Orange Wrestling

Landon Riley: The Liberty Flames baseball team has won three of its last four games. Former Orange Panthers pitcher Landon Riley had saves in two of them. Last Wednesday, the Flames defeated Radford 4-2 for its first victory of the season at Worthington Field in Lynchburg, VA. Riley had a four-out save, striking out three. He faced five batters. Over the weekend, the Flames took the final two games of its series against Seton Hall. On Saturday, Riley picked up his second save of the season. He threw two-and-two-thirds innings. Riley struck out two, yielded two hits and one earned run. He also appeared in Liberty’s game against Clemson on February 16, a 6-2 Tiger win. In one-and-one-thirds inning, Riley faced six batters. He struck out one and surrendered two hits and one earned run. The Flames are 3-4 and will host Longwood on Tuesday before preparing for a weekend series against Marist.

Brad Debo: The #12 N.C. State baseball team remains undefeated after sweeping Tennessee Tech at Doak Field in Raleigh over the weekend. Debo started as designated hitter in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, a 10-3 Wolfpack win. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored in the sixth inning. On Sunday, Debo started again and went 0-for-2. N.C. State is 7-0 and will face UNC Wilmington on Tuesday in Raleigh.

Phillip Berger: In his first start for the Division III William Peace Pacers, Berger threw a three-hit shutout (seven innings) as Peace defeated Mary Washington 7-0 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary on Sunday. Berger struck out five and walked only one. Berger, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June with 21 career wins, made his first appearance with the Pacers in a 9-1 victory over Brevard on February 8. He struck out the only batter he faced in the first game of a doubleheader. Later that afternoon, Berger threw one-and-two-thirds innings in the second game of the doubleheader, striking out four over one-and-two-thirds innings. He yielded two hits and one run. Berger came out of the bullpen for long relief in a 17-inning marathon against Hampden-Sydney. Peace scored two in the top of the 17th to win 5-3 at Ty Cobb Ballpark in Hampton-Sydney, VA. Berger threw four-and-two-thirds innings, striking out four. He gave up only three hits, one run with no walks. Peace is 8-1.

Montana Davidson: Montana hit her first home run of the season for Mississippi State in its 10-4 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night. Montana went 2-for-5 in a doubleheader that started with a 6-2 loss to BYU in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Palm Springs, CA. Against the Cougars, Davidson singled in her first at-bat and made a diving catch along the third base line. Montana is hitting .231.

Mia Davidson: Mia hit .294 with a triple and two RBIs over five games in the Mary Nutter Classic. Davidson went 2-for-3 with an RBI in a 6-3 victory over UC Riverside. She went 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the 10-4 win against San Diego State. Mississippi State is 12-3 overall and will host Central Arkansas on Wednesday.

Icez Barnett: As her freshman year winds down, Barnett continues to start for the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team. On top of that, Chowan has won consecutive games for the first time since the start of 2020. On Wednesday, Chowan defeated Southern Wesleyan 69-58 at Tysinger Gym in Central, S.C. Barnett, who started at forward, scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in 12 minutes. She also had two blocks and one steal. On Saturday, Chowan won a thriller over Lees-McRae 71-68 in overtime in Murfreesboro at the Helms Center. Barnett scored three points, grabbed two rebounds, dished out two assists and made two steals in 16 minutes. Chowan is fighting for a spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. The Hawks will commemorate senior night against Limestone on Tuesday night. If Chowan wins, they will clinch eighth place and a trip to the conference tournament. The Hawks are 6-19, 6-15 in Conference Carolinas.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team lost to Catawba Valley Community College 62-52 at Tarlton Complex in Hickory on Thursday. Cates started but shot 0-2 from the field. She had three rebounds and five assists. Wake Tech will have its final home game on Monday night (February 24) against South Carolina Faith A&M. The Eagles are 16-7 overall, 9-6 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Kessel Summers gave Orange it’s only wins of the weekend at the 3A State Wrestling Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Summers, a junior who qualified for the 3A State Championships for the second year in a row, finished 2-2 on the weekend at 126 pounds. After the tournament was delayed on Thursday because of snow, Summers pinned Havelock’s Nate Lucio in 5:52 in the opening round on Friday afternoon. It was the second time this season that Summers defeated Lucio. In the Havelock Duals on January 12, Summers defeated Lucio 14-5.

In the quarterfinals, Enka’s Corbin Dion scored a 20-5 technical fall on Summers. Dion, who ended the year 57-5, wound up with the state championship. In the semifinals, Dion rallied from an early 4-1 deficit to defeat Southern Guilford’s Stephen Cotton 10-7. In the final, Dion faced Marion’s Tommy Capul, who he defeated to win the Western Regional Championship last weekend. Dion earned a 6-2 decision.

In the consolation round, Summers pinned Northside-Jacksonville’s Josh Myers in 2:20. Central Cabarrus’ Noah Kiser eliminated Summers on a 9-6 decision.

Summers ended the year 42-14. He will start next season with 97 career victories. In 2019, Summers, competing at 113 pounds, went 39-14 with 17 pins.

In a year where Orange had many incredible streaks come to an end, this weekend brought about another. It was the first time since 1988 that the Panthers didn’t have a wrestler place in the state championship.

Last year, Levi Anderson reached the state championship match at 145 pounds, losing 3-0 in the final.

Orange returned only four starters from last year’s squad, leading to its run of 16 consecutive conference championship being broken by Chapel Hill. It was Chapel Hill’s first win over Orange since 1989, and they did it on the Panthers’ senior night on January 30.

Union Pines eliminated the Panthers in the opening round of the 3A State Dual Team Championships.

“We came up a little short of our goals this year,” said Orange coach Spenser Poteat. “I think we have to refocus back to our original thought process. Not focus on winning, but on our individual relationships with each other. A Strong bond between our coaches and wrestlers make success everywhere else easy. Its about influence…heart, love, kindness, and lots of hard work and sacrifice.”

Xavier Tinnen and Brendon Worsham reached the state championships for the first time. Worsham, a sophomore who reached the Mideast Regional Finals at 182 pounds, lost to Justin Beltran of St. Stephens in the opening round 12-2. In the consolation round, Milan Summers of Greensboro Dudley defeated Worsham 7-4. Worsham ended the year 31-17.

Parkwood’s Marcus Williams, the Midwest Regional Champion, pinned Tinnen at 1:29 of the opening round of the 195-pound championships. Andre Britt of St. Stephens pinned Tinnen in 1:40 of the consolation round.

Tinnen, a junior who finished third in December’s Jim King/Orange Invitational at 195 pounds, ended the year 22-12.

“Brendan and Xavier both fought hard and wrestle to the best of their ability this weekend,” Poteat said. “Kessel had been to States before and his goal fell a little short as well. I look forward to the off season and getting ready for the rising seniors of next year.”

Orange ended the year 24-4 overall, 6-1 in the Big 8 Conference.

The potential for snow on Thursday has led the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to postpone the opening round of the State Wrestling Championships.

The Big 8 men’s and women’s basketball tournament, which started on Tuesday, will now have to finish by Saturday–if it finishes at all.

In a statement released by the NCHSAA on its website on Wednesday night, the association postponed the first day of the 2020 individual wrestling state tournament due to the possibility of a wintry mix in the Triad. The tournament, scheduled to begin on Thursday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum, is still slated to conclude on Saturday night.

“The NCHSAA Staff is working on a schedule that will still allow the tournament to be completed on Saturday night,” the statement read. “More details and an updated schedule will be released Thursday through the NCHSAA Website and other communication avenues.”

Orange High had three wrestlers scheduled to start competing on Thursday. Brendon Worsham, who finished 2nd in the Mideast Regionals last weekend at Cape Fear High, will take on Justin Bellran of St. Stephens, who came in 3rd in the West Region.

At 126 pounds, Orange’s Kessel Summers will square off with Havelock’s Nate Lucio in the opening round. That will be a rematch from earlier this year. On January 11 in the Havelock Duals, Summers scored a major decision over Lucio 14-5. Summers finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals.

Xavier Tinnen, seeded 4th, will face Midwest Regional champion Amir Joseph of Parkwood in the opening round. Tinnen, who is 22-8, qualified for the state championship for the first time last weekend after a fourth place finish.

The respective Big 8 basketball tournaments were supposed to resume on Thursday with doubleheaders at Northwood High in Pittsboro and Southern Durham High. Both Chatham County and Durham Public Schools announced on Wednesday night that schools would be closed on Thursday, leading to the postponement of the four scheduled games.

At Southern Durham, third-seeded Chapel Hill will face second-seeded Southern Durham in the women’s game at 6, followed by the men’s game between third-seeded Vance County vs. 2nd-seeded Southern Durham.

The Northwood women’s team is slated to face 5th-seeded East Chapel Hill in the other semifinal at 6 in Pittsboro. At 7:30, the top-seeded Northwood men’s team will host 5th-seeded Chapel Hill.

The postponement means the semifinals are now scheduled for Friday night, and the championship games on Saturday at the higher-seed’s gymnasium. However, the tournament must be completed by Saturday. Another cancellation on Friday likely means the tournament won’t be completed.

If that’s the case, Northwood will be the #1 seed from the Big 8 Conference in both the men’s and women’s tournaments since they won the regular season championship in both races. Southern Durham finished runner-up in both races and would get the #2 seed (normally, the tournament winner would get the #2 seed if it isn’t one of the top two teams).

On Thursday morning, the NCHSAA announced that seeding for the state playoffs would be delayed until Sunday morning.

All four Hillsborough teams were eliminated in the opening rounds of the Big 8 Tournaments on Tuesday. The only local squad with a chance to earn a state playoff spot is the Orange women’s team, who finished 6th in the Big 8 Conference and has a MaxPreps ranking of #59. HighSchoolOT, run by Nick Stevens, has repeatedly had Orange as among the last five teams in the state playoffs in recent projections. If the Lady Panthers make the field of 64, it would be their fourth trip to the state playoffs in the last five years.

Marvin Jones: The former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Male Athlete of the Week. Jones, a junior on the North Carolina Central track & field team, won his third high jump competition of the season at the Darius Dixon Memorial at Liberty University on Saturday. Jones had a career-best jump of 2.10 meters. He also won the Camel City Invitational and the JDL January College Kickoff for the Eagles. Jones will compete in the MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, MD starting Thursday.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team competed in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational at New Mexico University in Albuquerque, NM. Davis finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 50’6.25″. He has already qualified for the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held at South Bend, IN starting February 27.

Braden Homsey: Wrestling at 197 pounds for Division III Ferrum College, Homsey won the Southeast Wrestling Conference Tournament at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL on Saturday. In the championship match, Homsey edged Huntingdon’s Jack Haury 11-10. Homsey scored a technical fall over D.J. Adams of Huntingdon in the opening round and pinned Montana Doty of the University of the Ozarks in 6:14 to reach the finals. Ferrum won the team championship, as well. Homsey is 25-9 with two pins this season.

Icez Barnett: The freshman for the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team earned her first college start on Saturday. Barnett played 16 minutes as King defeated Chowan 72-45. Barnett scored six points off 3-of-7 shooting, and grabbed two rebounds. On February 11, Barton routed Chowan 88-58 in the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Barnett came off the bench and scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 17 minutes. Chowan is 4-19, 4-15 in Conference Carolinas. Icez has played in 15 games this season for the Hawks. She has averaged 9.2 minutes per game and has scored 32 points. Chowan will return to action against Southern Wesleyan in Central, S.C. on Wednesday.

Kaylen Campbell: On Saturday, the Division III Trinity Bantams women’s college basketball team defeated Hamilton 74-71 in double overtime at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT. It was the New England Small College Athletic Conference regular season finale for Trinity. Campbell came off the bench and played seven minutes. The victory ended a four-game losing streak for the Bantams. On Friday, Campbell scored two points in six minutes as Trinity lost to Amherst 58-53. Trinity concludes the regular season 16-8 and will play at Williams at Williamstown, MA in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday. This season, Campbell has played in 19 of the Bantam’s 24 games. She is averaging 11.3 minutes per game and 2.7 points per game.

Lauren Cates: On Thursday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Technical Community College 62-52. On February 8, Cape Fear Community College beat Wake Tech 90-83. Cates, a freshman guard for Wake Tech, started but didn’t take any shots. In 22 games this season, Cates is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting 35.3% from the field. Wake Tech is 16-7 overall, 9-6 in Region X.

There’s so much spring sports news between baseball, softball and men’s lacrosse that will have another alumni update early Tuesday morning. It was another strong weekend for Mia Davidson and the Mississippi State Bulldogs softball team. Plus, Brad Debo started his senior season with the N.C. State baseball team and the Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team kicked off its season.

Photo by Cassie Summers

Despite a down year by traditional team standards, Orange High wrestling will have three representatives at the 3A State Championships this week.

Brendon Worsham, Kessel Summers and Xavier Tinnen all qualified during the Mideast Regionals at Cape Fear High School in Fayetteville on Saturday. Worsham, who had only four varsity matches entering this year, reached the finals of the 182 pound championship, falling to Eastern Guilford’s Perry Sharpe 13-10 in the final match.

On Friday, Worsham opened by pinning Alex Christian of Cedar Ridge in 3:40. Worsham pinned Carl Thames of West Johnston in 3:04 to advance to the semifinals.

On Saturday, Worsham defeated Walter Williams’ Joshua Shorter 11-3, becoming the only wrestler from Hillsborough to reach a championship final in the event. It was the 2nd time this year that Worsham finished 2nd in a tournament. In the Silver Fox Tournament at Riverside High in Durham on January 25, Worsham had a runner-up finish at 182 pounds.

Summers, a junior reached the state championships for the second year in a row. Competing at 126 pounds, Summers rolled past Union Pines’ Andrew Clark 14-5 in the 3rd place match. Last year, Summers finished third at 113 pounds in the regionals at Southeast Guilford High, where he pinned Southern Durham’s Shyheem Davis at 4:57 to move on to Greensboro.

Tinnen, who was 8-3 last season wrestling at 220 pounds, finished fourth at 195 pounds. This was the first time that Tinnen participated in a regional championship. Last year, Donald Hicks competed at 195 pounds for Orange, while Jake McBroom wrestled at 220.

On Friday, Tinnen pinned East Chapel Hill’s Fathi Awawdeh in 1:06, then pinned Eastern Alamance’s Gonzalez Turner in 1:22. In the semifinals, Westover’s Marcus Williams pinned Tinnen. In the consolation round, Tinnen defeated Malachi Nettles of Trinity to clinch a spot in the state tournament. Southern Durham’s Jamae Blank defeated Tinnen for third place.

The career of Orange heavyweight Juan Navarro came to an end shy of reaching his goal of qualifying for the state championships. Navarro faced Chapel Hill’s Benjamin Yates in the opening round, two weeks after their match in the regular season went past triple overtime and into a ride out. On that night, Navarro escaped and won 3-2. On Friday, Yates pinned Navarro at 5:59.

Navarro rebounded to beat Cedar Ridge’s Louis Tedder and Union Pines’ Kellen DeVries in the consolation round. Northwood’s Ben McGaughnea pinned Navarro, who won over 80 matches in his Orange career despite starting only the past two years.

Cedar Ridge’s season ended on Saturday. Freshman Fernando Martinez and Alex Davis came the closest to reaching Greensboro. Martinez was eliminated in the consolation semifinals by Southern Durham’s Ashton O’Neal via forfeit. Martinez pinned Western Alamance’s Evan Connetta in 1:18 of the opening match, then he reached the semifinals after beating Grey’s Creek’s Zane Ray 15-9. Chapel Hill’s Lucas Daly defeated Martinez by technical fall and was injured during the match.

Davis, competing at 138 pounds, also reached the semifinals. In the opening round, he pinned Western Alamance’s Mason Hogsed in 2:41. Davis defeated Harnett Central’s Jorge Cruz in 3:05. Union Pines Aaron Faison, who won the championship, pinned Davis in 4:30. Kaleb Williams of Fayetteville Byrd, who eliminated Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stenzel earlier in the day, defeated Davis 12-1.

The 3A State Championships get underway at 5 o’clock Friday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum. The consolation rounds start Friday morning at 9, while the championship semifinals will be at 6 PM. The Championship Finals will be held at 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team opened the 2020 season by winning the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, FL. The Bulldogs defeated Missouri State 5-0 on Friday, romped past Liberty 9-2 and edged Louisville 3-2 in eight innings on Saturday, then shut out N.C. State 9-0 in five innings on Sunday to clinch the championship. Davidson hit her first home run fo the season against Liberty, a solo blast in the fourth inning. For the weekend, Mia hit .385 for the weekend. She finished 5-for-13. In the season opener against Missouri State, Davidson went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Montana Davidson: Montana started her redshirt junior season by playing all four games this weekend for Mississippi State, as well. Montana went 1-for-2 against Missouri State and had an RBI off a sacrifice fly. She finished .273 with two RBIs. Mississippi State will host Alabama State in hits home opener at Nusz Park in Starkville, MS on Wednesday.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central junior continued a strong season for the Eagles’ indoor track & field team. In the Camel City Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, Jones won the high jump on Saturday. Jones matched his career-best leap by clearing 2.10 meters. Jones, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in 2017, has now won the high jump twice and finished second twice this season. He has also qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships, which starts February 20 in Landover, MD. The Eagles will return to action in the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, hosted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA on Friday.

Bowen Collins: The Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team opened its season with a 22-11 victory over Young Harris at Moretz Stadium in Hickory on Saturday. Collins had three goals and two assists for the Bears, who are ranked #16 in Division II. With his first career hat trick, Collins matched his total goal output from all of last season. Collins, a redshirt senior, had five shots, four of them on goal. The Bears face Westminster on Friday in Hickory.

Zach Wright: The former Orange attacker started lacrosse season for the Division II Mars Hill Lions. Montevallo defeated Mars Hill 19-12 at Meares Stadium in Mars Hill on Saturday. Wright scored Mars Hill’s last goal of the third period. He had three shots, two on goal. Mars Hill will host Lees-McRae on Tuesday.

Kaylen Campbell: After starting the year 9-1, the Division III Trinity women’s basketball team has lost three straight. On February 1, Williams defeated the Bantams 83-76 in Williamstown, MA. On Friday, Tufts upended the Bantams 77-61 in Medford, MA. Campbell scored two points and grabbed five rebounds in 16 minutes. Tufts, the top-ranked team in Division III, improved to 21-0. On Saturday, Bates edged Trinity 54-50 in Lewiston, ME. Campbell didn’t score in three minutes of action. Trinity is 15-7 overall, 4-4 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Campbell has played in 17 games this season. She’s averaging 11.9 minutes per game, 2.9 points per game and 2.2 rebounds per game. Trinity will host Amherst on Friday in Hartford, CT in an attempt to break its losing streak.

While it wasn’t as dramatic as the UNC-Duke finish on Saturday night, the Stanford and Stanback Middle School wrestling teams had one more tight competition before wrestling season ended.

This time it was at the OPAC Tournament in Roxboro.

At Southern Middle School on Saturday, the Chargers finished first in the OPAC Tournament team standings with 155 points. The Bulldogs had 145 points.

Stanford won its 20th consecutive regular season championship last week after they defeated the Bulldogs 51-45 in Hillsborough. Last month, the Chargers edged the Bulldogs 47-46 at Bulldog Gymnasium.

Both the Chargers and the Bulldogs crowned four individual champions.

Gravelly Hill, who finished with 42 points, had Lucas Calvin win the 198 pound championship. Calvin defeated Stanback’s Carlos Vera De Lara in the championship match. He was one of two Grizzles to win individual championships.

Stanford’s Mateo Albright came in 3rd at 198.

After finishing 2nd last season at 76 pounds, Stanford’s Wyatt Hedrick won the 86 pound championship to complete a perfect season. Hedrick defeated Culbreth’s Jake Kent in the semifinals.

Stanback’s Pierce Prescod won the 101 pound championship, defeating Southern Roxboro’s Christian Lemaire in the final. Prescod had two individual wins over Stanford during the regular season. Stanford’s Aidan Cain finished 4th.

At 109 pounds, Stanford’s Jared Hutchins defeated Smith’s Siena Palmisiano in the final. Hutchins also finished the season undefeated and claimed his 2nd OPEC championship. Last year, he won the 86 pound title. Gavin Stone of Stanback finished 4th.

Josh Cowan won the 116 pound title for Stanford. Cowan defeated Stanback’s Leo Oguntiyinbo in an All-Hillsborough final to end the season undefeated. Cowan finished 2nd last year at 106 pounds.

Stanford’s Jace Womble also completed a perfect season by winning the 135-pound championship. Womble, who was the runner-up at 120 pounds in 2019, defeated Stanback’s Edwin Hernandez Huerta in the championship.

Stanback’s Kaden Tatro was the Bulldogs’ second individual champion. Tatro defeated Stanford’s Andre Hill to win the 141 pound title and ended the year with an unblemished record.

At 163 pounds, Stanback’s Marcos Esparza defeated Stanford’s Joshua Merrill in the title match. Esparza finished the year 11-0.

Stanback’s Joe O’Meila won the 173 pound championship over Northern Roxboro’s Daniel Moreno. O’Meila finished the year 11-1 for the Bulldogs. Stanford’s Vincent Jobert-Stenzel came in third.

Gravelly Hill’s other champion came at 155 pounds, where Mason Cates captured the crown. Cates defeated Stanford’s Sascha Van Praag in the final.

At 185 pounds, Stanback’s Marcos MacNeil came in 2nd. Gravelly Hill’s Victor Mendoza came in third.

Stanford’s Laurencio Grimaldo, competing at 148 pounds, finished 2nd. Angus Pritchard of Gravelly Hill came in 3rd in that weight class.

Stanford’s Kale Womble finished 2nd at 93 pounds after going undefeated in the regular season. Stanback’s Tommy Heckler came in 3rd.

Stanford’s Luke Stitz finished second at 76 pounds, falling in the championship match to Northern Roxboro’s Taveon Moss. Mason Pierce of Stanback finished 3rd.

At 123 pounds, Stanford’s Luke Nevius finished 2nd, falling to Culbreth’s Cameron Perry in the final. Nevius lost only two matches this season. Stanback’s Ryan Rakouskas came in fourth.

At heavyweight, Stanback’s Aaron Olivares Mojica came in second, falling in the final to McDougle’s John Reyez Cruz.

Stanback’s Kellen McMullen finished 2nd at 223 pounds.

Girl’s Basketball:

Last week, Stanford defeated Southern Roxboro 32-17. The Chargers were led by Shannon Murphy with eleven points. Katie Wolter added six. Evelyn George had five. Olivia Jones scored four, as did Dyreshia Farrish. Caden Robinson scored two for the Lady Chargers.

Once again, too many bonus points allowed cost the Orange wrestling team with its season on the line.

Union Pines scored four pins and two major decisions to defeat the Panthers 43-33 in the opening round of the NCHSAA 3A State Dual Playoffs on Tuesday night at Panther Gymnasium.

In the subsequent second round, Northern Guilford routed the Vikings 46-19 to move into the quarterfinals.

Orange, who lost to Chapel Hill last week with the Big 8 Conference championship on the line, had its earliest exit in the state playoffs since 2004, at least. Chapel Hill ended the Panthers’ string of 17 consecutive conference titles last Thursday. It was Orange’s first conference loss since 2003, when they fell to Riverside.

Union Pines led 25-3 after four matches. Orange’s only victory in that span came from Tayton Alvis at 145 pounds, who defeated Gabriel Robbins 10-7.

Orange’s Xavier Tinnen pinned Collin VanCleeve in 39 seconds to cut Orange’s deficit to 25-9, but Union Pines got a pin from Jaheem Uzzell in 4:58 to get the points back.

Orange senior Juan Navarro, in his final match inside Panther Gymnasium, pinned Kellen DeVries in 4:48. Navarro is 33-9 with 18 pins this season.

At 106 pounds, Orange freshman Dillon Heffernan earned a forfeit victory, but the Vikings scored pinfall wins from Johann Diaz and William Worley at 113 & 120 pounds, respectively, to pull off the win.

Kessel Summers and Matthew Smith-Breeden picked up forfeit wins after the Vikings ensured victory.

While Orange was knocked out, Chapel Hill advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time in modern history. The Tigers will host Northern Guilford in the regional semifinals on Thursday night. The winner faces Wilson Fike or C.B. Aycock for the Eastern Regional Championship.

Orange finished the year 24-4, suffering as many losses this year as the previous three seasons combined. The Panthers went 28-2 last season and lost to Cape Fear in the 2nd round of the State Dual Playoffs. They upended Eden Morehead for its first win.

The wrestling team was the second squad from Orange to make the state playoffs this year. The Lady Panthers volleyball team lost to Clayton in the opening round of the state playoffs in October.

Orange and Cedar Ridge will now focus on the 3A Mideast Regionals at Cape Fear High School on February 14-15. The top four wrestlers from each weight class will qualify for the 3A State Championships, held at the Greensboro Coliseum starting on February 20.

Navarro will be one of the Panthers top hopes to reach Greensboro. Last season, he narrowly missed qualifying for the Mideast Regionals. In the consolation semifinals against Hillside’s Rodney Harris, which ended in a forced ride where Harris escaped and won 4-3.

Summers qualified for the state championships at 113 pounds. Last year at Southeast Guilford High, Summers pinned Shyheem Davis in 4:57. This season, Summers leads Orange with 36 wins and 22 pins.

Cedar Ridge’s Kady Watkins, who became the first female Hillsborough wrestler to compete for a state championship last year, will again be in the NCHSAA Girls State Tournament in Concord on Saturday morning. Watkins has seven wins with three pins this season.

Icez Barnett: Erskine defeated the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team 60-57 on Saturday in Due West, S.C. Barnett didn’t play. Last Tuesday, #21 Belmont-Abbey defeated Chowan 95-84. Barnett scored two points in three minutes. The Hawks are 4-16, 4-12 in Conference Carolinas.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team edged Bryant & Stratton College 62-59 on Saturday at Maury High School in Norfolk, VA. Cates, who graduated from Orange in 2019, finished with four points, one rebound, two assists and two steals. She shot 1-of-5 from the field. On Wednesday, Louisburg College defeated Wake Tech 80-66 in a game where the two teams combined for seven technical fouls. Cates finished with six points. Wake Tech is 15-5 overall, 8-4 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team competed at the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock, TX over the weekend. Davis finished 11th in the triple jump with a leap of 15.38 meters.

Braden Homsey: Over the weekend, the Division III Ferrum Panthers wrestling team finished 16th at the Pete Wilson Invitational at Wheaton University in Wheaton, IL. Homsey came in 7th at 197 pounds, one of three Panthers to place individually. Homsey finished 5-2 with two pins in the tournament. This season, Homsey is 24-9 with two pins.

Next weekend will start the spring sports season for many college across the state. Hillsborough will be represented in baseball, softball and men’s lacrosse. Here are some of the local athletes that will return to action at colleges across the southeast.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State catcher was named a Preseason All-American by Softball America. Davidson, who led Orange to the 2017 3A State Championship, is 10th among active players with 45 home runs in her first two years in Starkville. She led Mississippi State in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, runs, RBIs and total bases in 2019. Davidson was a top-10 finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year in 2019.

Montana Davidson: Montana will join Mia Davidson for a Mississippi State team that hired Samantha Ricketts as its new head coach in the offseason. After Montana received a medical redshirt during her sophomore season due to a knee injury, she started all 58 games for the Bulldogs in 2019. As a redshirt sophomore, she hit .269 with seven doubles and 21 RBIs. Mississippi State will play Missouri State to start its season on Friday during a weekend series in Clearwater, FL. That series will also include N.C. State, Louisville, and Liberty.

Amy Stutzer: Stutzer, a 2019 Cedar Ridge graduate, will start her softball career at Division III Salem College in Virginia against Southern Virginia on February 14.

Brad Debo: This upcoming season will be the senior campaign for Debo, who was the catcher for four consecutive Big 8 Conference championship teams for the Orange Panthers. Last season for N.C. State, Debo appeared in 59 of the Wolfpack’s 61 games. He hit .242 with 47 hits, 16 doubles, one triple, four homers and 39 RBIs. The Wolfpack will start its season against James Madison on February 14.

Brandon Andrews: Andrews will start his junior season with the Nicholls Colonels against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Thibodaux, LA on February 14. Andrews appeared in 24 games as a pitcher last season for the Colonels. He was 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA and two saves.

Jaylin Jones: The Division II Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team has become Hillsborough south. There are three former Orange and Cedar Ridge players who will suit up for the Falcons this year. Jones will start his junior season in Misenheimer. In his sophomore season, Jones made six starts and played in 16 games. He scored two goals and added three assists for the Falcons.

Zach Berry: The former Cedar Ridge goalkeeper transferred from the Virginia Military Institute to Pfeiffer last season. In his only year at VMI, Berry was between the pipes for five games. He gave up seven goals in 55 minutes and made six saves.

Luke Hernandez: Also now at Pfeiffer. Hernandez played in one game for the Falcons last season. Pfeiffer faces Emmanuel in Franklin Springs, GA on Saturday.

Bowen Collins: A former star at Orange, Collins is now at redshirt senior at Division Lenoir-Rhyne. Last season, Collins played in 15 games for the Bears. He scored seven points with ten shots on goal.

Zach Wright: Now a senior at Division II Mars Hill, Wright had nine goals in 15 games last season. Mars Hill hosts Montevallo on Saturday.

Aidan Poole: A former defenseman at Cedar Ridge, Poole is now at Division III Greensboro College. Greensboro opens its season on February 15 against Virginia Wesleyan at Pride Field in Greensboro.

If the Chapel Hill wrestling team didn’t understand the magnitude of what they accomplished at the end of Thursday night, you really can’t blame them.

Very few of them were alive the last time Orange lost a conference match.

That was 17 years ago, which was also the last time the Panthers didn’t win a conference championship.

Now, after years of frustration, the Tigers can say they finally slayed the dragon. And they did it on Orange’s senior night.

The Tigers defeated Orange 32-30 to win the Big 8 Conference championship on Thursday night at Panther Gymnasium. The Tigers didn’t lead until the final match. Orange was one victory away from winning its 17th consecutive conference championship. Instead, they will go on the road to begin the 3A State Dual Team Tournament on Tuesday, most likely against Union Pines.

With Orange (23-4, 6-1 in the Big 8) leading 30-26 going into the final match, Chapel Hill’s Porter Brice pinned Orange’s Campbell Bourlon in 4:44. After the referee’s arm slammed against the mat, Chapel Hill Coach Tripp Price was embraced by his players and assistants for the Tigers first conference championship in wrestling since joining the 3A ranks in 2010.

It was Chapel Hill’s first win over Orange in wrestling in decades. The Panthers had defeated the Tigers in all ten of their regular season matches since the two became conference rivals again in 2010, in addition to the opening round of the 2016 state dual matches.

Orange, which led 30-16 with three matches remaining, suffered its first conference loss since 2003 against Riverside, when they were a 4A team competing in the PAC-6 Conference. From 2004-19, Orange won every conference championship competing in two different classifications.

Orange went undefeated against conference opponents for the entire decade of the 2010s, going 62-0. On December 11, the Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge to finish a perfect decade against league opposition.

“Chapel Hill is a very good team,” said Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat. “We gave up bonus points in a lot of matches. They didn’t give up a lot of bonus points. You can tell that from the final score. They won by two. We had three or four matches where we could have scored more points and we didn’t.”

Coming off a 81-0 victory at Northern Durham the night before, Orange won the first three matches. At 126 pounds, Kessel Summers pinned Diego Reveles in 1:56. Matthew Smith-Breeden scored a 9-1 major decision over Bro Dinh. Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stanzel increased the Panther lead to 13-0 with a 13-7 decision over Ta’Vonne Page.

Of Chapel Hill’s seven individual victories, five came with bonus points. It started at 145 pounds when Alexander Gunning earned a major decision over Tayton Alvis 15-5.

After Noah Davis got a major decision of his own against Bryan Lopez 18-4, the Tigers won consecutive matches. Can Kilic earned an 8-4 win over Korbin Nevius. At 170, Devine Pipkins pinned Nathan Hecht in 4:52 to cut Orange’s lead to 17-13.

Brendon Worsham, who finished second at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside on Saturday, defeated Bryan Ramirez 14-10 at 182 pounds. At 195, Orange’s Xavier Tinnen pinned Milad Aghaiepour in 2:58 to push the Panther lead to 26-13.

With hopes for an upset slipping away, Chapel Hill’s Ian Hamilton defeated Tyler Larkin 5-1 at 220. In a thriller at heavyweight, Orange senior Juan Navarro won a sudden death match against Ben Yates 3-2 to increase Orange’s advantage to 30-16.

Chapel Hill’s Lucas Daley pinned Dillon Heffernan in 4:34 at 106 pounds. Moo Soe outscored Josh Bunn 19-11, leading to Brice’s heroics in the final match.

“Congratulations to Chapel Hill,” Poteat said. “Hopefully, this will show our guys that you have to work hard at all times and not give up points when you don’t have to. Obviously, we wanted to win, but we didn’t. Now it’s time to start it back again.”