Cedar Ridge High School

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 senior basketball guard Mekai Collins. The Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math in its season opener 77-48 on November 18. Collins is the leading scorer for the Red Wolves. Last season when Collins played for Orange, he averaged 15.6 points per game, which led the team. Collins is a native of Southern California and carried his fandom of the Los Angeles Clippers to the east when he started attending Cedar Ridge as a freshman. Collins plays for the North Carolina Gators AAU team, based in Greensboro, during the spring and summer. His flashy ball handling skills and the ability to finish off the dribble has made Mekai one of the most entertaining players in the Big 8 Conference. 

Photo courtesy of Card Chronicle

Scott Satterfield: The 1991 Orange High graduate, who grew up miles from the Caldwell community where he watched his father Freddie run street stock race cars at the Orange County Speedway, is the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Coach of the Year. The official announcement came Thursday morning from the ACC office in Greensboro. Among a panel of 46 media members, Satterfield received 23 votes. Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall finished second with 17. Dabo Sweeney of Clemson received 15 votes.

Satterfield took over the reigns of the Louisville Cardinals last December after leaving Appalachian State, his alma mater. The Cardinals were picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. Louisville went 7-5, 5-3 in the ACC. They became bowl eligible with a victory over N.C. State in Raleigh on November 16. The Cardinals also played three ranked teams in 2019, including its season-opener against #9 Notre Dame on September 1.

On October 13, Louisville defeated #19 Wake Forest at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, its first road win over a ranked team since 2011.

At Appalachian State, Satterfield led the Mountaineers to three consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championships. His final game with the Mountaineers came in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship game, where Appalachian defeated the University of Louisiana 30-19 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone. Afterwards, Satterfield left for Louisville while assistant Mark Ivey prepared the Mountaineers for the New Orleans Bowl, which they won over Middle Tennessee.

Satterfield played quarterback and safety for the Orange Panthers in 1990. His junior season was cut short in 1989 after he tore his ACL in the season opener against Eastern Alamance in Mebane.

Trenton Gill: The former Cedar Ridge football and soccer star was named 3rd-team All-ACC punter by a panel of 46 media members and the ACC’s 14 head coaches. Gill received 61 votes. After he didn’t play his freshman year at N.C. State, Gill averaged 47.6 yards per punt in 2019, a school record. He also averaged a net of 41.5 yards per punt. 50% of Gill’s punts were over 50 yards. Of Gill’s 56 punts, 17 were downed inside the 20-yard line. As a placekicker, 50% of Gill’s kickoff were touchbacks. Gill was nominated for the Ray Guy Award, but didn’t made the cut for semifinalists. Gill was an All-Big 8 Conference performer in soccer and football at Cedar Ridge.

Icez Barnett: Belmont Abbey defeated Division II Chowan 83-57 in women’s basketball on Tuesday night. Barnett played six minutes and grabbed one rebound. The Hawks are now 1-6 overall, 1-2 in Conference Carolinas. Chowan returns to action against Erskine on December 14.

Lauren Cates: Spartanburg Methodist defeated the Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team 66-56 in Spartanburg, SC on Monday. Cates started and was the only Eagle to play all 40 minutes. She finished with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-11 from 3-point range. Cates also had three rebounds and one assist. Wake Tech is 5-3, 3-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Cates has started all eight of the Eagles games. She is the second leading scorer on the team with 10.6 points per game. She’s shooting 37% from 3-point range. The Eagles travel to Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, VA on Saturday.

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.

In this week’s ramble, I won’t have commentary on every team, but rather my regular season awards. Since the list gets a little bit lengthy, I won’t have a reason for every award I’m giving out. That being said, I will also give out honorable mentions for the award as some of these decisions were really tough to make and I don’t want to leave folks out who are really deserving of recognition this season.

Coach of the Year

Scott Satterfield (Louisville)

Honorable mentions:

Mack Brown (North Carolina)

Dabo Swinney (Clemson)

Offensive Player of the Year

AJ Dillon (Boston College)

Honorable mentions:

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)

Sage Surratt (Wake Forest)

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Javian Hawkins (Louisville)

Zonovan Knight (NC State)

Defensive Player of the Year

Isaiah Simmons (Clemson)

Honorable mentions:

Chazz Surratt (North Carolina)

Lakiem Williams (Syracuse)

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Payton Wilson (NC State)

Honorable mention:

Trey Rucker (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Receiver

Sage Surratt (Wake Forest)

Honorable mentions:

Tee Higgins (Clemson)

Justyn Ross (Clemson)

Trishton Jackson (Syracuse)

Dyami Brown (North Carolina)

Kendall Hinton (Wake Forest)

Tutu Atwell (Louisville)

Tomorrion Terry (Florida State)\

Most Outstanding Running Back

AJ Dillon (Boston College)

Honorable mentions:

Javian Hawkins (Louisville)

Cam Akers (Florida State)

Travis Etienne (Clemson)

Most Outstanding Quarterback

Sam Howell (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Trevor Lawrence (Clemson)

Jamie Newman (Wake Forest)

Bryce Perkins (Virginia)

Most Outstanding Defensive Back

Andre Cisco (Syracuse)

Honorable mentions:

Tanner Muse (Clemson)

Amari Henderson (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Linebacker

Chazz Surratt (North Carolina)

Honorable mentions:

Lakiem Williams (Syracuse)

Rayshard Ashby (Virginia Tech)

David Curry (Georgia Tech)

Most Outstanding Interior D-Lineman

Larrell Murchison (NC State)

Honorable mentions:

Aaron Crawford (North Carolina)

Jaylen Twyman (Pitt)

Most Outstanding Defensive End

Greg Rousseau (Miami)

Honorable mentions:

Victor Dimukeje (Duke)

Carlos Basham Jr. (Wake Forest)

Most Outstanding Punter

Sterling Hofrichter (Syracuse)

Honorable mentions:

Trenton Gill (NC State)

Oscar Bradburn (Virginia Tech)

Dom Maggio (Wake Forest)

Austin Parker (Duke)

Most Outstanding Kicker

Nick Sciba (Wake Forest)

Honorable mentions:

Andre Szmyt (Syracuse)

Christopher Dunn (NC State)

AJ Reed (Duke)
Brian Delaney (Virginia)

Man of the Year

James Smith-Williams (NC State)

Final Football Power Rankings

1. Clemson, duh. 
2. Virginia
3. Virginia Tech
4. Wake Forest
5. North Carolina
6. Louisville
7. Pitt
8. Boston College
9. Florida State
10. Syracuse
11. Duke
12. Miami
13. Georgia Tech
14. NC State

Conference Championship Game Predictions

Utah vs. Oregon (Pac 12): Oregon, 31-27

Baylor vs. Oklahoma (Big 12): Oklahoma, 42-38

UL Lafayette vs. Appalachian State (Sun Belt): Appalachian State, 24-10

Cincinnati vs. Memphis (American): Cincinnati, 45-42

Georgia vs. LSU (SEC): LSU, 41-21

Hawai’i vs. Boise State (Mountain West): Boise State, 31-20

Virginia vs. Clemson (ACC): Clemson 38-13

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (B1G): Ohio State: 49-28

Last week’s predictions: 5-4

Season total: 35-22

Basketball Power Rankings

1. Virginia
2. Louisville
3. North Carolina
4. Florida State
5. Duke
6. Virginia Tech
7. Notre Dame
8. NC State
9. Pitt
10. Syracuse
11. Georgia Tech
12. Clemson
13. Miami
14. Wake Forest
15. Boston College

Basketball Predictions

Michigan at Louisville: Michigan, 77-68

Florida State at Indiana: Florida State, 65-61

Duke at Michigan State: Michigan State, 75-74

Ohio State at North Carolina: North Carolina, 71-67

Duke at Virginia Tech: Duke, 85-79

North Carolina at Virginia: Virginia, 53-50

Last week’s predictions: 2-4

Season total: 18-7