Orange Wrestling

Over the course of one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the southeast last week, Orange sophomore Daisy Lopez made history. Lopez became the first female wrestler to win a tournament match for Orange. In the consolation bracket of the 126-pound division of the Chapel Hill Women’s Classic, Lopez pinned Mirabelle Chi of East Chapel Hill in 2:24. After Chi scored the opening takedown of the match, Lopez notched her first win of the season with a reversal and guided Chi’s shoulders to the mat. She went on to finish fourth, becoming the first Orange female wrestler to place in a tournament. Lopez is believed to be the second female wrestler in Orange history. She started in wrestling last year when a friend suggested trying it out. Despite some apprehension from those close to her, Lopez continues to progress with one of the most storied and successful programs in the state. Last year, Lopez won a match via forfeit. She will continue to work during the intense training designed by Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat as the Panthers search for another conference championship. With women’s wrestling gaining traction across North Carolina high schools annually, Lopez’s win at Chapel Hill last week will become an important benchmark in Orange wrestling history.

Lopez becomes first Orange female wrestler to win a tournament match

Over the course of one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the southeast last week, Orange sophomore Daisy Lopez made history. Lopez became the first female wrestler to win a tournament match for Orange. In the consolation bracket of the 126-pound division of the Chapel Hill Women’s Classic, Lopez pinned Mirabelle Chi of East Chapel Hill in 2:24.

Though there are some things different with the Orange wrestling team this year, the winning continues.

Orange will go into Christmas with a 9-0 record in dual matches. The Panthers, who have won 18 of its last 19 conference championships, is 4-0 in the Central Carolina Conference with dual matches against Person, Eastern Alamance and Northwood coming up in 2023.

On Saturday, the Panthers claimed its first team championship in an individual tournament this season. For the second year in a row, Orange won the Eagle Invitational at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane.

Four Panthers won their individual weight classes. Dillon Heffernan, who reached the Eagle Invitational championship match at 120 pounds in 2021, rolled to the title at 145 pounds. Heffernan, who finished second at the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 3, defeated Jace Rich of Southern Alamance 9-4 in the final. Heffernan, 14-1 on the year, pinned Cameron Stokes of Bartlett Yancey in 1:15 in the opening round. In the semifinals, Heffernan defeated Darius Evans of Northern Guilford 6-3.

Acoya Isley, who lost in the championship match last year in Mebane by one point via sudden victory, won the 195-championship by winning three matches, none of which went beyond the first period. Isley defeated Jeremiah Lumpkins of Walter Williams in :56 seconds to take the title. In the semifinals, Isley pinned Chase Crews of Northern Guilford in 1:15. In the opening round, Isley defeated Jesus Ponce of Graham in 23 seconds. Isley, who finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals last February, is 13-1 with 12 pins this season.

Orange’s Elijah Acosta captured the 220-pound championship. In the final, Acosta pinned Cameron Pettigrew of Western Alamance in 3:22 to improve to 14-2 on the season. In Friday’s opening round, Acosta pinned Wesley Reece of Cummings in 59 seconds. In the semifinals, Acosta defeated Wade Cash of Northern Guilford 9-5.

Acosta, who won the 220-pound championship of the JKO in 2021, captured the Eagle Invitational for the second straight year. In 2021, Acosta won all three of his matches via pinfall en route to the title.

Braden Crawford, the second-seed, captured the 126-pound championship. In the final, Crawford scored a technical fall over Alex Porter of Grimsley 17-1. Crawford battled back to reach the final. In a dramatic semifinal, Owen Adkins of Northern Guilford led Crawford 7-4 with time running out in the final period before Crawford scored a pin at 5:52 to advance to the championship match. In the opening round, Crawford pinned Riley Neil of Southern Alamance in 26 seconds.

The Panthers had several grapplers finish in second place. Senior heavyweight Hugo Vasquez scored pins in each of his first two matches. Vasquez defeated Chatham Central’s Adin Holton in 58 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Vasquez defeated Justin Booker of Southern Alamance in 3:26. In Saturday’s title match, Noah Lumpkin of Northern Guilford held off Vasquez 4-2. Vasquez, who won the heavyweight championship of the 2021 JKO, is 9-4 with five pins so far this season.

At 113 pounds, Orange’s Aidan Sierra had his best finish of his young career. Sierra opened by pinning Toriana Murphy of Williams in 1:09. In the semifinals, Sierra pinned Southern Alamance’s Aiden Cameron in 1:50. Grant McCord of Greensboro Grimsley defeated Sierra in the championship match by technical fall.

Orange’s Sam Crawford reached the championship match at 152-pounds. Crawford pinned Jeremiah Baptiste of Western Alamance in 33 seconds of the opening round. He pinned Zyneal White of Burlington Cummings in 3:06 in the semifinals. Cohen Beane, the fifth-seed, of Northern Guilford defeated Crawford via pinfall in the title match.

Anyone who even casually attends Orange wrestling matches won’t have to look hard to find something different this year. There isn’t a Shriner sitting along the mats.

Bobby Shriner, the longtime head coach at Orange who amassed over 500 wins and five state championships, retired in 2017. His son Nick served as an assistant for four seasons, but left to become the head coach of the Orange Middle School Chargers this year.

Orange Middle feeds directly into Orange High School.

It marks the first time there hasn’t been a Shriner matside for Orange wrestling since 1988.

“He’s still going to be helping out with us whenever he gets a chance,” said Orange coach Spenser Poteat, who wrestled and coached alongside Bobby Shriner. “Hopefully, he can get our feeder program get back to where it was.”

Orange will compete in the Tiger Holiday Invitational at Chapel Hill High School starting on Friday.

The Orange wrestling team stated the season successfully at former conference rival Southern Durham on Wednesday night. In the Spartans Quad, Orange actually started the dual match season against a Central Carolina Conference opponent, Eastern Alamance. The Panthers prevailed 70-9. Colton Jones, Adrian Sierra, Jace Womble, Andre Hill, Jayden Ramirez, Elijah Acosta, and Hugo Vazquez all scored pins as Orange got off to a successful start in defending its CCC Conference championship. Orange defeated Southern Durham 75-0. The Spartans, who played Northern Nash in the 3A State Football playoffs on Friday night, had a high amount of forfeits. Acoya Isley and Vazquez had pins against the Spartans. Quadir Medley (126), Talan Pearley (138) and Andre Hills (170) also scored pins. The Panthers ended the night with a 60-18 victory over Enloe. Womble, Hill, Isley, and Acosta all notched pinfall wins for Orange.Luke Stitz at 120 pounds earned his first career win over the Panthers with a pin in 4:35 over Francisco Loncan. Sierra pinned Owen Donohoe in 2:45 at 113 pounds. Medley defeated Souvik Milligan in 1:39. Orange will continue its season in the Orange quad at Panthers Gymnasium on Tuesday night. That will include another conference match against Western Alamance. 

Braden Homsey: Ferrum College has named Homsey as its Male Athlete of the Year. Last winter, Homsey won three tournaments for the Panthers’ wrestling team at 197 pounds. He captured the Cougar Open, the Pete Wilson Memorial Tournament in Illinois and the Southeast Conference Tournament. Homsey finished the season with a 25-7 record with four pins and, at one point, was ranked #11 in the country in Division III. Homsey, a senior at Ferrum, was named the Big 8 Conference Wrestling of the Year for Orange in 2018. He won the Mideast Regional championship at 195 pounds in his senior season.

Trenton Gill: Gill found himself busy as the Chicago Bears faced the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday night. Gill had four punts for an average of 49.5 yards. His longest went 57 yards and there was one downed inside the 20-yard line. Gill is averaging 47.5 yards per punt through two games, good enough for 15th in the National Football League.

Payton Wilson: For the first time in nearly two years, Wilson started and finished an entire game for N.C. State against Texas Tech on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Wilson led the Wolfpack with ten tackles as the Wolfpack defeated the Red Raiders 27-14. N.C. State will face Connecticut on Saturday night.

Keshawn Thompson: East Carolina defeated the Camels 49-10 on Saturday night at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville. Thompson started for the Camels and finished with three tackles. Campbell is 1-2 and will look to bounce back when they host North Carolina Central on October 1 in Buies Creek.

Darius Satterfield: Satterfield had a crucial punt as Elizabeth City State defeated Winston-Salem State 20-17 at Roebuck Stadium in Elizabeth City on Saturday. With 20 seconds remaining and the Vikings clinging to a three-point lead, Satterfield was forced to punt from the back of his own end zone. He got away a 28-yarder that backed the Broncos away from the end zone. The Vikings’ defense was able to run out the clock to win its CIAA opener. For the day, Satterfield had an average of 27.3 yards on seven punts. Two of the punts went over 50 yards.

Bryse Wilson: At the same time his brother was playing for N.C. State, Bryse Wilson started for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the New York Mets at Citi Field. The Mets defeated the Pirates 5-1 to remain atop the National League East. Wilson suffered the loss to fall to 3-9 on the season. He threw 5.1 innings and surrendered four runs off four hits. He had five strikeouts with two walks. Wilson now has a 6.07 ERA.

Kayla Hodges: Last Thursday, the Virginia Commonwealth women’s soccer team played to a 1-1 tie against Massachusetts in Richmond, VA. Hodges started on the backline of defense and played all 90 minutes. On Sunday, the Rams played to yet another tie against Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I. Hodges started once again and fired a shot. She played all 90 minutes. VCU is 2-1-7, 0-0-2 in the Atlantic 10.

Emerson Talley: The Division II Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team defeated Limestone 1-0 on Saturday at Moretz Sports Complex in Hickory. Talley came off the bench to play 22 minutes as the Bears improved to 3-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. Lenoir-Rhyne is 3-2-1 overall.

Lottie Scully: The Binghamton volleyball team win 1-2 in the West Virginia Tournament at WVU Coliseum last week. On Thursday, Delaware State defeated the Bearcats (27-25, 23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-4). Scully had a season-high 39 assists against the Hornets. She also finished with two aces, two blocks, and 13 digs. Later in the day, West Virginia knocked off Binghamton 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-12). Scully registered 30 assists, one ace and eight digs. The Bearcats won its only match of the event over Merrimack 3-0 on Friday (25-21, 25-10, 25-17). Scully had two kills, 33 assists, two aces and three digs. Binghamton is 8-4 and will face Niagara on Tuesday.

Avery Miller: Lenoir Community College defeated Pitt Community College 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19) last Wednesday in Winterville. Miller played three sets and finished with two kills and three digs for Pitt. The Bulldogs are now 7-3 overall, 0-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

After qualifying for the 3A State Wrestling championships for a third consecutive year, Orange senior Brendon Worsham will end his career as the Central Carolina Conference 151-285 lbs. Wrestler of the Year.

Worsham earned the honor after a 29-8 season where he won his opening round match at 182-pounds in the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum. Worsham ended his Orange career with a 76-27 record.

Orange coach Spenser Poteat was named the Central Carolina Conference Coach of the Year. It’s the second straight year that Poteat has been named Coach of the Year. Poteat, in his fifth season as Orange’s head coach, won his fourth conference championship since replacing his mentor, Bobby Shriner. In the 3A State Dual Team Tournament, the Panthers had its deepest run since 2017, defeating Northwood, Wilson Fike and Croatan en route to the Eastern Regional Championship match against Union Pines. Orange finished the regular season 19-4 with a perfect 6-0 record in the Central Carolina Conference. It was Orange’s 18th conference championship in the last 19 years.

Throughout the season, Orange excelled in bigger weight classes, which was mirrored by the All-Central Carolina Conference team. Of the seven weight classes between 152-and-285 pounds, five Panthers made the All-Conference squad.

Also earning All-Conference honors was Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro. As a sophomore, Tatro qualified for the state championships at 170 pounds. He finished the season with a 36-12 record. Tatro won two consolation matches in the state championships, pinning Blake McCabe of Croatan in 2:20. He scored a major decision over Nathan Williams of Triton 13-1. Tatro would have been the favorite to win the 170-pound championship in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament, which was scheduled in late January at Eastern Alamance High School, but was canceled due to the threat of winter weather. He finished fourth at the Mideast Regional Championships at Union Pines High School in Cameron on February 12.

Orange senior Nate Hecht also made All-Conference at 170 pounds. Hecht, who started as a freshman at 160 pounds, was also a starting defensive end in football. On January 25, Hecht pinned Eastern Alamance’s Wyatt Faucette in 38 seconds, which led to the Panthers defeating the Eagles 64-18 to officially sew up the Central Carolina Conference championships. He had 22 wins this season.

In his first year at varsity, Acoya Isley made All-Conference at 195 pounds. Isley won two individual championships this season. He claimed the 195-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 4 in Hillsborough, pinning Dylan Wall of Bartlett Yancey in 4:36 for the title. On January 8, Isley captured the 195-pound title in the Quentin Crosby Invitational in Grensboro at Dudley High School. Isley pinned R.J. Reynolds Thomas Tippeconne in the final. Isley qualified for the state championships after finishing 3rd in the Mideast Regionals.

Orange’s Elijah Acosta was named All-Conference at 220 pounds. The son of former Orange wrestler Mike Acosta, Elijah went 30-5 in his junior season. Acosta won three individual tournaments, starting with the JKO. Acosta defeated Northwood’s Jake Dunning 12-5 in the championship match, which was the first of four matches between Acosta and Dunning this season. On December 18, Acosta won the Eastern Alamance Invitational in Mebane, pinning Trinity’s Joey Smith for the championship. Acosta also captured the Quentin Crosby Invitational championship at 220 pounds, beating Dudley Jaquaid Owens 5-2 in the final. Acosta finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals.

At heavyweight, Orange’s Hugo Vazquez also made All-Conference. After finishing 2nd in the Mideast Regionals, Vazquez finished the season with a 23-9 record. Vazquez won the heavyweight championship at the JKO. He captured the Eastern Alamance Invitational, going to a sudden victory round against Bartlett Yancey’s Devon Thompson. Vazquez scored the takedown to take the championship 8-6. In the state dual team playoffs, Vazquez won all four of his matches, including pins against Wilson Fike and Croatan, as well as a decision victory over Union Pines.

The last time the 3A State Wrestling Championships were held at the Greensboro Coliseum, it was February 2020, just a few weeks before the new normal set in around the world.

Only three Hillsborough-area wrestlers reached the state championships.

Based on the opening day of the 3A Mideast Regionals on Friday, it appears there will be considerably more this year.

Eight Orange wrestlers reached the semifinals at Union Pines High School in Cameron on Friday. Also, Cedar Ridge’s Fernando Martinez won his opening matches at 113 pounds, including a pinfall victory over Southern Lee’s Nate Moss for his 90th career win. Martinez, a junior, reached the regional semifinals for the second time. As a freshman in 2020, Martinez won his first two matches at 106 pounds.

Orange had two grapplers receive #1 seeds. At 126 pounds, junior Dillon Heffernan received a bye into the second round. In his only match on Friday, Heffernan scored a 16-3 major decision over Justin Richardson of Douglas Byrd 16-3. On Saturday morning, Heffernan will face Luc Young of Terry Sanford in the semifinals. Heffernan is 29-6 this season.

At 220 pounds, junior Elijah Acosta earned a top seed after recording a 28-4 mark in his first season as a full-time starter. Acosta pinned Northern Nash’s Sammy Huddleston in 5:40 in his only match of the day. He will face Jake Dunning of Northwood in the semifinals. It will be the fourth time this year that Acosta has opposed Dunning. On December 2, Acosta defeated Dunning 12-5 in the championship match of the Jim King/Orange Invitational. Acosta also defeated Dunning in two separate dual matches in 2022, including last week in the opening round of the 3A State Team Tournament.

Orange senior Brendon Worsham is one win away from reaching the 182-pound regional championship match for the third straight year. Worsham received a #3 seed and pinned Richard Middlemiss of Southern Lee in 2:33, then pinned Aidan Murphy of Franklinton in 2:42 in the quarterfinals. Worsham will face second-seeded Demontrious Ratliff of Fayetteville 71st on Saturday.

At heavyweight, Orange’s Hugo Vazquez earned a #3 seed. In the quarterfinals, Vazquez edged Franklinton’s Landon Michael 2-1 for his first trip to the semifinals. Vazquez will face Northern Nash’s Jaquan Elliott in the semifinals.

At 182 pounds, Acoya Isley pinned Southern Lee’s Joshua Silva in 2:48. Isley, seeded #4, will face Scotland County’s Michael Locklear in the semifinals.

The biggest surprise of the day came at 160 pounds where Andre Hill stunned top-seeded Wade Johnson of Harnett Central in the second round. Hill, another first-year starter, rode out an 8-4 victory over Johnson to reach the semifinals. In the opening round, Hill pinned Zeke May of Western Alamance in 4:22.

At 132 pounds, Orange’s Jared Hutchins pinned second-seeded Luis Arellano of Southern Nash in 1:14. Hutchins, who is now 26-7 on the season after four wins in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament last week, faces Cameron Curva of Western Harnett in the semifinals.

Orange’s Braden Crawford also earned a trip to the semifinals at 120 pounds. Crawford pinned Southern Lee’s Nasir’e Jones in 1:57 to open the day, then defeated third-seeded Zy’Aire Priester 11-7 in the quarterfinals. It was Crawford’s second win over Priester this season. Dakota Little of Westover, the #2 seed at 120, awaits Crawford on Saturday.

In addition to the wrestlers who reached the semifinals, there are several more who remain in contention for the state championships in the consolation brackets.

Orange’s Aidan Sierra and Cedar Ridge’s Jaylen Williams are in the consolation bracket at 106 pounds.

At 120 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Pierce Prescod pinned Northwood’s Coltrane Northington in 1:07. Prescod lost to top-seeded Christian Rothrock of Douglas Byrd in the quarterfinals. He will face Damani Nantambu of Southern Nash in the consolation round.

Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro pinned Chaz May of Western Alamance in 1:44. Tatro was pinned in the second round by Byrd’s Demarcus Carroll.

Orange is second in the team standings after the first day with 54.5 points. Union Pines, the 3A Eastern Regional Champion, is in first place with 68.5 points. Cedar Ridge, who had representatives in all 13 weight classes for the first time in coach Scott Metcalf’s tenure, had 19.5 points.

The top four wrestlers from each weight class will reach the 3A State Tournament, which starts on Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum.

From the moment the Orange wrestling team resumed a normal, standard schedule in November to the time it ended its dual season against Union Pines last Wednesday in the 3A Eastern Regional Championship match, the proof of improvement of the squad lays in the numbers.

9: the number of new starters for Orange wrestling after a loss season in 2020-2021 because of the pandemic.

148: Combined wins for the season by Orange’s new starters this season.

51: Point differential when Union Pines defeated Orange on November 23 in the Orange Thanksgiving Duals.

25: Point differential when Union Pines defeated Orange to win the Eastern Regional Championship last Wednesday.

Last Thursday, Orange fell to Union Pines 49-24 in the Eastern Regional Championship match in Cameron. It was the Vikings first-ever regional title. On Saturday, Fred T. Foard defeated Union Pines 58-12 to win the 3A State Championship at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse.

Orange was deprived of a 12th regional title. They last reached the state championship match in 2018, when they lost to Piedmont in Greensboro.

Earlier on Thursday night, the younger Orange wrestlers came through in a 39-33 victory over Croatan, who won ten regional championships in 16 years in the 2A ranks. In a match where every point counted, four Panther newcomers came through with wins over a Cougar team that reached the 2A State Championship match in 2020, the last time a dual team state tournament was contested (The event was canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic).

At 120 pounds, Orange’s Braden Crawford started the night by pinning Colton Leiske in 2:00 to give Orange an early 6-0 lead. Junior Dillon Heffernan, a three-year starter who leads the team with 29 wins this season, scored his own pin over Tommy Williams at 4:35. At 132 pounds, Jared Hutchins pinned Angelica Steffy in 1:58 to increase the Panthers’ lead to 18-0.

Croatan’s Cody Raymond (138) and Josh Steffy (145) earned pinfall victories to reduce the Panthers’ advantage to 18-12. At 152 pounds, Samuel Crawford pinned Garrett Cortese in 1:42. Crawford is 18-11 on the season.

The Cougars got consecutive wins at 160 and 170 pounds. Eli Simonette pinned Andre Hill in 1:03, while Drake Egan defeated Nate Hecht 6-3 to cut the Panthers’ lead to 24-21.

Orange senior Brendon Worsham, who qualified for the 3A State Championships last year, earned a 7-1 decision over Blake McCabe. Worsham improved to 27-5 on the season.

The heavier weight classes have been the most reliable part of Orange’s team this season and it was no different in its final dual victory of the season. After Worsham’s decision victory, Acoya Isley held off Croatan’s Landon Gray 13-7. Isley, who has won two individual tournaments this season, is 23-5 in his first year as a starter.

At 220 pounds, Elijah Acosta earned the most thrilling win of the night. Acosta went to sudden victory against the Cougars’ A.J. Pile Jr., but earned a trip takedown which led to back points in the first extra session, resulting in a 7-2 victory. Acosta, whose father Mike wrestling under Bobby Shriner in the 1990s at Orange, is 28-3.

Heavyweight Hugo Vazquez, who captured the Jim King/Orange Invitational in December, ensured the Panthers would advance to the Eastern Regional Championship match with a pin over Tomas Aguero in 2:54.

In the championship match against Union Pines, Heffernan opened with a forfeit victory at 120. Hutchins held off Johann Diaz 11-9 to push Orange’s lead to 9-0.

The Vikings’ Joseph Vrabcak earned a 9-0 major decision at 138, while Gaige Lloyd scored a pin to give UPHS the lead at 10-9. Samuel Crawford pinned Houston Leeah in 1:15, but that was the last time the Panthers would have the overall lead. The Cougars earned three consecutive individual wins, including two pins, to go ahead 24-15.

Acoya Isley pinned Dantrell Williams at 195. Colton Collins earned a pin over Acosta, who suffered only his fourth loss of the season. At heavyweight, Vazquez earned a 3-1 decision over Kellen DeVries, but it was the Panthers final win of the match. Vazquez will go into the 3A Mideast Regionals at Union Pines High on Friday with a 25-6 record.

Also at regionals on Friday, several Cedar Ridge wrestlers will go for spots in the 3A State Championship. The last Red Wolf to make the state championships was Daina Pritchard last summer at Eastern Guilford High School, where the regionals were also held.

Cedar Ridge junior Fernando Martinez is in the hunt for 100 career wins before the end of the season. Martinez will go into regionals with 89 career wins. He will compete in the 113-pound weight class. Other Red Wolf grapplers making their regional debuts will be Kaden Tatro and freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo.

Photo by Sherri Corbin Nevius

Compared to its state and regional championship teams of the past, this isn’t the most experienced Orange wrestling team.

But the veterans the Panthers do have came through when it mattered most en route to its first appearance in the state quarterfinals since 2018.

On Monday night, Orange defeated Wilson Fike 51-24 in the 2nd round of the 3A State Dual Team Wrestling Tournament at Orange High Gymnasium. The Panthers (18-3) will host the Regional Semifinals and the Eastern Regional championship on Wednesday night.

The top seed in the 3A East Region, Union Pines, will face Currituck in the other semifinal on Wednesday. The Eastern Regional championship match will immediately follow the respective semifinals. The 3A State Championship match will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse on Saturday.

“This senior class, this is the furthest they’ve made it since they’ve been here,” said Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat. “We’re excited for those guys. We’re going to keep pushing and see what happens.”

Earlier on Monday, the Panthers defeated Northwood 45-27 for the second time this season. Orange, the champions of the Central Carolina Conference, jumped out to a 39-3 lead against the Chargers after a pin by Jared Hutchins at 132 pounds, which sewed up the team victory.

On the adjacent mat, Fike, the champions of the Quad County Conference, defeated Southern Nash 42-35 in the opening round.

Fike’s Desaun Avent opened with a stunning victory over Orange’s Elijah Acosta at 220 pounds. Acosta, who leads Orange with 27 victories this year, led for most of the match after Avent was penalized a point in the first period for an illegal hold. With Acosta ahead 3-2, Avent scored a double leg takedown with 19 seconds remaining, then prevented Acosta from escaping and literally held on to win 4-3. It was only the third loss of the season for Acosta.

Orange didn’t stay down for long. At heavyweight, Hugo Vazquez pinned Hartley Warren in 34 seconds. Vazquez, who earned a forfeit victory over Northwood earlier on the night, improved to 22-6 with 13 pins.

“Hugo’s shown tremendous improvement,” Poteat said. “Elijah beat him out at 220 pounds this year, so Hugo’s at heavyweight now and working really hard.”

After Orange’s Adrain Sierra picked up a forfeit victory at 106 pounds, Fike squared the match after consecutive victories. At 113 pounds, the Demons’ Harlee Allen notched a quick pin. At 120 pounds, Fike’s Andrew Woodard and Orange’s Braden Crawford had a wild match where Woodard led 4-0 early in the second period. Crawford notched a sudden reversal late and Woodard spent the final 20 seconds of the frame fighting off his back to avoid getting pinned. With Woodard’s shoulders nearly on the mat, the clock finally ran out and Crawford notched two points for the reversal and three back points to take a 5-4 lead.

Woodard picked up a point at the end of the second period, then scored a takedown with 1:01 remaining to earn the decision win 7-5.

With the dual match even 12-12, Orange took four of the next five matches via pinfall, and no one worked by the hour. Junior Dillon Heffernan, who has started since his freshman season, pinned Zach Turner in 17 seconds. Heffernan is 26-6 with 15 pins this season.

At 132 pounds, Jared Hutchins pinned Fike’s Aaron Morrell in 28 seconds. After Fike’s Barrett Klutely earned his own quick pin in 25 seconds, the Panthers got another fast victory when senior Avery Clark pinned Jackson Davis in 1:07. Clark needed just 12 seconds to get the opening takedown, but action was immediately stopped after he came up with a bloody nose. Clark completed the match with nose plugs in each of his nostrils.

“He did very well,” Poteat said. “He’s another one of our seniors and he’s worked very hard, as well. We look forward to see him competing on Wednesday.”

With Orange leading 30-18, the Panthers Samuel Crawford pinned Benjamin Whitener in 20 seconds. After Fike’s Jacob Farmer got a pin at 1:31, Panther senior Nate Hecht wrapped up the dual match win with a pin over Jessie Mitchell in 1:24. Hecht, a starter for four years, earned his 17th win of the season and his tenth pin.

Orange senior Brendon Worsham pinned Landon Penny at 182 pounds. In the final match of the night, the Panthers’ Acoya Isley held off Justin Bullock 13-6 at 195.

In Orange’s win over Northwood, Isley started the dual match with a victory over Isaac Laccone via pinfall in 1:01. At 220 pounds, Acosta defeated Northwood’s Jake Dunning 5-2. Vazquez and Sierra earned forfeit wins at heavyweight and 106 pounds, respectively.

At 113 pounds, Kale Womble pinned Sunday Oo in 3:59. Heffernan pinned Aiden Vigus in 5:51 at 126 pounds. Heffernan went into the final period with a 4-0 lead.

Hutchins pinned Asher Rockrier in 2:26 to earn the dual match win for Orange. Worsham ended the dual match by pinning Ryan Brinker at 182 pounds in 2:57.

For the first time since 2018, the Orange wrestling team has reached the 3A State Quarterfinals. On Monday night in the opening round of the 3A State Dual Tournament, the Panthers defeated Central Carolina Conference rival Northwood 45-27 in the opening round. In the round of 16, Orange broke open a 12-12 tie against Fike with pins in four of the subsequent five matches to beat the Demons 51-24. Fike was the champions of the Quad County Confernce. Orange junior Dillon Heffernan pinned Fike’s Zach Turner in 17 seconds to put Orange ahead 18-12. The Panthers would never lose the lead again. At 170 pounds, Orange senior Nate Hecht defeated Fike’s Jessie Mitchell via pinfall in 1:24. While Orange has won five state championships since 2005, this is the first time the current class of Panthers have reached the state quarterfinals. On Wednesday night, Orange will face Croatan in the 3A Regional Semifinals inside Panther Gymnasium. On the opposite mat, Union Pines hosts Currituck in the other semifinal.