Orange Wrestling

After two runner-up finishes over the past two seasons, Orange’s Kessel Summers has claimed his first individual varsity wrestling championship.

Summers pinned Havelock’s Nate Lucio to take the 126-pound championship of the Dash Classic at Fuquay-Varina High School on Saturday afternoon. It was the second straight weekend that Summers defeated Lucio. On January 11 at the Havelock Duals, Summers defeated Lucio 14-5, a major decision which led to the Panthers beating the Rams via criteria 36-35.

Orange finished 4th in the team standings, its best tournament showing of the year. In addition to Summers, Orange’s Brendan Worsham finished 2nd at 182 pounds. Senior heavyweight Juan Navarro placed 3rd. At 195 pounds, Jackson Ollis came in fourth, the first-time he’s ever placed in a tournament.

Cedar Ridge finished tied for 20th with 34 points. Among the six Cedar Ridge wrestlers who participated, Alex Christian was the only one that placed. He tied for fifth in 182 pounds after winning via disqualification over Hillside’s James Blankston in the consolation round. Fuquay-Varina’s Melvin Colon defeated Christian 4-1 in the consolation semifinals. Christian also defeated Harnett Central’s Jose Zambrano 13-7.

Summers finished 2nd in the Quentin Crosby Tournament at Dudley High School in Greensboro on January 4. Last season, Summers finished 3rd in the 3A Mideast Regional at Southeast Guilford High School and qualified for the State Championships at 113 pounds.

Summers now leads the team with 29 wins and 18 pins this season.

For the second time this year in an individual tournament, Summers faced an opponent from Leesville Road in the semifinals. Summers defeated Cole Patterson 9-6. The decision was the only time Summers went the distance in the tournament.

After receiving a bye in the opening round, Summers opened the event by pinning Southern Durham’s Tashaun Smith in 1:15. In the quarterfinals, Summers pinned West Johnston’s Chris McHenry in 3:40.

Worsham, who played junior varsity football last fall, had his best-ever individual showing a week after he defeated Havelock’s Tate Cringan 8-0 in a major decision which led to Orange beating Havelock. After he pinned Southern Durham’s Jordan Rogers in 19 seconds, Worsham faced Cringan again. This time, Worsham pinned him in 1:29 to reach the semifinals, where he pinned Colon in 4:48. Wesley Sharpe of Voyager Academy defeated Worsham for the championship in 4:22.

Worsham finished 4th in the Quentin Crosby Tournament.

Navarro edged Ronald Reagan’s Christia Cohen’s 2-1 to win the consolation final. It’s his best finish of the year. He earned a 7-3 decision over C.J. Shepherd of Enloe to advance to the championship semifinals. Hillside’s Rodney Harris, who captured the heavyweight championship, earned a 14-8 decision over Navarro.

In the consolation semifinals, Navarro pinned Cape Fear’s Chason Bryant in 3:40.

Last season, Harris and Navarro squared off in the Mideast Regionals with a trip to the state championships on the line. In a match that stretched to three overtimes, Harris won 4-3.

Ollis lost his opening match in the championship round, but won consecutive bouts in the consolation bracket. He pinned Apex’s Elijah Gagne-Koudak in 23 seconds. then pinned Pinecrest’s Luca Peck in 1:37 to reach the consolation finals. South View’s Kyle Johnston defeated Ollis for 3rd place.

It will be a busy week for both Orange and Cedar Ridge as the season winds down. Orange, still going for its 17th consecutive Big 8 Conference championship, will host Southern Durham on Wednesday night in Hillsborough. On Saturday, the Panthers will travel to Durham for the Riverside Invitational.

On Thursday, Cedar Ridge will host its senior night in a tri-meet against East Chapel Hill and Vance County.

Alvis Whitted: The 1993 Orange graduate is headed to the NFC Championship game. Whitted, the wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers, was on the sideline as Green Bay held on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sunday night in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Whitted was a wide receiver and ran track & field for three seasons at Orange. He was a 4A State Champion in the 100 and 200 meters. Whitted was a member of the 1991 Orange team that went to the 2nd round of the 4A State Playoffs. At N.C. State, he played wide receiver/kick returner for Coach Mike O’Cain. Whitted is the last Orange Panther to play in a bowl game, where he suited up as a kick returner in the Wolfpack’s 28-24 win over Mississippi State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Whitted is also the only Orange Panther to play in the Super Bowl. He played special teams for the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Whitted started his coaching career at Orange under Dickie Schock. From there, he went on to Millsaps College, a Division III team in Jackson, Mississippi. He joined Rick Neuheisel’s staff at UCLA in 2011 before starting a seven-year stint as wide receivers coach at Colorado State. Whitted met Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur during a predraft workout at Colorado State with Michael Gallup, one of three All-Americans that Whitted coached in Fort Collins. Green Bay faces San Francisco for the NFC Championship next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

Icez Barnett: Barnett, a freshman with the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team, returned to action on January 8 in a 73-67 loss to Mount Olive. Barnett played two minutes and grabbed one rebound. She didn’t play on Saturday as King defeated the Hawks 68-52 at the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Chowan is 3-11, 3-7 in Conference Carolinas Thus far in her freshman season, Barnett has played ten games. In 80 minutes, she has scored six points and 17 rebounds.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team returned to action with a 94-19 destruction of Fayetteville Technical Community College on January 8 in Raleigh. Cates had the best shooting game of her college career, going 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. She finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. On Saturday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Tech 80-57 to end a four-game winning streak. The Eagles are 9-4, 5-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team advanced to the championship of the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. Kutztown, ranked #16 in Division III, defeated the Panthers 19-13 in the final on Saturday afternoon. Homsey, wrestling at 197 pounds, defeated Anthony Emig 13-11.

In the semifinals, Ferrum upended Waynesburg 29-10. Homsey claimed a 9-6 decision over Dan Verhovsek. In the quarterfinals on Friday, Ferrum advanced past Alderson Broaddus 34-11. Homsey earned a major decision by beating Alex Eaton 15-3. This season, Homsey is 19-7 with one pin.

The Panthers are 5-2 this season.

Ferrum returns to action in the Builder Open next Saturday in Virginia Beach, VA.

With the Big 8 Conference Championship race boiling down to one match next week, the Orange wrestling team had a successful, if nerve wracking, trip down east.

On Saturday, the Panthers swept all four matches in the Havelock Duals at Havelock High School. Orange captured the final match of the day against Havelock 36-35, with the final match based on criteria. Havelock’s Derek Waiaau pinned Tyler Larkin at 220 pounds to even the match at 35-35, but Orange earned the overall victory after winning eight individual matches to Havelock’s six.

The Panthers improved to 22-2 as they go into a crucial match on Wednesday against Chapel Hill that will likely determine the Big 8 Conference Champion. Orange will go for its 17th consecutive conference championship spanning three classifications.

The Tigers have already defeated Northwood, Cedar Ridge, and Southern Durham.

In Havelock, Orange defeated J.H. Rose 60-21; they romped past Northside-Jacksonville 62-16 and polished off West Craven 66-10.

Brendon Worsham scored four victories on the day, including pinfall victories against Nic Roberts of West Craven in 41 seconds and Zachariah Gallardo-Chism of Northside-Jacksonville in 47 seconds. Biggest of all was a 8-0 major decision over Tate Cringan of Havelock, the third from last match of the day. The extra point from the major decision (worth four points instead of the usual three points for a standard decision) led to Orange winning the Havelock match.

Worsham is now 20-10.

Havelock opened the dual match with a pin by heavyweight Isaiah Verspoor. Dillon Heffernan earned an 11-5 decision at 106. In the tightest bout of the match, Orange’s Joshua Dunn defeated Trey Henke 9-7 in overtime to win at 113.

Havelock took a 12-6 lead when Cody Rutherford scored a pin at 120 pounds. Orange’s Kessel Summer narrowed the Rams’ lead to 12-10 with a major decision victory over Nate Lucio 14-5.

Matthew Smith-Breeden, who won all four of his matches on the day, scored a pin over Jaylen Jarman in 47 seconds. It was the first of four straight Orange wins.

At 138, Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stanzel pinned Collin Jasset in 1:07. Tayton Alvis pinned Havelock’s Austin Dennis in 15 seconds at 145. Noah Davis decisioned Xavier McCullough 13-10.

Havelock’s Gordon Whitfield earned a tech fall at 160, and the Rams’ Gabe Godette pinned Hayden Horne at 170 to cut Orange’s lead to 31-23 going into Worsham’s match at 182.

Switching between 132 & 138 pounds, Smith-Breeden earned a forfeit victory against Rose, defeated Northside-Jacksonville’s Dakar Pearson 11-3 and pinned West Craven’s Tristan Moore in 3:32. Smith-Breeden is now 23-8 with eight pins this season.

Heavyweight Juan Navarro earned three pins on the day. He defeated Daniel Olarte of Rose in 1:48. Navarro finished off Josh Smith of Northside in 1:09. Against West Craven, he pinned Malachi Williams in :47. Navarro is 22-6 with 14 pins.

At 138 pounds, Joubet-Stanzel narrowly defeated West Craven’s Jeremiah Cannon 13-12. Earlier, Joubert-Stanzel compete at 145 pounds and pinned William Denison in 2:14. Joubert-Stanzil is 20-7 with nine pins.

Last Wednesday, Orange defeated Northwood 55-12 in Pittsboro. Nathan Hecht pinned Hue Jacobs in 1:32 to sew up Orange’s first Big 8 Conference win of the 2020s with a pin of the Chargers’ Hue Jacobs in 1:32. It was one of seven pinfall victories for the Panthers. Worsham defeated William Lake in 1:47. Tyler Larkin won at 220 pounds, pinning Chandler Stubbs in 2:57. Tayton Alvis was victorious at 145 pounds over Nathan Davis after a pin at 2:34.

Scott Satterfield: The Louisville Cardinals football team ended its season with a 38-28 victory over Mississippi State to win the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Monday. The Cardinals, who trailed 14-0 in the first quarter, scored 31 consecutive points to take its first bowl victory since 2015, when they defeated Texas A&M to win the Music City Bowl. Louisville Head Coach Scott Satterfield, a 1991 Orange graduate, finished his first season in Kentucky with an 8-5 record, one year after the Cardinals went 2-10. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year last month. Louisville was picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division this season. Instead, they finished second at 5-3. It was the seventh time in eight years that Louisville finished the year with eight wins. Several members of Satterfield’s family from Hillsborough attended the game in Nashville. After visiting Wake Forest and N.C. State this season, Louisville won’t play a regular season game in North Carolina next year.

Kate Burgess: The UNC rowing team started its season on November 2 in the Head of the Hooch in Chattanooga, TV. Burgess, a freshman at UNC who was selected to the rowing squad last fall as a walk-on, was aboard the first novice boat, which earned the highest finish of the day for the Tar Heels. The novice boat finished 3rd behind Alabama and Eastern Michigan at 17:33.762. Joining Burgess aboard the novice boat was captain Claire Taylor, Emma Brockman, Jessica Judge, Hannah Davis, Tianna Van Cura, Nicole Van Lew, Jackie Wilhelm and Meagan Harrington. On December 2, longtime UNC rowing coach Sarah Haney, who chose Burgess to join the team, abruptly resigned. UNC will continue its season against Clemson and Duke in the Carolina Cup on March 7 in Clemson, S.C.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team returned to action on December 30 at the 2019 Citrus Invitational at the Great Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Homsey finished 5th in the 197-pound division. Getting a bye through to the second round, Homsey started the tournament with a 3-1 win over Wyatt Richardson of Augsburg University. Homsey advanced to the semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Daniel Sblendorio of Williams College. Zeckary Lehman of Baldwin Wallace grinder out a 5-0 decision over Homsey in the championship round. In the consolation bracket, Brad Basham of Washington & Lee defeated Homsey 6-4. Homsey claimed 5th place via forfeit over Liberty’s Austin Amos. Ferrum finished fifth in the team standings with 103 points. Augsburg won the team championship with 192 points. Homsey, a sophomore, is 13-5 with one pin this season. Ferrum will return to action on Saturday in the Crytzer Memorial Tournament in Lexington, VA.

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team had its nine-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday. Smith College defeated the Bantams 58-51 in Hartford, CT. Campbell, a redshirt sophomore, came off the bench and played eight minutes. She scored four points off 1-of-5 shooting from the field. She also had a rebound. On Monday, Trinity defeated Farleigh Dickerson University-Florham 60-36 in Madison, NJ. Campbell played 18 minutes. She finished with four points, two steals and one rebound. Trinity is 9-2. They will host Western New England on Saturday in Hartford.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior 120-pound wrestler Parker Bourlon. Over the weekend at the West Stanly Duals, Bourlon won all four of his individual matches. He scored a technical fall over Northern Guilford’s James Poole via a 16-1 score. He also had wins over Mount Pleasant, Scotland County and West Stanly. Bourlon has 12 wins so far this year, ten via pinfall. Bourlon is undefeated in Big 8 Conference action so far this season. He scored another technical fall victory against Cedar Ridge on December 11. Bourlon also got a victory against Vance County. Bourlon is one of the few seniors for the Orange team that is very young this season. This is his first season starting. Last year, he went 4-1 competing at 113 pounds. He moved up to 120 after the graduation of Gavin Wiggins, who qualified for the 3A State Championship last year. The Panthers are 17-2 going into the Quentin Crosby Invitational, set for this Saturday at Dudley High School in Greensboro.

Colin Guentensberger: The former Orange High linebacker celebrated his 19th birthday by suiting up for the Appalachian State football team on Saturday. Appalachian defeated UAB 31-17 to win the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It was the Mountaineers fifth straight bowl victory since joining the Football Bowl Subdivision officially in 2015. Since becoming eligible to play in bowl games after emerging from the Football Championship Series in 2015, Appalachian is 5-0 in bowl games and has four Sun Belt Conference championships. Guentensberger spent his freshman season in Boone as a walk-on. Though he didn’t play this season, Guentensberger is the first former Orange Panther for a bowl game since Alvis Whitted, who was a kick returner for N.C. State in the 1995 Peach Bowl. The Wolfpack defeated Mississippi State 28-24 at the Georgia Dome.

ASU’s win concluded an whirlwind period for Appalachian players, fans and staff alike. The day after winning the Sun Belt Conference championship over the University of Louisiana, reports circulated that former head coach Eliah Drinkwitz would leave for Missouri. Former Appalachian player Shawn Clark was named the new head coach of the Mountaineers last week. Guentensberger was the 2018 Orange football player of the year. A starting linebacker, he was second on the team in tackles. He also was 2nd on the team in receptions.

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team defeated Converse 64-56 at the Weisiger Center in Spartanburg, S.C. last Thursday. Barnett came off the bench for two minutes of action. The Hawks ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-4 in Conference Carolinas. Last Tuesday, Barton hammered the Hawks 79-56 at Wilson Gym in Wilson. Barnett played five minutes and grabbed one rebound. So far in her college career, Barnett has played nine games. She had a season-high 20 minutes against UNC Pembroke on November 30. Barnett scored four points against North Greenville on November 23. Chowan will return to action on January 2 when they host Converse.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team has won five of its last six. The Eagles defeated Bryant & Stratton College last Wednesday in Raleigh. Cates scored eleven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. She was 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Cates also had five rebounds and three assists. On December 14, Wake Tech defeated Southwest Virginia 89-75. Cates scored 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, all from 3-point range. The Eagles are 8-3 overall, 4-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Cates is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. She’s shooting 40% from 3-point range.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team started its season in the Gamecock Opener in Columbia, S.C. on January 17-18. Davis will start his sophomore season in Raleigh. During his freshman campaign, Davis was a second-team All-American in the triple jump for indoor track. In the outdoor season, Davis finished 2nd in the Raleigh Relays in the long jump with a distance of 23’11.75″. He qualified for the NCAA Championships after a 51’5″ leap. Davis finished sixth in the ACC Championships in the triple jump.

On the shortest day of the year, Orange’s had its briefest run in the Tiger Holiday Classic in a long time.

No Panther placed in the top five in any of the 14 weight classes at the end of the two-day event on Saturday. As was the case in the Jim King/Orange Invitational two weeks ago, inexperience in a deep tournament field was apparent. Of Orange’s 14 wrestlers, eight made their Tiger Holiday Classic debut this weekend.

Orange finished 19th among 41 teams with 76 points. It was the lowest total by any team fielding a wrestler in every weight class (Laney, Pinecrest and William Hough were the other three). Laney captured the team championship with 202 points, while William Hough finished with 186.5. New Bern and Pinecrest tied for third with 153.

The closest any Hillsborough product came to placing was Orange senior heavyweight Juan Navarro, the starting right guard for the Panther football team. After advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday night, Navarro lost to Person’s Marcus Vincent 9-1. In the consolation round, Navarro pinned Isaiah Verspoor of Havelock in 3:10. It improved his record to 15-2 and was his tenth pin of the season.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Laney’s Emmanuel Bell pinned Navarro in 2:26.

Cedar Ridge came in 29th with 24 points. In his first Tiger appearance, Red Wolf freshman Fernando Martinez advanced to the quarterfinals of 106 pounds. He lost to New Bern’s Paul DeNola in the championship round. Southern Durham’s Ashton O’Neal eliminated Martinez in the consolation round. Martinez is now 20-5 on the season.

Orange junior Henry Joubert-Stanzel reached the quarterfinals at 138 pounds. Dawson Allen of Greyson County, Virginia pinned Joubert-Stanzel in the championship round. Joubert-Stanzel pinned Croatan’s Cody Raymond in 4:12 to improve to 13-4. New Bern’s Jackson Bird eliminated Joubert-Stanzel in the consolation quarterfinals.

At 132 pounds, junior Matthew Smith-Breeden advanced to the quarterfinals. Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson pinned Smith-Breeden on the way to the tournament championship in a dominant showing. In four victories, Wilson scored two pins and two major decisions, winning the championship 21-9 over Lake Price of Northwest Guilford.

Cedar Ridge junior Daina Pritchard was eliminated by Greyson County’s Trey Allen in the 138 pound consolation round.

Orange and Cedar Ridge will be busy after Christmas. Next Saturday, the Panthers will compete in the West Stanly Duals at West Stanly High School. It will be their final event of 2019. In 2020, the Panthers will go for its 17th consecutive Big 8 Conference championship. Chapel Hill and Northwood figure to be the biggest challengers to the Panthers’ throne. The Tigers are tied in the loss column with Orange for first place. CHHS defeated Northwood 48-36 on December 11, and won 56-12 over Cedar Ridge.

Orange will travel to Northwood on January 8, then host Chapel Hill at a time to be determined. The Panthers are 13-1, 3-0 in the Big 8.

Cedar Ridge will take the rest of 2019 off. The Red Wolves will return to action on January 2 against Southern Alamance and Fuquay-Varina in a quad meet. The Red Wolves will travel to Northern Durham on January 8 in its first Big 8 dual meet of 2019.

The Red Wolves are 7-6, 0-3 in the Big 8 Conference.

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.

Orange senior Juan Navarro is in the quarterfinals of the Tiger Holiday Classic. On Friday, Navarro defeated Hunter Mayo of Pasquotank County in 1:02 for his 14th win of the season, along with his ninth pin. Navarro is the starting right guard on the Orange football team for the past two seasons. After missing the Jim King/Orange Invitational two weeks ago to have his wisdom teeth removed, Navarro wants to finish strong at the Tiger, one of the most elite tournaments in the southeast. On Saturday morning, Navarro will face Marcus Vincent of Person. Vincent and Navarro wrestled last month, with Vincent handing Navarro his only loss so far this season. Navarro narrowly missed qualifying for the 3A State Championships last year after he finished fourth at the Mideast Regionals. He lost to Hillside’s Rodney Harris in quadruple overtime 4-3 with a bid to the state championships on the line.

Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden and Cedar Ridge’s Daina Pritchard seem to have their own personal series going so far this wrestling season. On Friday in the 2nd round of the Tiger Holiday Classic, Smith-Breeden and Pritchard wrestled for the third time in 13 days. Smith-Breeden got an early go-behind and back points to take a 4-0 lead and went on to win 6-1. Earlier on Friday, Smith-Breeden defeated pinned Adell Shhata of Southern Durham in 2:38. He is now 15-4 with five pins this season. Last year was the first time that Smith-Breeden competed in the Tiger and he lost both of his matches. On Saturday, he will face Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson in the quarterfinals. Earlier this month, Smith-Breeden finished fourth in the Jim King/Orange Invitational.