Cedar Ridge High School

The phrase “Play without looking at the scoreboard” has become a common refrain for coaches looking to motivate their players in tight circumstances.

In his first match at the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic, Cedar Ridge freshman Fernando Martinez took it to another level.

Facing fellow freshman Gunnar Hillis of Pinecrest, Martinez was fresher in the final four minutes to score eight consecutive points and earn an 8-6 victory into the quarterfinals of Friday night.

When asked afterwards what he was thinking while trailing 6-0, Martinez replied “I was down 6-0?”

Yes, he was. But after winning his 20th match of his freshman season, Martinez won’t worry about it now. On Saturday morning, he faces New Bern’s Paul DeNola in the quarterfinals at Chapel Hill High School.

“I wasn’t aware of how far down I was,” Martinez said. “I was wrestling as hard as I could. I think the coaches at my school condition us better than other coaches do.”

After Hillis scored the opening takedown midway through the first period, he escaped out of Martinez’s clutch and scored two points on a reversal and an additional back point to take a 6-0 lead. Martinez started his comeback with an escape point, then got a go behind. He nearly pinned Hillis at the end of the second period, squaring the match 6-6 after a near fall.

Martinez scored the only takedown of the final period 35 seconds in and held Hillis down the rest of the way.

Orange had three wrestlers reach the championship quarterfinals on Friday. At heavyweight, Juan Navarro pinned Pasquotank County’s Hunter Mayo in 1:02. Navarro eluded Mayo’s first takedown attempt and fell on top of him to improve to 14-1. It was Navarro’s ninth pin this year. He will face Person’s Marcus Vincent in the quarterfinals. Vincent defeated Navarro last month at Orange’s Thanksgiving Duals.

For the third time in 13 days, Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden and Cedar Ridge’s Daina Pritchard locked horns. This time, it was in the 2nd round of the 132-pound weight class. Smith-Breeden grinded out a 6-1 victory. Earlier this month, Pritchard defeated Smith-Breeden 9-1 in the 3rd place match at the Jim King/Orange Invitational. Five days later, Smith-Breeden evened the score with an 8-1 victory in a Big 8 Conference dual match at Cedar Ridge.

Smith-Breeden, who lost both of his matches in the Tiger last year, will face Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson Saturday morning.

Pritchard rebounded to defeat Chapel Hill’s Bao Dinh in the consolation round.

At 138 pounds, Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stanzel reached the quarterfinals of the Tiger for the first time. He opened by pinning Southern Durham’s Zion McRae in 3:02. In the second round, Joubert-Stanzel defeated Person’s Jailin Smith 5-3. Joubert-Stanzel, now 12-3, faces Dawson Allen of Grayson County, Virginia in the quarterfinals.

41 teams from four states are participating in the two-day event, recognized as one of the most prestigious in the southeast. Wilmington Laney leads the team point standings with 68.5 points going into Saturday. West Carteret is second with 66.5. Orange finished the day tied for 10th with New Bern at 56 points.

Cedar Ridge, with eight wrestlers participating in 14 weight classes, is 24th with 23 points, one ahead of Carrboro.

Orange still has five wrestlers alive in the consolation round. Freshman Dillon Heffernan lost in the second round, but came back to defeat D.J. Barely of Fairfax in the consolation.

Campbell Bourlon, participating in his first Tiger Classic, is alive at 113 pounds.

Kessel Summers pinned Elijah Ybarra in the consolation round late Friday. Summers opened his day at 126 pounds by pinning Noah Thomas of Laney in 5:50. Leesville Road’s Richie Rizzuto, who defeated Summers at the JKO, pinned him again in the 2nd round.

Orange’s Noah Davis and Nathan Hecht are also still in contention in the consolation rounds.

In addition to Pritchard, Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown is also still going in the consolation bracket. At 152 pounds, Rosati-Brown staved off elimination by pinning Gage Tomlin of First Flight.

In his first appearance in the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic at Chapel Hill High School, freshman Fernando Martinez is in the quarterfinals at 106 pounds. Martinez defeated Gunnar Hillis of Pinecrest 8-6 on Friday night. Midway through the second period, Hillis led Martinez 6-0, but Fernando got an escape point, then scored a reversal to spark a comeback. Martinez earned a takedown in the third period, then got three points for a near fall and held on for the win. Martinez, who wrestled at Stanback, is now 20-2 this season. He will brace Paul NeNola of New Bern in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning. Earlier this month, Martinez finished fourth in the Jim King/Orange Invitational. Earlier this year, he came in 2nd in the Red Wolves Invitational.

The Cedar Ridge wrestling team is now 7-6 after winning two matches in a quad match at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The Red Wolves defeated Jordan Matthews 60-22, and also polished off Bartlett Yancheng 72-12. In a Big 8 Conference meeting, Northwood held off the Red Wolves 45-36. This season, 138-pound wrestler Alex Davis is 11-2 with eight pins. Against the Buccaneers, Davis pinned Jakoby Casselman in 44 seconds. Davis pinned Jordan Matthews Dallas Richardson in 1:23. Last week in the 3rd annual Franklinton Rampage Duals at Franklinton High, Davis claimed five wins. He pinned Dezzie Rhodes of East Wake in 1:47. Against Franklinton, Davis pinned Javares White in only 40 seconds. What makes Davis’ strong start unique is he didn’t even wrestle last season. On Friday afternoon, Davis will compete in his first Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School. 57 teams from four states will compete in the two-day event, which will conclude with the championship rounds on Saturday.

Boys Basketball: The Gravelly Hill Grizzlies completed a sweep of the Stanford Chargers on Thursday night. Gravelly won 33-24 at Chargers Gymnasium. Landon Dalehite, the younger brother of Cedar Ridge 2nd baseman Tori Dalehite, scored 16 points, his career-high. On Tuesday, Gravelly defeated the Chargers 40-31. Dalehite also had 16 points. Earlier this month, Gravelly defeated Northern Middle School 47-37 in Efland. Two days later, the Grizzlies knocked off Phillips 39-18 in Chapel Hill. Now that the Chargers are off for the holidays, they will return to action on January 9 against Southern in Efland.

Girls Basketball: Earlier this week, Stanford defeated Gravelly Hill for its second win of the season. Evelyn George led the Lady Chargers with 13 points. Stanford’s other win this season came against McDougle on December 5 in Hillsborough. Shannon Murphy had nine points for the Chargers in the victory. Phillips defeated Stanford in the season opener in Chapel Hill. The Chargers were led by Dyreshia Farrish, who registered eleven points. On December 10, Culbreth beat Stanford. Karleigh Johnson had eight points for the Chargers. Last week, Smith beat the Chargers. Murphy had 16 points for Stanford, a season-high for any Lady Charger this season. Stanford will resume its season on January 14 against Northern Roxboro in Hillsborough.

Wrestling: The Stanback Bulldogs are undefeated. Stanback started action in the Orange-Person Athletic Conference with a 72-33 victory over the Smith Cyclones. The Bulldogs routed Culbreth 84-24. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs improved to 3-0 with a 72-30 victory over Northern Roxboro in Hillsborough.

Against the Raiders, Pierce Prescod earned a win at 98 pounds via pinfall. At 106 pounds, Zoey Moreno remained undefeated with another pin. At 113, Leo Oguntoyinbo won by pinfall. Kaden Tatro wrestled at 145 pounds and won by pin. Bryan Tedder, competing at 152 pounds, claimed a victory by forfeit.

At 195 pounds, Carlos Vera de Lara won via pinfall.

Stanback has nine wrestlers who are undefeated so far this season. They are: Favio Jarmillo Esparza (78/90 pounds), Pierce Prescod (98), Moreno (106), Edwin Hernandez Huerta (132/138), Kaden Tatro (138/145), Marco Esparza (160/170), Marcos MacNeil (170), Carlos Vera de Lara (195/220), and Kellan McMullen (220/250).

There are four Bulldogs going into winter break with 2-1 records. They include Oguntoyinbo (113), Ryan Rakouskas (120), Tedder (145/152), and Joe O’Meila (182).

Stanback will have a tri-meet against Southern Roxboro and McDougle on January 8. It looks very likely that the Orange-Person Athletic Conference will come down to the January 10 match against Stanford, which has won 19 consecutive OPAC Championships.

On Wednesday, Stanford racked up another OPAC victory, defeating Gravelly Hill 84-24. Josh Merrill was among the Chargers who won their individual matches. Merrill is 4-0 on the season.

Stanford is also 4-0. They will travel to Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill on January 8.

This is the final Middle School Review of 2019. We would like to hear from all sports and all three middle schools in Hillsborough. This week, we reached out to coaches of all teams in winter sports at Stanford, Stanback and Gravelly Hill. The responses were better, but not quite as thorough as we would like.

So in 2020, please contact us with the results of your games. For basketball, we’re looking for the names of all scorers, how many points they scored and any other important statistics. And, of course, the final scores. For wrestling, who won their matches and how. And the final scores, too.

Email all results to hamlin37@hotmail.com.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is women’s basketball forward Takia Nichols. Last week, Cedar Ridge defeated South Granville 44-29 for Coach William Dobbs’ first win as the head coach of the Lady Red Wolves. Nichols, a sophomore, is in her second year playing varsity women’s basketball. Nichols was an All-Big 8 Conference player in softball last season as Cedar Ridge won the Big 8 Championship for the second year in a row. Nichols helped Cedar Ridge to a 21-3 season as they reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs. She hit .509 and led the team with eight home runs. She was tied for third on the squad with 36 RBIs. Even while playing basketball, Nichols is preparing for softball season, which is scheduled to start in March. Cedar Ridge travels to Northwood for its second Big 8 Conference game of the season on Tuesday night. You can hear the game with Tim Hackett starting live at 6 from Pittsboro.

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.

Natalie Chandler: UNC junior Natalie Chandler was named the winner of the 2019 NCAA Elite 90 Award for Women’s Soccer during the Tar Heels’ trip to the Final Four last weekend. The Elite 90 Award is given to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA championships. Chandler has a 4.0 GPA as a health policy and management major. She is the fourth UNC women’s soccer player honored with the Elite 90 Award. Chandler was a two-time captain of the Orange women’s soccer team. She was named All-State in 2016 and 2017. She was the school valedictorian in 2017, as well as the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year. UNC reached the national championship match, where they fell to Washington State in penalty kicks.

Payton Wilson: During the N.C. State football team’s season-ending banquet last week, Wilson was honored with the Bill Cowher Award, given to the Linebacker of the Year. He was also honored with the Iron Wolf Award, an honor given to a player who returned from injury. As first responded by PackInsider.com, Wilson was the first freshman for N.C. State to lead the Wolfpack in tackles since 1988, and only the second rookie in team history since tackles started being recorded as a statistic in 1977. He finished with 69 tackles and five tackles for loss, despite starting only one game.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central Eagles started its indoor track & field season at the JDL Kickoff Classic in Winston-Salem last Saturday. Jones, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, finished 2nd in the high jump at 2.05 meters, or 6 feet and 8.75 inches. Last spring, Jones captured the high jump championship at the Mt. Olive Final Qualifier. He finished 4th in the MEAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 2. Jones also claimed the championship of the Charlotte 49ers Classic last March. He has also run in the 200 meters for the Eagles.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team returned from Thanksgiving break with a 39-9 win over Southern Virginia at Swartz Gym on Tuesday. Homsey, wrestling at 197 pounds, defeated Matt Speelman 6-0. It was the Panthers’ final match before Christmas. Homsey is 10-3 on the season. Ferrum returns to action in the Citrus Invitational Tournament in Orlando on December 29-30.

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team returned to action last weekend. The Bantams defeated Stevens Institute of Technology 80-62 at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT. Campbell came off the bench and had four points and two rebounds in ten minutes of action. Last Thursday, Trinity romped past Connecticut College 60-38 at Luce Fieldhouse in New London, CT. Campbell played 16 minutes. She finished with two points and five rebounds. Trinity has won eight in a row and will travel to Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Monday.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College Eagles’ women’s basketball team returned to action this week. The Eagles defeated Johnson & Wales University 65-59 in Raleigh. Cates scored eleven points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. A game scheduled for last weekend against Patrick Henry Community College was canceled. Wake Tech is 6-3, 3-2 in Region X. Cates is the 2nd-leading scorer for Wake Tech with 10.7 points per game. She’s shooting 31.7% from 3-point range. Wake Tech travels to Southwest Virginia on Saturday.

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”