Cedar Ridge High School

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore swimmer Sophia Stinnett. This weekend, Stinnett qualified for the state championships in two separate events at the Central Regionals at the Greensboro AquatIc Center. In the 200 yard freestyle, Stinnett finished fourth with a time of 2:02.84. Later in the day, Stinnett finished with the bronze medal in the 500 yard freestyle. She touched the wall at 5:26.76. Last week at the Central Carolina Conference championships, Stinnett won the gold medal for the second year in a row in the 200 yard freestyle. She captured the conference crown with a time of 2:05.05. She also came away with two silver medals. She finished second in the 500 yard freestyle and the 400 yard freestyle relay, where she teamed with Quinn McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar. Last year, Stinnett made All-Central Carolina Conference as a freshman. She teamed with Olivia Aitkin, McCrimmon and Pearce to set the school record in the 400 yard freestyle relay with a mark of 4:14.69. This Saturday, Stinnett will compete in the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Cary Aquatic Center.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Sophia Stinnett

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Just a day after National Women in Sports Day, Cedar Ridge junior Amiyah Ware set a mark that will likely live on for decades.

Unless she breaks it herself. Again.

Ware scored 54 points for Cedar Ridge in a 69-64 loss to Western Alamance at Coach Erma Adams Court in Elon. She broke a series of records and milestones. For starters, she shattered her own school record, which she set in her first game in a Cedar Ridge uniform when she scored 37 points against East Chapel Hill on December 6 at Wildcats Gymnasium. Ware tied her own record last month against Eastern Alamance in Hillsborough.

She also broke the county record, regardless of gender, that had stood since 1978. Orange High’s Ronnie McAdoo held the previous Orange County record when he scored 53 points in a 92-76 win over Southern Durham on January 24, 1978. McAdoo, who went on to play at Old Dominion, accomplished the feat without the benefit of a 3-point line, which was introduced in North Carolina High School basketball in 1988.

No player from Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill or Carrboro High has ever surpassed 50 points in a game in recorded history.

Ware’s total is the 10th-highest ever recorded in a women’s game, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association record book. She surpassed the 53 points compiled by Wendy Palmer, who played at Person High School, against Northern Durham in 1991. After Palmer graduated from Person, she went on to play at Virginia and eventually in the Women’s National Basketball Association, starting with the Utah Starzz, for eleven seasons.

The all-time women’s record in North Carolina is held by Clinton’s Mikayla Boykin, who scored 63 points for Clinton against Pender County in 2017. Boykin, now with the Charlotte 49ers, holds the top-two spots on the all-time single-game list. She scored 62 points against Triton in 2016.

“It was inhuman, honestly,” said Cedar Ridge women’s coach Megan Skouby. “She played her butt off tonight, scoring 54 points out of 64 total points. She has absolutely been a game changer for us. She leads the floor. She’s our point guard. Teams have to concentrate so much on her. And when she’s on, she is just unstoppable.”

It’s the most points scored in a women’s game since Charlotte Sherrill tallied 56 for Blue Ridge High School against Nantahala in 2021.

Ware has changed the fate of the Cedar Ridge women’s team after she transferred from the Burlington School last summer. She tore the ACL in her right knee last spring, which led to her missing the opening six games of this season. The Red Wolves lost each of their first six games, but nearly won her in her debut at East Chapel Hill.

On December 9, Ware scored 19 points as the Red Wolves defeated Person 50-27 in Roxboro, which ended Cedar Ridge’s 39-game conference losing streak. It was Cedar Ridge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019.

Since then, Ware has scored over 20 points in nine consecutive games. She had 34 points against Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night, her final home game of the season.

Cedar Ridge will end its regular season this week. They will wrap up Central Carolina Conference regular season play at Walter Williams in Burlington on Tuesday night. The Red Wolves will face Durham School of the Arts at Paul Sykes Gymnasium on Wednesday night. Cedar Ridge will start play in the CCC Tournament on February 13.

“I saw some real growth from our team against Western Alamance,” Skouby said. “Not just from Amiyah, but our defense looked really good. We were very aggressive. We’ve definitely gotten better as the year has gone on. They just have to continue that and hopefully. If we played like we did tonight against some of these other teams, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Let’s just put it that way.”

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior swimmer Nikhil Agans. Last week, Agans won the Central Carolina Conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. He claimed the gold medal with a time of 1:49.16. Agans also won the silver medal in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 23.49 seconds. Agans joined Jason Pattison, Willem Crittenden, and Phillip Cauwels to earn the bronze medal in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Agans had already qualified for the Central Regional Championships earlier in January. In a twi-meet against Orange and Walter Williams, Agans won the 100 yard freestyle with a qualifying time of 51.17 seconds. Agans also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard backstroke, coming in first with a time of 59.25 seconds. The 3A Central Regional Championships will be held on Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Agans’ goal is to finish in the top six in any of the events where he’s qualified, which would earn a spot in the 3A State Championships in Cary. over the past two weeks, Agans has broken two school records. Agans is part of a talented Cedar Ridge swimming team that has performed well throughout the course of this season.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Nikhil Agans

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It wasn’t enough for Cedar Ridge junior Nikhil Agans to break one school swimming record last week.

On Wednesday night, he broke another one.

Competing in the 200 yard freestyle, Agans set another Cedar Ridge school record during the Central Carolina Conference Swimming Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. Agans won the conference championship in the 200 freestyle with a new mark of 1:51.70. Last year, Agans timed out at 1:56.41 in the CCC Championships.

Agans was one of three Cedar Ridge swimmers to win gold medals. In addition, sophomore Sophia Stinnett captured the conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. Plus, sophomore Quinn McCrimmon won the 200 yard individual medley and qualified for the 3A Central Regional Championships, which will take place at the Greensboro Aquatic Center next Friday.

On the night, Agans finished with a gold medal in the 200 yard freestyle, as well as a silver medal in the 50 yard freestyle. Facing a field of 18 swimmers, Agans’ time of 23.49 seconds was good enough for 2nd place and a spot in Greensboro.

Last week, Agans broke the school record in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 59.25 seconds, shattering the previous mark by over three seconds.

Agans, who has swam on-and-off since he was six years old, has shown noticeable improvement throughout the season. Like all of his teammates, he wakes up at 5:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays for practice at the Sportsplex, where the Cedar Ridge and Orange swim teams workout together.

“It takes some commitment to wake up early in the morning,” Agans said after last week’s meet against Orange and Walter Williams. “If you really do like swimming, it’s not too hard to wake up. I love my teammates, and I love meets. Not just for the racing, but to talk to people behind the blocks.”

Agans joined sophomore Willem Crittenden, Philip Cauwels and Jason Pattison to finish third in the 400 yard freestyle relay, the final event of the night. The relay team earned a bronze medal.

On the women’s side, Stinnett successfully defended her championship in the 200 yard freestyle. She finished first at 2:05.05. Last year, Stinnett won the 200 freestyle as a freshman at a time of 2:05.28. Stinnett will also be in regionals next Friday.

Stinnett also came away with two silver medals. She finished second in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:34.22. Eastern Alamance senior Braylee Carter won the gold.

Stinnett joined McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar to finish second in the 400 yard freestyle relay. The quartet came in second at 4:17.65, automatically earning a spot in regionals.

The Cedar Ridge women finished second in the team standings. They had 322 points, barely finishing behind first-place Orange, who had 339.

In addition, McCrimmon a bronze medal in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:06.70. Abigail Emrich of Northwood won the gold medal.

The Cedar Ridge men’s team finished 5th in the team standings.

Pattison, a senior who did play-by-play for Cedar Ridge football on Hillsboroughsports.com, earned three bronze medals. He finished third in the 100 yard freestyle at 56.56 seconds. In the 100 backstroke, Pattison touched the wall at 1:07.61.

Cedar Ridge’s Phillip Cauwels had two bronze medals. In addition to the 400 freestyle relay, he finished third in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:02.35.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler Fernando Martinez. In turn, Martinez becomes a member of a select club: he wins the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for the fourth time. Thus, he becomes a member of the Four-Timers Club, only the third-ever member of the club. He joins Cedar Ridge softball third baseman Takia Nichols and volleyball outside hitter Cameron Lloyd. Last week, Martinez won the 113-pound title at the Central Carolina Conference championships at Orange High School. Martinez’s victory helped Cedar Ridge to win the Central Carolina Conference tournament championship. Martinez also won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham at 113-pounds on January 14. Martinez is third all-time in school history with 139 career victories. This season, he has a record of 41-9. Martinez is the defending 113-pound champion of the Mideast Regional. Next week, Martinez will attempt to qualify for the 3A State Championships for the second time in his career. In the CCC Tournament championship match last Saturday, Martinez defeated Person’s Christian Lemaire. Earlier this year, Lemaire defeated Martinez twice during the regular season. Martinez will graduate in June as one of the most decorated wrestlers in Cedar Ridge history.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Fernando Martinez, who joins 4-timers club

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler Fernando Martinez. In turn, Martinez becomes a member of a select club: he wins the Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week for the fourth time. Thus, he becomes a member of the Four-Timers Club, only the third-ever member of the club.

Cedar Ridge senior swimmer Jason Pattison left the Central Carolina Conference championships with a lot of hardware. On Wednesday night at the Orange County Sportsplex, Pattison came away with three bronze medals. He finished third in the 200 yard medley relay. Pattison was joined by junior Nikhil Agans, sophomore Phillip Cauwels and sophomore Willem Crittenden. Later, Pattison finished third in the 100 yard freestyle, where he has already qualified for the 3A Central Regionals, which will take place next Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. To wrap up the night, Pattison joined Crittenden, Cauwels and Agans to finish third in the 400 yard freestyle relay. On top of everything else, Pattison is also a member of the Cedar Ridge lacrosse team. Last season, Cedar Ridge reached the state quarterfinals under first-year head coach Cole Churchill, a member of Cedar Ridge’s 2016 team that reached the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship game. While Pattison finishes up swimming season, he is already preparing for the upcoming lacrosse season where an upstart Red Wolf team will take the field inside Red Wolves Stadium next month. In the interest of full disclosure, Jason also did play-by-play for the Cedar Ridge football team on Hillsboroughsports.com last fall.

Cedar Ridge senior Jason Pattison discusses swimming season and qualifying for regionals

Cedar Ridge senior swimmer Jason Pattison left the Central Carolina Conference championships with a lot of hardware. On Wednesday night at the Orange County Sportsplex, Pattison came away with three bronze medals. He finished third in the 200 yard medley relay. Pattison was joined by junior Nikhil Agans, sophomore Phillip Cauwels and sophomore Willem Crittenden.

Only a sophomore, Cedar Ridge wrestler Pierce Prescod won a conference championship over the weekend. At the Central Carolina Conference championships at Orange High, Prescod pinned Taveon Moss of Person in 1:08 to take the 120-pound championship. In the semifinals, Prescod pinned Logan Church of Walter Williams. This season, Prescod is 42-9 with 29 pins. On January 14, Prescod took the 120-pound championship at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School. Prescod has 2nd on Cedar Ridge this season in victories. His performance helped Cedar Ridge win the Central Carolina Conference Tournament last weekend at Orange High. It was the first team championship for Cedar Ridge in wrestling as a 3A team. Prescod and the rest of the Red Wolves will return to action at the 3A Mideast Regionals, which will be hosted by Cedar Ridge High School starting February 10. Prescod, Kaden and Fernando Martinez all won conference championships for the Red Wolves last weekend.

Cedar Ridge’s Pierce Prescod discusses winning the CCC 120-pound championship

Only a sophomore, Cedar Ridge wrestler Pierce Prescod won a conference championship over the weekend. At the Central Carolina Conference championships at Orange High, Prescod pinned Taveon Moss of Person in 1:08 to take the 120-pound championship. In the semifinals, Prescod pinned Logan Church of Walter Williams. This season, Prescod is 42-9 with 29 pins.

A day of redemption and rematches led to the greatest success as a 3A team for the Cedar Ridge wrestling team.

Inside the home of its crosstown rival that’s won title after title for decades, the Red Wolves captured its own championship on Saturday. Behind individual titles from senior Fernando Martinez, junior Kaden Tatro and sophomore Pierce Prescod, Cedar Ridge won the Central Carolina Conference Tournament championship at Orange High School. The Red Wolves finished with 185.5 points. Person came in second with 177 points

Orange, the regular season champions of the CCC, was hampered by the absence of six starters, including Acoya Isley, Dillon Heffernan and Hugo Vazquez. The Panthers finished fourth with 138 points.

Cedar Ridge coach Scott Metcalf, a graduate of Orange High School, led the Red Wolves to its second tournament championship in as many weeks. The previous Saturday, Cedar Ridge won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High in Durham.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Metcalf said after the Red Wolves were awarded the team trophy. “We lost to Orange and Person in the regular season so coming back and winning here in the end means a lot. It’s special for our guys to finish strong like this.”

It was an extra special day for Martinez, who won the 113-pound championship. Martinez defeated the top-seed, Person’s Christian Lemaire, 13-2 in the title match. It was the third match this season between Martinez and Lemaire. In the Red Wolf Invitational on November 19 at Cedar Ridge, Lemaire defeated Martinez 7-5 in the championship match at 120 pounds. Three days later in a dual match between Person and Cedar Ridge, Lemaire defeated Martinez 9-0.

It was a blow to Martinez’s confidence after he won the 113-pound Mideast Regional championship last February.

“Honestly, I was expecting to get beat down a bit,” Martinez said. “I didn’t have much faith in myself in the beginning.”

Before his championship rematch against Lemaire, Martinez talked with an old coach who was in the stands that filled him with confidence.

“I knew I could perform way better than what I did originally,” Martinez said. “So I just blew it out of the water today. He told me I knew about my own abilities. I should embrace that. I am good, it just took me forever to acknowledge the fact that I am good.”

Martinez scored a takedown off a fireman’s carry just 31 seconds into the match. Lemaire could only muster an escape point in the opening period. Martinez avoided a single-leg takedown and put all his weight forward to start the second period to earn back points off a near fall and went ahead 4-1. He notched another takedown to take a 6-1 lead.

Martinez is 40-9 on the season.

Tatro rolled to his third individual championship this season at 182 pounds. Facing Ethan Kuball of Northwood in the championship, Tatro won 8-3 to improve to 49-4 on the year. In the semifinals, Tatro pinned Jordan McDowell of Walter Williams in 2:14.

In the championship match, Tatro immediately notched a takedown, then grabbed Kuball’s left leg and got two points for a near fall. In the second period, Tatro started from the bottom and immediately gained a sweep with 1:22 remaining. Tatro led 6-0 going into the third period.

Cedar Ridge’s Pierce Prescod claimed his second individual title after winning the 120-pound championship. Taking on Person’s Taveon Moss, Prescod got a trip takedown 39 seconds into the match. Prescod got Moss onto his back and wrapped up the pin at 1:07 for his 42nd win of the season.

On a day filled with rematches, Orange’s Elijah Acosta continue his rivalry with Northwood’s Jake Dunning in the 220-pound championship match. Facing each other for the sixth time in the last two years, Acosta avenged a loss from January 4th with a 3-0 victory. Acosta, who is 24-5 on the season, scored the opening point on a escape 45 seconds into the second period. Late in the frame. Acosta shot in and bullied Dunning down for a late takedown to increase his lead to 3-0.

Dunning spent the third period futilely trying to break Acosta’s grip for an escape point.

On January 4, Dunning defeated Acosta 5-1 in a dual match, also at Orange Gymnasium.

At 152 pounds, Orange’s Sam Crawford defeated Western Alamance’s Mason Hogsed 7-5 in what may have been the most dramatic championship final of the day. Crawford charged out to a 5-1 lead after he gained Hogsed’s back for the opening takedown with 1:05 remaining in the first period. Crawford escaped from the bottom to go ahead 3-0 in the second period. Hogsed got an immediate sweep from the bottom to reduce the deficit to 5-3. Crawford escaped, but Hogsed got a single-leg takedown. After Crawford scurried free to go up 7-5, Hogsed charged and nearly had a takedown as the match ended. Hogsed appealed to the referee for a takedown after the final buzzer sounded, but no points were awarded and Crawford got his hand raised to improve to 31-9.

Orange junior Jared Hutchins won the 132 pound championship. Hutchins pinned Coltrane Northington of Northwood in 1:12. It took Hutchins only five seconds to get the opening takedown. Northington nearly got a headlock for a reversal, but Hutchins used his strength to get Northington on his back and score the pin at 1:11.

At 126 pounds, Orange sophomore Braden Crawford defeated Walter Williams Zy’Aire Priester for the title. Crawford led 5-2 at the end of the first period. Priester was a penalized a point after he grabbed Crawford’s trunks. Priester gained Crawford’s back and got both of his legs in midway through the period, but Crawford scored a sweep and earned the pin at 2:55.

Cedar Ridge had four other grapplers finish in second place. At 145 pounds, sophomore Ryan Rakouskas pinned Orange’s Aiden Cain in 42 seconds to reach the final. Northwood’s Ronald Walker claimed the championship with a pin at 2:18 of the championship match.

At 160 pounds, Cedar Ridge sophomore Edwin Huerta defeated Northwood’s Elijah Farrow 7-5 in the semifinals. Easton McCain of Person won the championship via pinfall in 4:00.

Cedar Ridge junior James Este Wittinger pinned Walter Williams Cameron Pettigrew in 3:00 of the 195-pound semifinals. Victor Rodriguez of Person won the 195-pound title.

At heavyweight, Cedar Ridge’s Conner Womble reached the championship match after he pinned Orange’s Jacob Carter in 1:31.

Orange’s Ben Musser finished 2nd at 138 pounds. Person’s Rodney Lyons claimed the 138-pound title via a 5-3 decision.

There’s a long checklist of goals for several Orange swimmers as the postseason meets get underway this week.

Junior Katie Belle Sikes managed to check another off in her unrivaled Orange career in the Lady Panthers’ final dual meet of the regular season at the Orange County Sportsplex last Thursday night. Sikes became the first Orange female swimmer to qualify for all eight individual events for the Central Regional championships. In a dual meet against Cedar Ridge and Walter Williams, Sikes won the 200 yard freestyle. She touched the wall at 1:56.81.

Sikes, who recently committed to swim at the University of Georgia, can swim in only two individual events in regionals, which will be held February 3 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Sikes has already claimed two regional championships and a state championship in the 50-yard freestyle in her career.

The Orange women defeated Cedar Ridge 99-66 and also defeated Walter Williams 110-24. The Cedar Ridge women defeated Walter Williams 110-26.

The men’s swimming meet was headlined by Cedar RIdge junior Nikhil Agans setting the school record in the 100 yard backstroke. Agains punched his ticket to Greensboro by winning the event at 59.25, over three seconds ahead of the previous record which had stood for three years. Earlier in the night, Agans qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle, finishing first with a time of 51.17 seconds.

Orange senior Even Phillips qualified for regionals in two more events. Phillips won the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:05.07, finishing ahead of teammate Nick Baczara. Phillips also won the 200 yard individual medley at 2:11.18. Baczara also qualified for regionals in the individual medley with a time of 2:18.67, good enough for second place on the night.

Earlier this season, Phillips qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, the 200 yard freestyle, the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard backstroke.

Orange Sophomore Luke Roman finished the regular season with a victory in the 100 yard butterfly at 58.51 seconds. Roman also won the 50 yard freestyle with 24.28, just shy of automatically qualifying for regionals. He has already qualified for regionals in the 500 yard freestyle, the 100 yard freestyle, the 200 yard individual medley, the 100 yard butterfly, and the 200 yard freestyle.

Orange’s Alex Andre won the 200 yard freestyle at 1:57.51. Andre has qualified for regionals in four other events.

Andrew Weeks automatically qualified for the 100 yard backstroke at 1:02.24, finishing second to Agans. Weeks has also qualified for regionals in the 200 yard individual medley.

Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Roman, Andre, Phillips and Weeks won at 1:40.11. They’re also set for regionals.

In the women’s meet, Cedar Ridge sophomore Quinn McCrimmon won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:54.00. Orange freshman Piper White finished second and also automatically qualified for regionals at 5:57.47.

Piper White also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle. White, a freshman, finished first at 58.68 seconds.

Orange junior Riley White earned a spot in regionals by winning the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:22.00. Cedar Ridge sophomore Sophia Stinnett finished second at 2:28.75. while McCrimmon finished 3rd. Both Stinnett and McCrimmon automatically qualified for regionals.

Riley White has qualified for regionals in the 100 yard butterfly, 100 yard freestyle, 500 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke. Piper White has qualified for the 200 yard freestyle, the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly, the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke.

Stinnett, who was All-Central Carolina Conference last year as a freshman, captured the 50-yard freestyle at 26.64 seconds.

Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Sikes, Riley White, Piper White, and Ainsley Rasinske won the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:51.35. Cedar Ridge’s team of Stinnett, McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar finished second and punched its ticket to Greensboro at 1:58.22.

The Central Carolina Swimming Championships will be held at the Orange County Sportsplex on Wednesday night at 6:30. Orange is the defending conference champions in men’s swimming.