Cedar Ridge Wrestling

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.