Orange Wrestling

Braden Homsey: Former Orange wrestler Braden Homsey captured the 197-pound championship at the Pete Wilson-Wheaton Invitational in Whealton, Illinois for the Division III Ferrum College wrestling team on Saturday. In the championship match, Homsey handily disposed of Danny Lingen of the University of Chicago 18-5. To open the tournament, Homsey scored an 15-0 technical fall over Reid McNeill of Concardia University of Wisconsin. In the second round, Homsey defeated Warren Gentile of Mount Union 10-3. Homsey outscored Nathanie Armstrong of Mount St. Joseph 13-10 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Homsey pinned Wheaton Univeristy’s Jackson Punzel in 7:00. Homsey is now 17-1 in his senior season. Ferrum finished fourth in the team standings with 87 points. Homsey leads Ferrum in wins.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond men’s basketball team defeated Rhode Island 70-63 at Ryan Center in Kingston, RI on Tuesday. Crabtree came off the bench to play seven minutes. He scored one point off 1-of-2 shooting from the free throw line. Crabtree also grabbed two rebounds. On Saturday, VCU defeated Richmond 64-62 at the Robins Center in the battle of Richmond. Crabtree did not play. Richmond is 13-8 overall, 4-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team continues to roll along. The Flyers have now won seven in a row. On Wednesday, the Flyers edged Central Carolina Community College 80-79 in Sanford. In a wild game, the Flyers trailed by double-digits in both halves, but fought back to take an 80-72 lead with a minute remaining. McMullin came off the bench to score 13 points in 18 minutes. He shot 4-of-8 from the field and drained his only 3-point attempt. McMullin also had four rebounds, all offensive. On Friday, Sandhills defeated the Montreat College junior varsity squad 113-59. McMullin led the Flyers with 21 points, though he played 16 minutes. He shot 8-of-11 from the field. McMullin also had four rebounds. The Flyers, who are ranked #14 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III poll, will face Oxford College at Emory University in Atlanta later today (Sunday).

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State men’s indoor track & field team competed in the Bob Pollock Meet in Clemson, SC on Friday and Saturday. Davis finished sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 15.27 meters. On Friday, Davis competed in the long jump. His best leap was 7.01 meters, good enough for a 17th place finish. N.C. State will continue its season on Friday in the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem.

Dylan Boyer: The spring sports season will start next week with the opening of men’s lacrosse season. The Division II Queen’s University lacrosse team will start its season against Lees-McCrae at the Queen’s Sports Complex in Charlotte on Friday night. Last season, Boyer played in ten games for the Royals, starting one. Boyer scored five goals and recorded four assists. Boyer played for Orange coach Chandler Zirkle and was a member of the 2018 Panther team that advanced to the second round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Queen’s was selected to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll, garnering 85 points. Lenoir-Rhyne was picked to finish first with Wingate selected second. Queens is #17 in the Nike-USA Lacrosse Division II Preseason poll.

After the 2021 North Carolina School Athletic Association Dual Team Wrestling Tournament wasn’t contested, the Orange wrestling team will host a portion of the event’s return.

The NCHSAA released the bracket for the 32-team 3A State Dual Team Tournament on Friday afternoon. Orange, the champions of the Central Carolina Conference, received a #2 seed and will face CCC rival Northwood in the opening round.

The first and second rounds will be contested on Monday night. Joining Orange and Northwood in the quadrant will be Wilson Fike, the champions of the Quad County Conference. On Monday night on the adjacent mat from the Orange/Northwood match, the Demons will face Southern Nash, the lone 3A representative from the 3A/2A Big East Conference.

The winner of Orange/Northwood will face the winner of Fike/Southern Nash immediately after the first round ends on Monday night.

The winner of that match advances to the regional semifinals, which will be held on Wednesday night at a location to be determined.

This will be the second meeting between Orange and Northwood this year. On January 10, the Panthers defeated the Chargers 43-24 in Pittsboro. At the time, both teams were undefeated in CCC action. Orange jumped out to a 24-0 lead behind four consecutive pins from Kale Womble (at 113 pounds), Braden Crawford (120), Dillon Heffernan (126), and Jared Hutchings (132).

Northwood fought back to even the match with five straight wins, including pins from Ian Morrison (152) and Ethan Kuball. Orange’s strength this season has been in the heavier weight classes and it was no different against Northwood. The Panthers ended the night with four straight wins, starting with senior Brendon Worsham scoring a 10-1 major decision at 182 pounds. Last June, Worsham qualified for the 3A State Championships after finishing 2nd in the Mideast Regionals.

At 195 pounds, Acoya Isley scored a pin to put Orange ahead 34-24. Elijah Acosta, who leads the team in wins and pins this season, sewed up the match and essentially the conference championship with a 7-3 decision over Jake Dunning. Heavyweight Hugo Vazquez ended the night with a pinfall win in 29 seconds.

This year marks Orange’s 18th conference championship in 19 years. However, by program standards, it has been a lengthy wait for a victory in the state tournament. Orange won the final Big 8 Conference Championship last year, but the NCHSAA canceled the dual tournament due to the pandemic. In 2020, Chapel Hill stunned Orange on the final night of the regular season to win the Big 8 Championship, ending the Panthers’ run of 16 consecutive conference championships. Orange still qualified for the 3A State Dual Tournament, but lost to Union Pines in the opening round.

Orange, which won the 2017 and 2018 Eastern Regional Championship, last won a match in the state dual tournament when they defeated Morehead in 2019 in the opening round in Hillsborough. The Panthers lost to Cape Fear in the second round.

The team that emerges from the Orange quadrant will advance to the state quarterfinals. The top seed on the 3A East Region is Union Pines, who defeated Orange on November 23 in the Orange Thanksgiving Duals.

The Panthers, coached by Orange graduate Spenser Poteat, won the conference championship despite eight new starters in 14 weight classes. In addition to a perfect 5-0 record in the CCC, Orange won the Jim King/Orange Invitational in December and the Quentin Crosby Invitational earlier this month.

Fike wrapped up the Quad County Championship after beating Hunt 54-18 on January 19. Fike’s Deshaun Avent won the Quad County Tournament 220-pound division after beating Dallas Bailey of C.B. Avcock 5-2. Fike’s Justin Bullock claimed the tournament’s 195-pound title after pinning Buster Williams of Hunt in 2:54.

In a string of domination that stretches back to the early 1990s, the Orange wrestling team has won championships in the PAC-6 Conference, the Five County Conference, the Mid-State Conference, the Carolina 6 Conference and the Big 8 Conference.

Now, the Panthers have added the Central Carolina Conference championship to its collection.

Orange, which had already clinched a playoff spot in the 3A State Dual Team wrestling championships, completed an undefeated run through the Central Carolina Conference with a 64-18 victory over Eastern Alamance at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Orange finished 6-0 in the CCC and is 15-3 overall this season.

It is Orange’s 18th conference championship in the last 19 years.

The Panthers will be the #1 seed for the 3A State Dual Team Wrestling championships, which will start on Monday at a location to be determined. The official playoff bracket will be released on Friday. Northwood will take the second automatic playoff spot from the Central Carolina Conference.

The match was also senior night for Brendon Worsham, Nathan Hecht, Avery Clark, Jaylyn Roberson, Miles Adams and Chase Howard. Worsham, who won the 182-pound championship at the Quentin Crosby championship earlier this month, was a starting linebacker and punt returner for the Orange football team. Hecht, a three-year starter in wrestling, was also a defensive end and fullback in football.

Since the season started in November, the strength of Orange’s team has been the heavier weight classes, which is exactly where Tuesday’s match started. Hecht opened the night by pinning Eastern Alamance’s Wyatt Facuette in 38 seconds at 170 pounds. Hecht improved to 15-7 with nine pins this season. As a sophomore, Hecht won 30 matches and very well could have had 100 for his career if his junior season had not been limited by the pandemic.

Worsham, at 182 pounds, pinned Jackson Fulcher in 22 seconds to increase Orange’s lead to 12-0. Worsham is 24-5 with 16 pins this year. In June, he qualified for the 3A State Championships after a runner-up finish in the Mideast Regionals.

At 195 pounds, junior Acoya Isley pinned Hakim Thompson is 24 seconds. Isley, who is in his first year as a starter, upped his record to 19-4 with 14 pins. He has already captured the Jim King/Orange Invitational and Quentin Crosby Championships this season.

Elijah Acosta scored another Orange pin at 220 pounds, finishing off Jett Giovani in 36 seconds. Acosta, whose father Mike was a member of a PAC-6 Conference championship team under legendary head coach Bobby Shriner, leads Orange with 25 wins and 17 pins this season. His overall record is 25-2.

With Orange leading 24-0, the Panthers increased its lead after Adrian Sierra claimed a forfeit victory, his tenth of the season. At 113 pounds, Kale Womble pinned Kaitlyn Watson in 44 seconds. Womble, who won two Orange Person Athletic Conference championships at Orange Middle School (back when it was known as Stanford Middle School), is 15-8 with ten pins this season. Womble’s pin ensured the dual match victory for the Panthers.

At 120 pounds, Braden Crawford earned a major decision over Willfen Lopez 12-4 to put Orange ahead 40-0.

Junior Dillon Heffernan, at 126 pounds, notched another pin with a victory over Mason Tanner in 4:37. Heffernan improved to 23-6 with 13 pins.

Jared Hutchins pinned Carson Gardner at 132 pounds in 1:31. Hutchins is now 22-6 with 17 pins this season.

In what will likely be his final match at Orange, senior Avery Clark pinned the Eagles’ Jahzion Patterson in 22 seconds. Clark earned his 18th win this season and his 12th pin.

Eastern Alamance’s Ivan Benitez earned a pin at 138 pounds. Damien Beaver (152) and Julian Rodriguez (160) also had pins for the Eagles.

In the extra matches, Orange’s Daisy Lopez Sanchez competed. On December 30, during the West Stanly Duals in Oakboro, Sanchez earned a forfeit victory at 113 pounds as Orange defeated West Stanly 64-18. Sanchez became the first female wrestler at Orange to win a varsity match.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior 195-pound wrestler Acoya Isley. On December 4, competing in his first major varsity tournament, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High School. In the championship math, Isley defeated pinned Bartlett-Yancey’s Dylan Wall, the top seed, in 4:36. Isley pinned Walter Williams Chandler Baysdon in the quarterfinals. At the end of December, Isley finished runner-up in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School at 195-pounds. In a 32-team event, Isley scored three pins leading up to the championship match. He pinned Dantrell Williams of Union Pines in the opening round in 5:15. In the quarterfinals, Isley finished off Joseph Poole of Granville Central in 1:16. In the semifinals, Isley pinned Maynor Ramos of South View in 1:50. In the championship match, Isley narrowly lost 2-1 to West Carteret’s Joshua Krepe, the top-seed. Isley won the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School earlier this month. On Tuesday night, Isley will join his teammates in going for its 18th conference championship in 19 years as Orange faces Eastern Alamance at Orange High. It will be Senior Night for Orange’s Brendon Worsham, Nate Hecht, Avery Clark and Jaylyn Roberson. Isley’s goal for this year is to qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Photo by Sandhills Community College Athletic Department

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team has won four in a row. On Saturday, the Flyers defeated Oxford College of Emory University 93-78 in Oxford, GA. McMullin scored 19 points, including 12 in the first half, as the Flyers improved to 4-0 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. McMullin shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, as the Flyers pushed out to a 41-29 halftime lead. McMullin and Darryl McCaster each had 19 points to lead the Flyers. McMullin added three rebounds and an assist. On January 12, the Flyers defeated Central Carolina Community College in Pinehurst. McMullin had four points, one rebound, one assist and one block. Last weekend, the Flyers swept a two-game weekend series against Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge, VA. On Friday, the Flyers defeated the Roadrunners 107-62. McMullin scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field in 15 minutes. He also grabbed one rebound. The following day, Sandhills defeated Lancaster 100-55. McMullin led all Flyers with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. He played 18 minutes. McMullin also led the team with nine rebounds. On January 4, USC Salkehatchie defeated Sandhills 104-91 in Walterboro, SC. McMullin scored 14 points in 20 minutes. He shot 7-of-15 from the field. He also had six rebounds and two assists. On New Year’s Day, Davidson-Davie Community College downed the Flyers 95-56 at Brinkley Gymnasium. McMullin had five points in ten minutes. McMullin, a freshman, is averaging 13.1 points per game over 20 games. Sandhills is 14-6 overall, 4-0 in Region X. McMullin is the last Orange player to score 1,000 points for his career. He accomplished that feat in his senior season during the 2019-2020 campaign.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team faced possibly the hottest team in the country on Friday night. The Davidson Wildcats won its 13th consecutive game after a 87-84 victory over the Spiders at the Robins Center. Crabtree came off the bench for Richmond to play three minutes. He knocked down his only shot from the field and finished with two points. On January 5, the Spiders defeated Massachusetts 80-72. Crabtree played eleven minutes against the Minutemen and scored five points. He shot 2-for-2 from the field, including his only 3-point attempt. Richmond scored 50 points in the first half, shooting 65% from the field. It was the most points in a half by the Spiders since March 2020. Richmond opened 2022 with a 76-69 loss to St. Louis at Chaifets Arena. Crabtree played seven minutes and scored two points and grabbed a rebound. Richmond’s game against George Mason, scheduled for January 11 in the Robins Center, was postponed due to COVID issues within the Patriots program. Richmond is 10-7 overall, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10. They will travel to Fordham on Tuesday. Crabtree started his college career with Tulane before transferring.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum Panthers wrestling team ended 2021 in the the Citrus Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Homsey, seeded #2 at 197 pounds, went to the finals. In the semifinals, Homsey edged Chance Lapier of Castleton University, who was seeded #3, 4-3 to advance to the finals. in the championship match, top-seeded Bentley Schwanbeck-Ost of Augsburg University defeated Homsey 10-4 for the championship. After receiving a bye in the opening round, Homsey defeated Sean Gillespie of Liberty University 14-1. In the quarterfinals, Homsey scored a technical fall over Tyler Raway of Augsburg 16-0 in 4:40. Ferrum placed 8th out of 12 teams in the tournament. Homsey placed the highest of any of the other Panther wrestlers.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior wrestler Elijah Acosta. Last week, Acosta won the Quentin Crosby Tournament in the 220-pound weight division at Dudley High School in Greensboro. It was his third individual championship this year, Acosta’s first as a varsity starter for Orange. On December 18, Acosta won the Eastern Alamance Invitational in Mebane, scoring three pins in all of his matches to win the championship. Acosta’s first varsity tournament came on December 4 in the Jim King/Orange Invitational. In the championship match, Acosta defeated Northwood’s Jake Dunning 12-5 for his first title. On December 22, Acosta finished third at the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School. This season, Acosta is 24-2 with 16 pins. Against Northwood on January 6, Acosta won his match via a 7-3 decision, which sewed up a victory along with a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship for Orange. Winning this award comes full circle for Acosta. His father, Mike, wrestled for Coach Bobby Shriner in the 1990s. Now, Elijah is wrestling for Orange head coach Spenser Poteat.

It has been a successful start to 2022 for Orange wrestling.

After beating Northwood to all but sew up the Central Carolina Conference championship, the Panthers captured the Quentin Crosby Tournament at Dudley High School in Greensboro on Saturday.

Four Panthers captured individual championships as Orange won its second team tournament title of the season. The Panthers finished with 148.5 points. Greensboro Page finished second at 101 points.

It was another impressive outing for 220 pounder Elijah Acosta, who captured his second tournament championship this year. Acosta, won rolled to the Jim King/Orange Invitational Championship last month, earned three pins en route to the title in Greensboro. In the championship match, Acosta defeated Jaquaid Owens of Dudley 5-2. Owens was the only grappler to go the distance with Acosta all day. Acosta opened by pinning Braylon Clark of Southwestern Guilford in 5:30. In the quarterfinals, Acosta pinned Noel Jennings of Eastern Alamance in 1:11. Acosta reached the finals after he pined Carter Bland of Southern Guilford in 2:50.

Acosta finished third in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on December 22. He defeated Asheboro’s Eduardo Soto-Canas 8-3 in the consolation final.

Orange’s Dillon Heffernan finished the Tiger Holiday Classic in 2nd place. In Greensboro, he captured the championship at 126 pounds, edging Allen Cohen of Eden Morehead 6-5 in the championship bout. It was the only competitive match of the day for Heffernan. In the semifinals, he pinned Eastern Alamance’s Mason Taner in 4:43. Heffernan had a 16-3 lead at the time of the pin. In the opening round, Heffernan had a technical fall over R.J. Reynolds Hamzah Mahmoud 16-0. Heffernan opened the season 15-5 with ten pins.

After losing 2-1 in the 195 pound championship match at the Tiger Holiday Invitational, Acoya Isley won the 195 title in Greensboro with three pins in three matches, none of which went beyond the first period. Isley pinned Christian Brown of Page in 1:09 for the championship. Isley pinned Dudley’s Collin Morehead in 33 seconds. In the opening round, Isley finished off Thomas Tippeconnie of R.J. Reynolds in 21 seconds.

It was the second individual championship of the year for Isley. He won the 195 title at the JKO Invitational.

Senior Brendon Worsham, who qualified for the 3A State Championships after a runner-up finish in the Mideast Regionals, won the 182 pound championship. Worsham defeated Lexington’s Chris Cartrette 9-1. In the semifinals, Worsham pinned Edwin Cantu of Morehead in 52 seconds. It was Worsham’s first tournament championship of the season. To open the season, Worsham won 17 of his first 22 matches with eleven pins.

Talan Pearley had his best-ever showing in a tournament, finishing 3rd at 138 pounds. After dropping his opening round match, Pearly pinned Eastern Alamance’s Jahzion Patterson in 1:18. In the consolation final, Pearley pinned Lexington’s Michael Mays in 54 seconds.

At 132 pounds, Orange’s Jared Hutchins finished third. Hutchins opened with a pin of Shawn Bass of Dudley in 1:56. Ivan Benitez pinned Hutchins in 2:33. In the consolation bracket, Hutchins pinned R.J. Reynolds Amarr Lumpkins in 2:52. Hutchins clinched third place with a 10-4 win over Donovan Edwards of Southwestern Guilford.

Orange’s Kale Womble finished 3rd at 113 pounds. In the third place match, Womble pinned Lexington’s Andres Couto in 4:25.

At 120 pounds, Braden Crawford finished 3rd. After losing in the opening round, Crawford won three straight matches in the consolation round. He pinned Page’s Omari Williams in 2:50. In the consolation semifinals, Crawford defeated Tucker Rakes in 4:12. In the consolation final, Crawford defeated Lexington’s Jason Allen 12-2.

Last Thursday, Orange defeated Northwood 43-24 in Pittsboro to improve to 5-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Panthers have clinched a share of the conference championship. They’re scheduled to host Eastern Alamance on January 19 in Hillsborough. If the Panthers win, they take the overall conference championship.