Orange Wrestling

Orange junior Kessel Summers finished 3rd at 126 pounds in this weekend’s Jim King Invitational at Orange High. On Saturday, Summmers defeated Eli Kays of Sanderson 7-3 in the consolation final. Summers finished the weekend 4-1. He was in the same weight class as Kobe Early of Cary, who was named the Most Valuable Wrestler of the tournament. Nonetheless, Summers scored three pins. He is 9-2 so far this year. In 2018, Summers qualified for the 3A State Championships at 113 pounds when he finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals, He pinned Shyheem Davis of Southern Durham in 4:57 to advance to the Greensboro Coliseum. He finished the year 39-14 with 17 pins and helped Orange win its 16th consecutive conference championship. 

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 Orange Panther of the Week is freshman wrestler Dillion Heffernan. Last week, Heffernan won the first three matches of his varsity career in the Orange Duals to start the 2019-20 season. He pinned Fletcher Kay’s of Sanderson, the pinned South Stokes Kendall Caudill. He also earned a forfeit win over North Davidson. On Wednesday in the Thanksgiving Duals, Heffernan scored a 10-4 win against Person’s Derrick Laylock. He also got a forfeit win against East Chapel Hill, pushing his record to 5-1. Heffernan was the 2019 OPAC 90-pound champion at Stanford Middle School last winter and helped the Chargers win the OPAC Championship.

Orange wrestler Nathan Hecht won all three of his matches in the Thanksgiving Duals at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Cardinal Gibbons defeated Orange 43-28, but Hecht scored a major decision over the Crusaders’ Samuel Davis. Hecht earned his first pinball victory of the year against East Chapel Hill. To end the night against Person, Hecht pinned the Rockets’ Karson Evans at 192 pounds. Hecht went 15-9 last season with seven pins as he competed in three different weight classes. Next week, Hecht will compete in the Jim King Invitational, a two-day tournament starting on Friday at Orange High. This will be the first time that Hecht has competed in a JKO. 

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.

Photo courtesy of WYMT

Scott Satterfield: After finishing winless in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2018, the Louisville Cardinals are bowl-eligible in Scott Satterfield’s first year as head coach. The Cardinals defeated N.C. State at Carter-Finley Stadium for its sixth win of the season on Saturday night. On Wednesday, Satterfield was named one of 22 semifinalists for the George Munger National Coach of the Year Award, announced by the Maxwell Football Club. The winner will be announced December 29. Satterfield, a 1991 Orange High graduate, took over a Louisville team that was picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. He arrived to Louisville after leading his alma mater, Appalachian State, to three consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championships. Satterfield took over for his mentor, Jerry Moore, in 2013 as the head coach of the Mountaineers at they transitioned into the Football Bowl Subdivision. After winning four straight bowl games, Satterfield was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2018. Satterfield, nephew, Jett, was the leading tackler for the 2018 Orange football team.

Braden Homsey: The 2018 3A Mideast Regional Wrestling Champion at 195 pounds, Homsey started his sophomore season at Division III Ferrum College earlier this month. On November 6, the Panthers defeated Greensboro College 30-9 at the GC Student Center. Homsey, competing at 197 pounds, scored a technical fall over Vince Wilson 18-2 in 5:12. In the Cougar Open at Averett University in Danville, VA, Homsey finished third. Hunter Tobassion of Queen University upset Homsey 4-3 in the opening round. Homsey responded with victories in his final three matches. He pinned Kowan Lee of Averett University in 3:55. Homsey finished out with three consecutive technical fall wins, starting against teammate Ethan Fragoso (15-0), then over Loic Tueguo of Garrett College (17-2) and Jonathan Bishop of Averett (15-2) in the consolation final.

On November 16, Ferrum split two dual matches in the VBR Sports Southeast Duals at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA. Ferrum defeated Otterbein, ranked #15 in Division III, 24-12. Homsey defeated Braden Neuberger 9-6. To open the day, Milikin topped Ferrum 34-12. Logan Hagerbaumer defeated Homsey via technical fall 18-1 in 5:00.

On Sunday, Homsey finished third at 197 pounds in the Estes Environmental Star City Classic in Salem, VA. Homsey ended the day 3-1. He won his opening match via technical fall (18-2) over Sean Gillespie of Liberty University. In the quarterfinals, Homsey edged Tyler Phenegar of Elizabethtown 13-11. Ross Sealby of Mount Olive beat pinned Homsey in 2:05 of the semifinals.

In the third place match, Homsey again defeated Ethan Fragoso 6-3.

Kalyen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team defeated Coast Guard 72-62 in New London, CT on Wednesday. Campbell, a member of the 2016-17 Orange team, came off the bench to score 12 points for the Bantams. Campbell shot 5-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range. She also grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes. Campbell’s career-high came on November 17, 2018, when she scored 16 points against Eastern Connecticut State.

Lauren Cates: It was supposed to be a matchup of former Hillsborough high school products when Wake Technical Community College faced Guilford Technical Community College on Monday in Jamestown. Madison Wardlow, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, is on the Guilford roster. But she didn’t play on Monday. Instead, Cates suited up for Wake Tech and dropped 15 points as the Eagles won 73-53. Cates was 5-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-9 from three-point range. On Wednesday night, Wake Tech defeated Lenoir Community College 88-51 in Kinston. Wake Tech is 5-2, 3-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Payton Wilson: Florida State defeated N.C. State 31-13 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL on Saturday night. In his fifth college game, Wilson had a career-high with seven tackles, including a sack of Seminoles quarterback Alex Hornibrook. Wilson also had a pass breakup. As Florida State pulled away in the second half, Wilson’s impact wasn’t lost on longtime Raleigh News and Observer sportswriter Joe Giglio.

As a redshirt freshman, Wilson is 3rd on the team with 23 tackles. He has three tackles for losses, tied for third on the Wolfpack.

Trent Gill: The former Cedar Ridge star had six punts for N.C. State against Florida State. Gill averaged 47.5 yards per punt. Two of the punts landed inside the 20-yard line. Two more went over 50 yards. Gill also had four kickoff, three of which went for touchbacks. Gill, who instructs current Orange kicker Nigel Slanker, is averaging 47.2 yards per punt on 20 punts this season. N.C. State is off next weekend. They return to action on October 10 against Syracuse in Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

Keyshawn Thompson: The FCS Campbell Camels defeated Mercer 34-27 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, GA on Saturday night. Thompson, who was put on scholarship over the summer, played defense put didn’t record a tackle. Campbell is 3-1. They host Presbyterian in its Big South Conference opener next Saturday at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek.

Adam Chnupa: The 2018 Cedar Ridge graduate made his debut for FCS Elon on Saturday. #2 James Madison defeated the #24 Phoenix 45-10 at Rhodes Stadium at Elon. Chnupa, a redshirt freshman who was an All-Big 8 Conference football and baseball player at Cedar Ridge, entered the game in the fourth quarter. Elon, now 2-3, will travel to New Hampshire next Saturday.

Rodney Brooks: The Livingstone Blue Bears defeated Lincoln University (PA) 35-19 at Lions Stadium in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Brooks registered two tackles. Livingston is 4-0, 1-0 in the CIAA. They host Virginia Union next Saturday in Salisbury.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team defeated UNC Wilmington 3-1 at Rudd Field in Elon in its Colonial Athletic Association opener on Thursday night. Hodges, who was featured on the front of the team’s program that night, assisted on the final Phoenix goal scored by Jessica Carrieri. Hodges, a sophomore, has started all ten of Elon’s games this year. Elon is 7-2-1 going into Sunday’s game against Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y.

Taylin Jean: Division II Barton College defeated Limestone 2-0 at Bulldogs Athletic Complex in Wilson on Saturday. Jean started in net for Limestone. She made five saves in the loss.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace University women’s soccer team defeated Mary Baldwin 6-2 in its USA South Athletic Conference opener on Saturday at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Rogers made her ninth start of the season, this time as a wingback. Peace is 4-4-1 overall, 1-0 in the USA South Conference.

Brittany Daley: The Division III Greensboro College women’s soccer team defeated Salem 2-1 in its USA South Athletic Conference opener at Varsity Field in Winston-Salem on Saturday. Daley started at centerback for the Pride, her tenth start of the year. Greensboro is 7-3.

Lilli Henry: The Methodist volleyball team had a tri-match in USA South Athletic Conference action on Saturday at the Riddle Center in Fayetteville. The Monarchs defeated North Carolina Wesleyan 3-1 to end the day. Averett started the afternoon by beating Methodist 3-1. In the Monarchs’ win over Wesleyan, Henry had 22 assists, seven digs and an ace. In Averett’s victory against Methodist, Henry finished with 12 assists, seven digs and an ace. Methodist is 2-9, 1-2 in the USA South.