category they edged the Red Wolves in by one point.

Orange improved to 13-1 overall after beating Southern Wayne 81-0, Smithfield-Selma 78-6, Cary 52-18, North Brunswick 54-26 and Northern Nash 76-10.

Orange senior heavyweight Juan Navarro finished 5-0 on the day with three pins to improve to 12-1 on the season. His pin of Northern Nash heavyweight Major Phillips in 46 seconds was the 56th win of his career.

At 106 pounds, Panther freshman Dillion Heffernan also went undefeated in five matches. Along with three forfeits, Heffernan pinned Cary’s Johny Ramos in 5:56 and North Brunswick’s Chase Phillips in 34 seconds. Heffernan, who won two Orange-Person Athletic Conference individual championships at Stanford Middle School, is 14-4 with seven pins thus far in his varsity career.

Overall, 24 wrestlers competed for Orange on the day. At 160 pounds, junior Korbin Nevius went 4-0, including a pin of Devin Bready of Northern Nash in 50 seconds. At 113 pounds, Joshua Dunn went 4-1 with two pins, while Kessel Summers finished 4-1, including pins of Dylan Ravine of North Brunswick in 3:03 and Julissa Rodriguez of Smithfield-Selma in seven seconds, the quickest pin of the day.

For Cedar Ridge, they defeated East Wake 72-12, polished off Louisburg 66-15, and handled Southeast Raleigh 66-18. In addition to the tight match against Franklinton, Dunn held off the Red Wolves 45-36.

Alex Davis of the Red Wolves also finished 5-0 on the day, in addition to Martinez and Pritchard. Davis won three matches via forfeit. Against East Wake, he pinned Dezzie Rhodes in 1:47. He also pinned Donovan Estes of Franklinton in 3:18 to give Cedar Ridge a 42-36 lead going into the final match.

Franklinton’s Joseph Murray claimed a pin at 145 to even the match and the Rams won on criteria.

Martinez pinned Jermaine Johnson of Southeast Raleigh in 3:45; pinned Shemar Davis of Louisburg in 3:44 and pinned Franklinton’s Nathan Hamrick in 1:22. He also had two forfeit victories.

Pritchard pinned Franklinton’s Javares White in 40 seconds. He pinned Fredy Gomez of Southeast Raleigh in 2:41, along with three forfeit wins.

At 160 pounds, Wyatt Robinson went 4-1, including a pinfall victory over East Wake’s Jesse Chase in 1:03. Robinson pinned Justin Williams of Southeast Raleigh in 2:10 and finished off Luis Reyes of Bunn in 29 seconds.

Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown, coming off a 5th place finish in the Jim King/Orange Invitational last weekend, went 4-1 with two pins, including a victory over Trent Wheeler of Franklinton in 1:42. Rosati-Brown also pinned Jaylin Robinson-Davis of Southeast Raleigh in 1:32.

The Tiger Holiday Classic, featuring teams from across the southeast, will start on Friday morning at Chapel Hill High School. Last season, Orange finished 8th, with Levi Anderson coming in 4th at 152 pounds. Anderson would go on to finish 2nd at 145 pounds in the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The numbers of dynasties can stick in the heads of sports fans.

The Boston Celtics have won 17 World Championships. UCLA men’s basketball captured nine national championships in ten years from 1964-1973. Locally, the Northern Durham football team won 17 straight PAC-6 titles from 1984-2001.

On Wednesday night, to fanfare so meek its doubtful the Panther wrestling team itself knew about it, Orange added another incredible figure to its own dynasty.

Orange finished the decade with an undefeated record in conference action of 62-0, starting in Conference 6 in 2010 and continuing through the formation of the Big 8 Conference in 2013.

Orange defeated Cedar Ridge 57-12 at Red Wolves Gymnasium to improve to 3-0 in the Big 8 Conference. The Panthers, searching for its 17th consecutive conference championship dating back to its days in the 2A Mid State Conference, are now 3-0 in the Big 8, 8-1 overall.

It appears once again the chase for the Big 8 Championship will boil down to Orange and Chapel Hill. The Tigers defeated Northwood 48-36 on Wednesday at Tiger Gymnasium to remain tied with Orange atop the Big 8.

Despite the loss, Cedar Ridge did have one of its youngest stars come up with another strong performance. Freshman Fernando Martinez, who just started wrestling two years ago, pinned Orange’s Dillion Heffernan at 106 pounds in 3:12. Martinez, who finished 4th in the Jim King/Orange Invitational last week, is now 11-3.

Cedar Ridge’s Alex Davis improved to 3-1 by pinning Tayton Alvis in 3:12.

Orange won the other 12 matches, eight of which ended in pins or technical falls. The night opened with a rematch from last week’s JKO, when Daina Pritchard defeated Matthew Smith-Breeden in the 3rd place match at 132 pounds. On Wednesday night, Smith-Breeden was the one who got a win over Pritchard 8-1.

Henry Joubert-Stanzel pinned Charles Jackson in 5:34 to put Orange ahead 9-0. After Davis’ victory, Gasian Drewery made his Orange debut and scored an 5-3 decision over James Rosati-Brown. At 160 pounds, Orange’s Korbin Nevius defeated Wyatt Robinson 12-0.

Nathan Hecht, who finished 4th for Orange in the JKO, held off Ruffin Wyrick 3-1 at 170 pounds. At 182, Brendan Worsham got a 13-1 major decision over Alex Christian.

Xavier Tinne, coming off a 3rd place finish at 195 pounds, scored a pin in 23 seconds. Tyler Larkin (220 pounds) and Juan Navarro (285) also secured pins for Orange to secure the match

Joshua Dunn scored a pin at 113 pounds in 1:10. John-Michael Bourlon got a 16-1 technical fall at 120 pounds, while Kessel Summers earned another win with a 15-0 technical fall.

In middle school wrestling last week, the Stanback Bulldogs opened the Orange-Person Athletic Conference season with a 72-33 win over Smith Middle School in Hillsborough.

At 98 pounds, returning OPAC Champion Pierce Prescod started off with a pin in the 2nd period.

8th grader Zoey Moreno earned a pin in 14 seconds.

At 145 pounds, 8th grader Kaden Tatro, another returning OPAC Champion, notched a pin in the second period.

Heavyweight Kellan McMullen, who won the OPAC Championship as a 7th grader last year, started his season off with a pin.

“We have a good mixture of returning wrestlers and new wrestlers that have picked things up quickly,” said Stanback wrestling coach Trevor Davis. “The other 8 wins on the night were by 1st year wrestlers. We had some 6th graders lose their match but showed some bright spots throughout the match”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is wrestler Daina Pritchard. Last week at the Jim King/Orange Invitational, Pritchard finished 3rd in the 132-pound weight class. In the consolation final, Pritchard defeated Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden 9-1 to clinch 3rd place. In the consolation semifinal, Pritchard went to overtime against Cardinal Gibbons’ Samuel Freeman. Pritchard scored the final takedown to in 11-9. For the weekend, Pritchard went 4–1. Last month, Pritchard finished 3rd in the Red Wolves Invitational at 132 pounds. He defeated West Johnston’s Chris McHenry 11-0 in the third place match. Pritchard is 12-2 on the season. Also last week, Pritchard defeated Chapel Hill’s Bao Dinh 8-2 in the Red Wolves’ Big 8 Conference dual match opener. Next week, Pritchard will compete in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School, starting December 20.

Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown finished 5th at 152 pounds in the Jim King/Orange Invitational this weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Rosati-Brown shook off an early leg injury to pin Luke McDonald of Middle Creek in 3:40. On Friday, Rosati-Brown pinned Cody Kenyon of Northern Durham in 17 seconds. In the quarterfinals, he earned a 10-6 decision over Jordan Alexander. This was the first time that Rosati-Brown competed in the JKO. Last month, Rosati-Brown won both of his matches in a tri-match against Apex Friendship and Green Hope in Morrisville. He finished fourth in the Red Wolves Invitational at Cedar Ridge last month, which included a pinball win over Michael Romero of Southwest Guilford. 

One week after Cardinal Gibbons handed Orange just its second dual match regular season loss since 2016, the Crusaders returned to Hillsborough to end Orange’s dominance in the Jim King Invitational.

The Crusaders had three individual champions to win the overall team competition in the 39th Jim King/Orange Invitational. Gibbons won the two-day event with 200.5 points. Orange, which had won the JKO four consecutive years, finished second with 162 points. Person, a runner-up in 2018, finished 3rd at 166 points.

19 teams participated in the two-day event, including seven squads from Wake County and five from Durham.

Cedar Ridge finished 11th with 86 points. It was the Red Wolves best performance in the JKO since 2011, when they came in 8th with 92 points with two individual champions (Eli Schultz at 170 pounds and Mike Mastrianni at 182).

Gibbons, participating in the JKO for the fourth straight year and who finished 15th in 2016, is only the sixth school in the 39-year history of the event to win the tournament. Cary has won 22 JKOs. Orange has nine. Riverside has five. Jordan has two titles and Northwest Guilford won in 2014.

The Imps, who have participated in all but one of the JKOs (they missed 1981), finished 5th with 132.5 points.

Orange, with its youngest team in years, made some history they would have rather forget. It was the first time in tournament history that the Panthers didn’t have a wrestler reach the championship final in any of the 14 weight classes.

Nine Orange grapplers made their JKO debut. Of the 14 Panther participants, only Joshua Dunn, Kessel Summers, Matthew Smith-Breeden, Henry Joubert-Stanzel and Tayton Alvis had JKO experience.

“I think the guys showed a lot of heart,” said Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat. “We had some positive spots. We just have to keep working. I’m sure our coaches will have the guys ready for the next competition.”

Summers earned 3rd place at 126 pounds. After losing to Richie Rizzuto of Leesville Road in the semifinals, Summers rebounded to pin Isaac Rameriz of Riverside in 2:07, then defeated Eli Kays of Sanderson 7-3 in the consolation final.

In his first JKO appearance, Orange’s Xavier Tinnen had a 3rd place finish at 195 pounds. Tinnen pinned Chatham Central’s Gerli Amador in 1:43 in the consolation final. Tinnen went to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Holden Cypher of Millbrook, who eventually won the tournament.

Tinnen won four straight matches to capture third place. After a forfeit win over Sanderson’s Deavon Lucas, he pinned Tyler Kendall of Northern Durham in 39 seconds. He also pinned Person’s Zak Lieske in 1:28 in the consolation semifinals.

For Cedar Ridge, Daina Pritchard finished 3rd at 132 pounds. He scored a 9-1 decision over Smith-Breeden in the consolation final.

Pritchard scored pins in both of his Friday matches. He defeated Ryan Rago of Cary in 1:31. In the quarterfinals, Pritchard pinned Owen Matheney of Apex in :55. Isaiah Olive of Middle Creek defeated Pritchard 10-1 en route to the 152 pound championship.

In the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning, Pritchard had a thrilling match against Gibbons’ Samuel Freeman that extended to overtime. Pritchard scored the match’s final takedown to win 11-9.

In a year of underclassmen learning on the job across Hillsborough wrestling, Cedar Ridge freshman Fernando Martinez finished 4th at 106 pounds in his JKO debut. Martinez, who finished 2nd in the Red Wolves Invitational last month, now has a 10-3 record for the season after going 4-2 this weekend. Martinez pinned Leesville Road’s Aydan Gavisdalla in 2:43 to reach the 3rd place match, where he lost to Eastern Alamance’s Christopher Watson.

Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown came in 5th at 152 pounds. Despite, injuring his right leg early, Rosati-Brown pinned Luke McDonald of Middle Creek in 3:40 to end his day.

Orange’s Korbin Nevius (160), Nathan Hecht (182), and Joshua Guzman (285) all finished fourth. Guzman wrestled in place of senior heavyweight Juan Navarro, who missed the tournament because he had his wisdom teeth pulled.

Orange’s Tyler Larkin finished 5th at 220.

Cary’s Kobe Early, the 126-pound champion, was named Tournament Most Valuable Wrestler.

One week after Cardinal Gibbons handed Orange just its second dual match regular season loss since 2016, the Crusaders returned to Hillsborough to end Orange’s dominance in the Jim King Invitational.

The Crusaders had three individual champions to win the overall team competition in the 39th Jim King/Orange Invitational. Gibbons won the two-day event with 200.5 points. Orange, which had won the JKO four consecutive years, finished second with 162 points. Person, a runner-up in 2018, finished 3rd at 166 points.

19 teams participated in the two-day event, including seven squads from Wake County and five from Durham.

Cedar Ridge finished 11th with 86 points. It was the Red Wolves best performance in the JKO since 2011, when they came in 8th with 92 points with two individual champions (Eli Schultz at 170 pounds and Mike Mastrianni at 182).

Gibbons, participating in the JKO for the fourth straight year and who finished 15th in 2016, is only the sixth school in the 39-year history of the event to win the tournament. Cary has won 22 JKOs. Orange has nine. Riverside has five. Jordan has two titles and Northwest Guilford won in 2014.

The Imps, who have participated in all but one of the JKOs (they missed 1981), finished 5th with 132.5 points.

Orange, with its youngest team in years, made some history they would have rather forget. It was the first time in tournament history that the Panthers didn’t have a wrestler reach the championship final in any of the 14 weight classes.

Nine Orange grapplers made their JKO debut. Of the 14 Panther participants, only Joshua Dunn, Kessel Summers, Matthew Smith-Breeden, Henry Joubert-Stanzel and Tayton Alvis had JKO experience.

“I think the guys showed a lot of heart,” said Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat. “We had some positive spots. We just have to keep working. I’m sure our coaches will have the guys ready for the next competition.”

Summers earned 3rd place at 126 pounds. After losing to Richie Rizzuto of Leesville Road in the semifinals, Summers rebounded to pin Isaac Rameriz of Riverside in 2:07, then defeated Eli Kays of Sanderson 7-3 in the consolation final.

In his first JKO appearance, Orange’s Xavier Tinnen had a 3rd place finish at 195 pounds. Tinnen pinned Chatham Central’s Gerli Amador in 1:43 in the consolation final. Tinnen went to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Holden Cypher of Millbrook, who eventually won the tournament.

Tinnen won four straight matches to capture third place. After a forfeit win over Sanderson’s Deavon Lucas, he pinned Tyler Kendall of Northern Durham in 39 seconds. He also pinned Person’s Zak Lieske in 1:28 in the consolation semifinals.

For Cedar Ridge, Daina Pritchard finished 3rd at 132 pounds. He scored a 9-1 decision over Smith-Breeden in the consolation final.

Pritchard scored pins in both of his Friday matches. He defeated Ryan Rago of Cary in 1:31. In the quarterfinals, Pritchard pinned Owen Matheney of Apex in :55. Isaiah Olive of Middle Creek defeated Pritchard 10-1 en route to the 152 pound championship.

In the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning, Pritchard had a thrilling match against Gibbons’ Samuel Freeman that extended to overtime. Pritchard scored the match’s final takedown to win 11-9.

In a year of underclassmen learning on the job across Hillsborough wrestling, Cedar Ridge freshman Fernando Martinez finished 4th at 106 pounds in his JKO debut. Martinez, who finished 2nd in the Red Wolves Invitational last month, now has a 10-3 record for the season after going 4-2 this weekend. Martinez pinned Leesville Road’s Aydan Gavisdalla in 2:43 to reach the 3rd place match, where he lost to Eastern Alamance’s Christopher Watson.

Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown came in 5th at 152 pounds. Despite, injuring his right leg early, Rosati-Brown pinned Luke McDonald of Middle Creek in 3:40 to end his day.

Orange’s Korbin Nevius (160), Nathan Hecht (182), and Joshua Guzman (285) all finished fourth. Guzman wrestled in place of senior heavyweight Juan Navarro, who missed the tournament because he had his wisdom teeth pulled.

Orange’s Tyler Larkin finished 5th at 220.

Cary’s Kobe Early, the 126-pound champion, was named Tournament Most Valuable Wrestler.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman wrestler Fernando Martinez. On Wednesday night, Martinez defeated Chapel Hill’s Avery Soular to improve to 6-1 on the season. Remarkably, Martinez only started wrestling two years ago at A.L. Stanback Middle School. Since then, he advanced to the championship of his weight class in the Orange Person Athletic Conference as an 8th grader. Last month, he won his first high school match against Williams. Then in the Red Wolves Invitational at Cedar Ridge, Martinez finished second at 106 pounds. He scored an 18-10 win over Person’s Derrick Laycock in his first competitive high school match. In the semifinals, Martinez pinned Chris Grubb of Trinityin 5:53. Martinez also scores two wins last week in a tri-meet against Apex Friendship and Green Hope, where he pinned the Green Wave’s Payton Meade in 1:33. Martinez is one of several promising freshman competing on the mat this winter in Hillsborough. He will be among many competing in the Jim King Invitational at Orange High starting Friday.

The youth of the Cedar Ridge wrestling team was on display during the Red Wolves Invitational this weekend.

Though the Red Wolves didn’t have any individual champions in the 15-team event on Saturday at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium, freshman Fernando Martinez made an instant impression. Competing at 106 pounds, Martinez won two matches to advance to the championship final.

On Saturday morning, Martinez defeated Derrick Laycock of Person 18-10. In the semifinals, Martinez pinned Trinity’s Chris Grubb in 5:41 to advance to the championship. Joey Bruscino of Southeast Guilford claimed the 106-pound title via pinfall.

Red Wolf junior Cutter Tate also reached the championship final, this time at 195 pounds. In the semifinals, Tate pinned Nisaiah Childers of Salisbury in 49 seconds. Ayden Privette of Trinity coined the championship over Tate.

Five Cedar Ridge wrestlers placed. At 170 pounds, senior Wuffin Ryrick finished 3rd. Rick opened with a quarterfinal pin of East Forsyth’s Ian Sawyer in 46 seconds. After Trinity’s Sebastian Talent prevailed in the semifinals, Ryrick pinned Barltett Yancey’s in 1:00 to reach the consolation final. Ryrick defeated Southeast Guilford’s Ethan Cox to sew up a third place finish.

Senior Alex Christian came in fourth at 182 pounds. Christian pinned Chastin Hawkins to open in 1:06. After falling in the semifinals, Christian pinned Alston Jackson of Carrboro in 4:06 to move on to the consolation final. Trinity’s Tristian Brewer won the 3rd place match.

Junior Daina Pritchard also advanced to the consolation final at 132 pounds. In the opening round, Pritchard pinned Carrboro’s Ezra Sartor in 1:20. Will Lewis of Western Harnett defeated Pritchard in the quarterfinals. Pritchard bounced back to win consecutive matches in the consolation bracket. He pinned Ayden Flanagan in 1:12, then finished off West Johnston’s Chris McHenry in an 11-0 major decision. A North Carolina High School Athletic Association rule prohibits wrestlers from competing five times in one day, so Pritchard’s third place match against Will Lewis of Western Harnett was declared a double forfeit.

Trinity won the Red Wolves Invitational team event with 217 points. Southeast Guilford came in 2nd with 171.5 points. Cedar Ridge finished 5th at 137 points.

Last year, four Red Wolves placed in the top five. Only Darius McLeod reached an individual final.

Across Hillsborough, the Orange wrestling team started its season with the Orange duals, an event where the Panthers compete in four dual matches against non conference opponents. Orange went 4-0.

The Panthers defeated North Davidson 64-12. In round 2, Orange won over Raleigh Sanderson 69-21. The tightest match of the day came in round 3 when the Panthers held off South Stokes 50-24. In the finale, Orange cruised past Chatham Central 75-6.

As with Martinez, a freshman was the star of the day at 106 pounds. In his varsity debut, Dillion Heffernan went 4-0 on the day. Heffernan, who wrestled at 90 pounds last year at Stanford Middle School to help the Chargers to the OPAC Championship, earned a forfeit win in his first varsity match against North Davidson. Heffernan put Sanderson’s Fletcher Kays on his back for his first varsity pin. He also pinned South Stokes’ Kendell Caudill and Chatham Central’s Michael Downing.

Heavyweight Juan Navarro started his senior year with four wins, two via pinfall. 220-pounder Tyler Larkin earned three victories, including a pin of Chatham Central’s Jarrett Marsburn.

Junior Kessell Summers, who qualified for the 3A State Championships in February after a 3rd place finish in the Mideast Regionals, started the campaign with two pins in his only matches on the day.

Orange will face East Chapel Hill, Person and Cardinal Gibbons in the Thanksgiving Quads on Tuesday night at Panther Gymnasium.

The post-Darius McLeod era of Cedar Ridge wrestling is off to a good start.

On Wednesday night, Cedar Ridge defeated Walter Williams 45-36 in Burlington. It was the first dual match of the season for the Red Wolves.

It also served as a steady tune-up for the Red Wolves Invitational, an all-day individual tournament at Cedar Ridge High School on Saturday.

It was the first dual match for Cedar Ridge head coach Scott Metcalf since the graduation of McLeod, who qualified for the 3A State Championships last February. McLeod ended his career with 98 victories and is now studying music at Western Carolina University.

Last season, McLeod finished 35-14 at 132 pounds. In the Mideast Regionals at Southeast Guilford High School, McLeod received ten stitches to his bottom lip after he was head-butted by Westover’s Lydell Canady. Despite that, McLeod finished the match and won it 8-6.

“I miss him,” Cedar Ridge Wrestling Coach Scott Metcalf said. “He was awesome. No one had a bad word to say about Darius. He was two wins shy of 100 for his career. We can’t replace him.”

Nonetheless, Metcalf will try to, starting with tri-Captains Ruffin Wyrick, Cutter Tate and James Rosati-Brown.

“We’re looking for leadership from all of them,” Metcalf said. “Cutter brings toughness and confidence. His demeanor isn’t over the top. I think the guys really respond to him. He’s like a big brother because he helps the younger guys.”

Against Williams, it was Alex Christian who came up with a critical pin at 182 pounds that led the way to the Red Wolves first dual match win of the year. Christian pinned Jordan McDowell in 1:14.

Daina Pritchard opened his season with a 14-7 major decision over Sam Sturgill. At 138, Alex Davis pinned Joshua Silva in 1:58. Rosati-Brown pinned Nick Wolfe in 42 seconds at 152 pounds.

Fernando Martinez (106), Wyatt Robinson (160) and Donaldo Aguilar (220) earned forfeit wins for the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge also returns Kady Watkins, who made history last year as the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to compete for a individual state championship.

In fact, Watkins’ participation with Cedar Ridge has carried over across school. Now, there are four female wrestlers on the Red Wolves team.

“I think she just wanted to stay competitive in something,” Metcalf said.
“She had a gymnastics background. She just fell in love with wrestling.”

Watkins competed at 126 pounds in the Women’s Invitational State Championships in Winston-Salem last February. While she has competed in tennis and ran track at Cedar Ridge, she considers wrestling her top sport.

“I think it’s just growing throughout the state,” Metcalf said. “Some of the other states are starting to sanction women’s divisions. With MMA (mixed martial arts) becoming popular, that’s getting women involved in wrestling. I love to see the sport grow.”

Cedar Ridge will host 15 other teams at the Red Wolves Invitational on Saturday morning. The field includes Person, Carrboro, Bartlett Yancey, East Forsyth, Enloe, East Wake, Leesville Road, Trinity and Chatham Charter.

Last season, McLeod finished second in the Red Wolves Invitational at 132 pounds, losing in the final.