Cedar Ridge Wrestling

DURHAM—Immediately after he secured his second individual championship of the season, Kaden Tatro ran out of the gymnasium.

As several of his teammates followed him to the exit doors of Margratha Chambers Gymnasium, they found he didn’t sprint away out of jubilation. Or that he was having an emergency of some sort. He just needed to keep his cardio up.

“I don’t have much of a gas tank,” Tatro said.

Tatro was one of three individual champions for Cedar Ridge on Saturday at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School. Cedar Ridge won the team championship in a 12-team field that included Riverside, a five-time 4A state champion. The Red Wolves finished with 163 points. Riverside came in second with 123 points. Apex had 115.5 points.

Red Wolf senior Fernando Martinez was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. In his final regular season individual tournament, Martinez won the 113-pound championship after beating Daniel Dickerson of Riverside 9-3. In the semifinals, Martinez pinned Brandon Mann of South Granville in 1:39.

The championship match was Martinez’s 135th career victory, placing him third all-time in school history. Last week, he surpassed Randy Greenough for third-place during the Pin Down Autism Super Duals at Uwharrie Charter Academy in Asheboro.

At 120 pounds, sophomore Pierce Prescod continued a strong season with a victory in the championship after top-seeded Thomas Crowley of Riverside. Prescod, who pinned Crowley, is 38-9 with 29 pins this season. It was the first tournament win of his varsity career.

The victory on Saturday provided Cedar Ridge with triumph after competing in some of the biggest tournaments in the state. Two weeks ago, they joined 114 other teams in the Holy Angels Invitational at the Greensboro Coliseum. In December, the Red Wolves finished 17th among 53 teams at the WRAL Invitational in Knightdale.

“Those tournaments helped us today,” said Cedar Ridge wrestling coach Scott Metcalf. “We had ten dual matches last week in Asheboro. That was a long day, but it helped us today.”

Tatro, a junior, had even more reason to celebrate. In the semifinals of the 182-pound tournament, he pinned Rocco Paolillo of Apex in 20 seconds for his 100th career win. He became the sixth Cedar Ridge wrestler to reach 100 wins. Tatro, who is 45-4 this season with 34 pins, is just seven wins shy of surpassing Ethan Knapp for fifth-place all-time in school history.

Facing Hillside’s Kellyn Stallings in the championship match, Tatro scored takedowns in the opening ten seconds in each of the first and second periods. Tatro contained Stallings face-down for most of the match. He scored an immediate escape in the third period and scored a major decision after Stallings was penalized a point for stalling in the final 30 seconds.

Prescod needed only 19 seconds to takedown Crowley. After Crowley escaped and notched a go-behind to take a 3-2 lead, Prescod notched a late reversal to take a 4-3 lead to finish the opening period. Prescod, starting on top in the second frame, got a cradle and notched the pin for the championship.

Martinez nearly scored a pin in the opening minute of his championship match against Dickerson. He led 5-0 after a takedown just 12 seconds into the first period and got three points for a near fall.

“I’m proud of Fernando,” Metcalf said. “Ive enjoyed working with him and I’m going to miss him after this year. He’s a good kid.”

In addition to the three champions, the Red Wolves had several runner-up finishes. Ryan Rakouskas came in second at 145-pounds. Rakouskas defeated Aaron Douglas of Hillside in the semifinals 12-8. Riverside’s Valerio Luftig captured the 145-pound title. Rakouskas is 28-16 with 21 pins this season.

At 160-pounds, Edwin Huerta of Cedar Ridge also finished second. Huerta defeated Gavin Pinfield of Apex via pinfall at 2:18 in the semifinals. In the championship match against Joshua McDonald of Leesville Road, Huerta gave up a late takedown. He tried to flip over and nearly scored a reversal in the waning seconds, but McDonald held on to preserve a 6-4 victory.

At 220 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Louis Tedder finished third after he defeated Garner’s Ryan Baker in the consolation final 8-6. The match went to sudden victory, where Tedder scored the final takedown in the first overtime.

Favio Jaramillo Espar earned a third-place finish at 106 pounds. Espar defeated Connor Horton of South Granville 11-3 in the third place match.

At 132 pounds, Mikey O’Melia captured third place. O’Melia defeated Riverside’s Chris Rowell 7-1. It is O’Melia’s best-ever finish in a tournament.

The Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School was the final regular season individual tournament in the storied career of Cedar Ridge wrestler Fernando Martinez. While it wasn’t his final tournament, he did earn Most Valuable Wrestler honors in winning the 113-pound championship at the Silver Fox. Martinez started the day pinning Brandon Mann of South Granville in 1:39. In the championship match, Martinez defeated Daniel Dickerson of Riverside 9-3. It was the 135th career win for Martinez, placing him third all-time in school history. He likely would have approached the school record of 166 wins if the pandemic hadn’t occurred, which roughly cut Martinez’s sophomore season in half. It was Martinez’s first individual tournament win this season. Martinez is the defending Mideast regional champion at 113-pounds. Cedar Ridge will host the regional championships starting January 26. Next Saturday, Martinez and the rest of the Cedar Ridge wrestling team will compete in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament at Orange High School.

Cedar Ridge’s Fernando Martinez discusses being Silver Fox Invitational Most Valuable Wrestler

The Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School was the final regular season individual tournament in the storied career of Cedar Ridge wrestler Fernando Martinez. While it wasn’t his final tournament, he did earn Most Valuable Wrestler honors in winning the 113-pound championship at the Silver Fox.

After competing in numerous tournaments throughout the course of this year, Cedar Ridge junior Kaden Tatro has several reasons to celebrate on Saturday. He won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham at 182 pounds. To start the day, Tatro defeated Rocco Prolillo of Apex in 20 seconds via pinfall. It was Tatro’s 100th career win, becoming the sixth Cedar Ridge wrestler to reach that milestone. Tatro is now 45-4 this season with 34 pins. It was a gratifying way to end the regular season for Tatro, who also won the Red Wolf Invitational in November. Tatro finished third at the WRAL Invitational on December 17 in Knightdale. Now, Tatro will focus on the postseason, which will begin next Saturday. The Central Carolina Conference Championships will be held at Orange High School. Tatro will likely be the favorite at 182 pounds. In addition, earlier this week it was announced that Cedar Ridge will host the 3A Mideast Regional Championships next month. The top four placers in each division will qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro discusses winning Silver Fox Invitational

After competing in numerous tournaments throughout the course of this year, Cedar Ridge junior Kaden Tatro has several reasons to celebrate on Saturday. He won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham at 182 pounds. To start the day, Tatro defeated Rocco Prolillo of Apex in 20 seconds via pinfall.

Some things never change. Sitting in the stands of the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on Friday afternoon, I saw South View wrestling coach Cam Spence, an old friend who I got to know 25 years ago at Appalachian State University.

I was a late bloomer when I arrived in Boone, which made me ripe for age jokes. Cam, who was a teenager when I met him, doesn’t lack in that regard. Once, on our way to a football game at Auburn, Cam said “My girlfriend asked me if I was going antique shopping on our way through Atlanta. I told her we were picking Jeff up at noon.”

Naturally, Cam was still making age jokes as we watched the matches unfold on Friday. As old as I may get, I hope I never lose the special feeling I get at this time of year. I still look forward to Christmas. The Christmas music. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special. The holiday basketball tournaments. The Chapel Hill Tiger wrestling invitational.

And lots and lots of giving.

My Spotify playlist shifts to the Vince Guraldi Trio every December and largely stays that way for the entire month. I’m proud to say that after all this time, I’ve never had a case of holiday depression. I know not everyone is as fortunate, so anyone who may feel south of happy right now, my thoughts are with you.

Hopefully, my enthusiasm for the holidays is something else that never changes, just like Cam’s age jokes.

And a very happy holiday to all of you. Here’s the Magnificent 7 for the week of December 3-10.

1.  Zoey Moreno, Jr., Cedar Ridge wrestling: Moreno made history at the Green Hope Girls Grapple in Cary,. On December 3, Moreno became the first female wrestler in the history of Hillsbrough to win a tournament. Moreno captured the 120-pound championship with pins in all three of her matches. Moreno defeated Ava Lytle of Wakefield in 33 seconds to take the championship.
2.  Luke Roman, Soph, Orange Swimming: Set the school record in the 200 yard freestyle in the opening event of swimming season at the Orange County Sportsplex. Roman also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle. He also qualified for regionals in two relay events. Last year, Roman finished eighth in the 3A State Championships in the 200 yard freestyle.
3.  Amiyah Ware, Jr. Cedar Ridge women’s basketball: Talk about making an instant impact. Ware, in her second game in a Red Wolves uniform, scored 18 points as the Red Wolves defeated Person 58-27 on December 9. It was Cedar Ridge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019. Ware, a transfer from Burlington School, also had a solid game against East Chapel Hill on December 6
4. Nikayla Whitted, Sr. Orange women’s basketball: Led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 14 points in a 41-36 win over Carrboro on December 6. Three nights later, Whitted had six points as the Lady Panthers defeated Durham School of the Arts 72-34. Whitted also led Orange in scoring in a win over Riverside on December 2.
5. Sam Crawford, Sr. Orange wrestling: Earned three wins during the Orange quad on December 7. On a night where the Panthers were shorthanded, Crawford scored a major decision over Gabriel Waterhouse of Chapel Hill 15-3. He also Justin Hartsell of Cedar Ridge as the Panthers maintained its undefeated record in dual matches.
6. Kai Wade, Fr., Orange men’s basketball: Scored 15 points in Orange’s 69-35 win over Durham School of the Arts on December 9. Wade also had eight points, three assists and three steals in the Panthers 76-46 win over Carrboro. Wade is one of three freshmen who have started this year for an Panthers team that has already surpassed its win total from last year.
7. Quinn McCrimmon, Jr., Cedar Ridge women’s swimming: McCrimmon qualified for regionals in Cedar Ridge’s opening dual meets of the season. She finished first in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:34.15. She also earned consideration for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 1:05.05. The Red Wolves women’s swimming team won its opening dual match over Eastern Alamance.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior wrestler Kaden Tatro. This season, Kaden has started 22-0 with 16 pins. In the Red Wolf Invitational, Tatro won the 182-pound championship of the Red Wolf Invitational on November 19 at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium. Last season, Tatro qualified for the 3A State Championships at 170 pounds after he finished in fourth place at the 3A Mideast Regionals. As a freshman, Tatro missed qualifying for the state championships by one match at 160 pounds. He finished his freshman year 19-6, which was a heavily pared down season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If he had a standard-length freshman season, Tatro would likely surpass 100 wins this year. Last week, he won all four of his matches in the Red Wolf Duals via pinfall. He also won dual matches against defending Central Carolina Conference champion Orange and Chapel Hill. Tatro also won all of his matches during the Duals on November 3 in Raleigh. Cedar Ridge will continue its season on Wednesday when they face Eastern Alamance, Greensboro Dudley and Sanderson in a quad match at Cedar Ridge High. Kaden’s goal this year is to reach the state championships in February and place in his weight class.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Kaden Tatro

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior wrestler Kaden Tatro. This season, Kaden has started 22-0 with 16 pins. In the Red Wolf Invitational, Tatro won the 182-pound championship of the Red Wolf Invitational on November 19 at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium.

On the verge of becoming the first Cedar Ridge wrestler with 100 career wins since 2007, junior Fernando Martinez has earned another honor.

Martinez was named the Central Carolina Conference 106-145 pound Wrestler of the Year and was named to the All-Conference team. It follows a season where Martinez won the 3A Mideast Regional Championship at Union Pines High School in Cameron. He was the only grappler from Cedar Ridge or Orange High Schools to place in the 3A State Championships. Martinez defeated Union Pines’ Jayden Crawford 9-7 to win the 113-pound Mideast Regional Championship on February 12.

A week later, Martinez finished fifth in the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum. He pinned Skylar Oxford of West Carteret in 3:57 in his final match of the year. It was the best finish by a Cedar Ridge wrestler in the state championships since Adam Howard, who finished 5th at 152 pounds in 2013.

This season, Martinez finished 42-10 to place his career record at 97-26. Martinez’s sophomore year was limited to 24 matches due to the pandemic. If he had a standard season in 2020-2021, chances are he would be knocking on the door of the school record for most wins, held by Chandler Collins with 166 victories from 2003-2007.

As it is, Martinez is in sixth place on Cedar Ridge’s all-time wins list, one victory behind Darius McLeod, who competed from 2015-2019.

Joining Martinez on the All-Central Carolina Conference team for wrestlers at 106-145 pounds was Cedar Ridge freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo. Competing at 132 and 138 pounds, Oguntoyinbo opened the season with three wins as the Red Wolves defeated Person, Jordan and Panther Creek in a quad-match at Red Wolves Gymnasium on November 17. Oguntoyinbo is also the goalkeeper for the Cedar Ridge lacrosse team.

Orange had five wrestlers named All-Conference at 106-145 pounds: Kale Womble (113), Braden Crawford (120), Dillon Heffernan (126), Jared Hutchins (132), and Avery Clark (145).

Womble went 18-11 as the Orange wrestling team advanced to the Eastern Regional championship match in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament. Womble pinned Northwood’s Sunday Oo to help the Panthers beat the Chargers 45-27 in the opening round in Hillsborough.

Crawford qualified for the state championships as a freshman. He went 31-15 in his opening season with the Panthers. Crawford finished fourth in the Eastern Alamance Invitational in Mebane on December 18. He went on to finish third in the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Grimsley High in Greensboro. At the Mideast Regionals, Crawford came in fourth.

Heffernan was the runner-up at 126 pounds of the Mideast Regionals. He ended the year 26-9. Heffernan, a junior, won the 126-pound championship at the Crosby Invitational, defeating Allen Cohen of Morehead High 6-5 in the final. Heffernan came in third at the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 4. At the Eastern Alamance Invitational, Heffernan came in second place.

Hutchins, a sophomore, finished third in the Mideast Regionals, winning the consolation final match over Finnius McCafferty 10-6. He ended the year 28-10 after winning two matches in the consolation round of the state championships. Hutchins won the championship of the Crosby Invitational at 132 pounds, defeating Donovan Edwards of Southwest Guilford 10-4 in the final match. Hutchins also came in third at the JKO, as well as second place at the Eastern Alamance Invitational.

Clark went 24-13 in his senior season. He reached the state championships after a third place finish in the Mideast Regionals. Clark came in fourth in the JKO. Clark came in third place at the Eastern Alamance Invitational. In the state dual playoffs, Clark pinned Wilson Fike’s Jackson Davis as the Panthers won 51-24 to advance to the regional semifinals.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior wrestler Fernando Martinez. Earlier this month, Martinez won the 113-pound Mideast Wrestling Championship at Union Pines High School in Cameron. Last weekend, Martinez finished 5th in the 3A State Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum. It was the highest finish by any Cedar Ridge wrestler in a 3A State Tournament in school history. Martinez pinned Skyler Oxford, the Eastern Regional Champion, to secure the fifth place finish. This is the third time that Martinez has won Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week in his career. Martinez finished the season 42-10. He will go into his senior season with 97 career wins. He is on the verge of becoming the first Cedar Ridge wrestler with 100 career wins since Ethan Kapp, who wrestled from 2003-2007. Martinez’s fifth-place finish was the best by any Cedar Ridge wrestler sine Adam Howard finished 5th in the 2013 2A State Tournament. This was Martinez’s first appearance in the state tournament and he helped the Red Wolves to a 3rd-place finish in its first year in the Central Carolina Conference tournament.

The term “dynasty” becomes more arbitrary from generation to generation.

In the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls earned the moniker after winning six NBA Championships in eight seasons. But could it really compare to Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics of the late 1950s-1960s, which won eleven world titles in 13 years?

The San Francisco 49ers was the first team to win five Super Bowls. They did it in a span of 14 years behind quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young from 1981-1995. For much of that period, the New England Patriots were as far away from a Super Bowl as Hillsborough is to the moon. No one knew that Tom Brady would take New England to six World Championships in 16 years in the 21 century.

By any definition of the term, Orange Middle School had a wrestling dynasty. More to the point, Stanford wrestling had a dynasty, long before the Orange County School Board changed its name.

The string of dominance started in the 1980s under Coach Lou Geary and continued under Aaron Carr into the new millennium. The Chargers won 20 consecutive Orange Person Athletic Conference Championships. They had 18 consecutive undefeated seasons and 12 straight years without losing a league match.

It all ended last month at the hands of the Stanback Bulldogs.

In a standard Hollywood script, the Bulldogs would have defeated its crosstown rivals with the entire dual match, conference championship and, well, dynasty boiling down to one final one-on-one individual bout.

In reality, Stanback’s win had all of the drama of a mid-1980s Super Bowl.

Stanback defeated the Chargers 73-18 to earn its first wrestling championship in school history. It was also the first time ever the Bulldogs defeated the Chargers on the wrestling mat.

“I think we had the advantage of a continuation of coaching,” said Stanback wrestling coach Jonah Hill. “We had a lot of sixth graders who were wrestling two years ago. They did a great job as 8th graders in getting a buzz about the program and talking to their friends. That created an advantage for us.”

Obviously, Stanback waited an eternity to beat OMS. The wait to simply compete, not just for Stanback but all local middle schools in all sports, was interminable after the pandemic.

While high school sports steadily returned to action in the 2020-2021 academic year, albeit with unorthodox schedules and curtailed attendance, there were no sports in middle schools across Orange County.

One of the last middle school events before the shutdown took place in front of a standing room only crowd on January 10, 2020. Stanback, under then-head coach Grant Gibson, and Stanford (under its former name) met on the mat in front of a packed grandstand at Bulldog Gymnasium. The Chargers squeezed out a 47-46 win, but not before Stanback started strong when Mason Pierce scored a pin in the opening match.

While the subsequent long, monotonous days without competition during the lockdown dragged on, that match never left the minds of Hill and Jose Hidalgo, who were assistants to Gibson at the time.

They thought they would end Stanford’s streak two years ago.

“That was a long of fun,” Hill said. “I think we got a lot of bad calls that night and I said as much to the (referee) booking agents. That was a one-point meet and I thought it could go either way. That was one of those nights where we were happy with the effort the kids put out. It was a clear indication that we were on the right track.”

This season, Stanback’s Ethan Montgomery went undefeated competing at 141 and 148 pounds. He was among four Bulldogs to win individual OPAC Championships.

“He wrestled the best kid in each of those weight classes against every school and beat them all,” Hill said. “He’s a very impressive kid. He was average as a 6th grader. I know that, as a student, he’s very smart. He has a good mind for wrestling and he surprised us all the way he developed this year. And he picks things up very quickly.”

Pierce won the OPAC 85-pound championship, ending a three-year run on the team.

“He got a lot of matches as a sixth grader because he wrestled in a smaller weight class,” Hill said. “That’s rare. But Mason worked extra hard this year. He was reliable. We asked so many kids on this team to do completely unreasonable things, and they still do it.”

Among those who transformed the most from the start of the season was Thalia Paterno, who finished 2nd in her weight class. Paterno spent most of the year as a backup until the waning days of the season. Then Hill had to juggle his lineup because of weight cuts and departures, and suddenly Paterno found herself competing against some of the top wrestlers in the league in the OPAC Tournament.

Paterno reached the semifinals at 92-pounds, where she prevailed in double overtime against a competitor from Northern Middle School despite suffering a neck injury in the third period. After escaping in the second :30 overtime period, Paterno won the match with a takedown.

“She was a sixth grader who hadn’t started any matches all season,” Hill said. “She wrestled so well. During one of the breaks in the match, I noticed her neck was hurting. I asked if she wanted to go out, but she wrestled for the championship.”

Durvin Lopez claimed the championship at 170 pounds, which surprised Hill, who labeled him a “darkhorse.” Lopez may have been a surprise, but he was also studious.

“He told us at the end of his championship match that he studied every single one of his opponents,” Hidalgo said. “In his last match, Durvin said every time his opponent had a tendency to bring his arm up. Every time he brought his arm up, he went in for a takedown. And it worked. I didn’t know that Durvin studied his opponents that way.”

Diego Vera Palma won an individual championship, though Hill said it was a journey that could have ended at any point during the season.

“He tried to quit about four or five times,” Hill said. “He doubts himself sometimes. I’m so happy that he gave himself to chance to perform to his ability. I think towards the end of the season he realized he had a talent for the sport and should stick with it. Once he got past that stuff, he performed at his best.”

Stanback had 13 8th graders overall. it was a journey that ended with a championship the school waited a lifetime for.

“I think every year we have a chance and every year we train as if it is a possibility,” Hill said. “It’s never been about the championship, honestly. It’s been about the idea of doing something very difficult. We’ve always been motivated by this idea that we believe it’s possible and there’s a lot of wisdom in approaching a goal like you can achieve it. Whether you actually achieve the goal matters very little. It’s about the growth you make when you work for your goal.”

Like Orange Middle did, Hidalgo hopes the middle school wrestling dynasty will now shift to the southern end of town.

“They have more motivation to continue in the right path,” Hidalgo said. “I think we’re going to gather more students to join our team. I hope next year we’ll have a bigger players.”

Since he started as a freshman at Cedar Ridge at 106-pounds, Fernando Martinez has always had a goal of wrestling inside the Greensboro Coliseum for the state championships.

Last week, he finally got there–possibly two years overdue.

In 2020 as a freshman, Martinez reached the semifinals of the Mideast Regionals at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville. He was one win away from qualifying for the state championships, but was injured against Chapel Hill’s Lucas Daily in the championship round. He was forced to forfeit his consolation semifinal match against Southern Durham’s Ashton O’Neal.

Last year, the pandemic forced major changes. For starters, the NCHSAA moved the season to June, leading to sweltering conditions in gyms across the state. Also, Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville hosted both the Mideast Regionals and the state championships. Martinez got a highly questionable draw at 120 pounds and lost in the quarterfinals to Southern Durham’s ShyHeem Davis. With no consolation bracket to fall back on, Martinez was eliminated and his dream of wrestling in Greensboro was dashed for a few more months.

After winning the 113-pound Mideast Regional Championship at Union Pines High School in Cameron last week, Martinez made his first trip to the Greensboro Coliseum one to remember.

On Saturday, Martinez pinned West Carteret’s Skylar Oxford in 3:57 to finish 5th in the state at 113 pounds. It is the best-ever result by a Cedar Ridge wrestler in a 3A Tournament. The only other Red Wolf to place in a 3A Tournament is Colin Davis, who finished sixth in the 2018 State Championships at 182 pounds.

Martinez became the first Cedar Ridge wrestler to place in the top five of the state Wrestling Championships since Adam Howard finished 5th in the 2013 2A Tournament at 152 ponds. Josh Collins is the only Red Wolf to win a state championship, taking the 189-pound title in the 2005 2A/1A Tournament.

Martinez ends his junior season 42-10. He will enter his senior season with 97 wins and is line to become the first Red Wolf with 100 career wins since Ethan Knapp won 107 matches from 2003-2007.

This season, Martinez competed in weight classes ranging from 113-to-126 pounds in hopes of becoming more well-rounded. He says what made the difference in placing in the state championships was improved conditioning.

“I put in more work this year than past years,” Martinez said in the week leading up to regionals. “I haven’t been able to pin as many people this season so I had to go longer in matches. Conditioning has been a part of my daily routine this year.”

After a victory over South Brunswick’s Ethan McCullough on Thursday in the opening round, Martinez led Caleb Haynes of North Gaston 2-0 at the end of the first period in the state quarterfinals on Friday morning. Haynes started from the top in the second period, quickly gained an advantage and pinned Martinez in 2:38.

In the consolation bracket, Martinez defeated South Johnston’s Ethan Brownlee 8-1. Martinez pinned Elkin’s Devean Huskey in 3:55 to move into the consolation semifinals.

Martinez’s top-5 finish capped an overall solid year for Cedar Ridge wrestling. The Red Wolves finished 3rd in the Central Carolina Conference, their best as a 3A team.

Cedar Ridge sophomore Kaden Tatro won two matches in the consolation round. After falling to Salif Conneh of Eastern Guilford in the opening round, Tatro pinned Crotan’s Blake McCabe in 2:20. Tatro scored a 13-1 major decision over Triton’s Nathan Williams in the next round.

Orange had nine wrestlers qualify for the state championships. Sophomore Jared Hutchins came closest to placing at 132 pounds. Hutchins defeated Christian Klutz of Jimmy Carson in the consolation round in 3:49. Hutchins edged Western Harnett’s Cameron Curva, the Mideast Regional Champion, 8-7 in the next round. Hibriten’s Ross Watts, who finished fifth, eliminated Hutchins.

Orange senior Brendon Worsham pinned North Brunswick’s Tristan Marks in the opening round of the 182-pound tournament. Central Academy’s Brady Ross, the eventual state champion, defeated Worsham in 5:29. Hiroki Cruz of Western Carteret, the Eastern Regional Champion, defeated Worsham in the consolation round 7-5. Worsham ends the year 29-8. He qualified for the state championships three times in his career.

At 220 pound, Orange’s Elijah Acosta earned his 30th win of the season with a pinfall victory over Jeffrey Klugh of Currituck in 4:06 of a consolation round. Acosta ends his junior season with a 30-6 record and individual championships in the Jim King/Orange Invitational and the Quentin Crosby Invitational in Greensboro.

Orange’s Acoya Isley, who claimed three individual tournament championships this year, won a consolation round match. He ends his first varsity season 23-8.