In the 1990s, Florida State ruled ACC football with an iron hand, winning nine consecutive conference championships under Bobby Bowden. The joke used to be ACC Football was Florida State and the seven dwarfs—plus Duke, which was hoping to become a dwarf.
Of course, times have changed.
But not in whatever league Orange wrestling is competing in. Regardless of whether the Panthers hang their headgear in the 4-A PAC-6, the 2-A Mid-State or the 3-A Big 8, it’s their home until someone proves otherwise. Their reputation proceeds them, just like the Seminoles of 20 years ago.
Orange started its pursuit of its 13 consecutive conference championship on Wednesday night with a 67-0 whitewashing of Cedar Ridge.
Jamar Davis recorded a major decisiion win over Seth McKee to improve to 11-2 at 170.
At 182, Juan Torres capitalized on a strong 3rd place finish at the Jim King Invitational with a 10-5 decision over Demarcus Smith. After starting the season with eleven straight wins, Torres is 12-1.
Shannon Thompson scored his seventh pin of the season in :32 over Ethan Harvey. Thompson is now 7-2 on the year.
Payton Wilson, three weeks removed from football season, scored a major decision over Issac Rivera 12-1.
At 120 pounds, sophomore Bailey Hawkins, mullett and all, scored a pin in 40 seconds. Hawkins is now 12-1 on the season with seven pins.
Grant Thompson also scored a pin at 132 in :47 to improve to 5-3.
Avery Jenkins (145), Joe Scott (152) also recorded decision wins. Scott is 11-1 with his only loss coming in the 152-pound championship at the Jim King Invitatonal on Saturday to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, Eastern Alamance’s Mitch Dean.
Heavyweight Daylan Alston (12-1), Freshman 113-pounder Gavin Wiggins (9-3), and 126-pounder Jamison Askew (10-3) received forfeit victories.
The Panthers travel to Southwest Guilford on Saturday.
Cedar Ridge travels to the Villan Tournament on Saturday at Biship McGuinness Catholic High School in Kernersville.

All Clay Jones could ask from his Cedar Ridge Red Wolves is to have momentum going into its conference opener against Orange on Friday night.

And they have it.

The Red Wolves claimed its second win in as many days on Tuesday night, downing the Graham Red Devils 82-70. It was another night where Payton Pappas paced the Red Wolves, scoring a season-high 33 points. Jonathan Hall has provided a scoring punch in both of the Red Wolves wins this week. He scored 14 on Tuesday night, while Jacob Thomas added a dozen.

Cedar Ridge is now 6-2 going into the trip to Jim King Gymnasium on Friday night to face the Panthers.

On Monday night, Cedar Ridge welcomed the Austrailian All Stars to Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves won 72-51. Pappas added 20 points, while Hall and Thomas added 13.

A rough start to the season suffered another setback for both the Orange boys and girls basketball teams on Tuesday.

In its home opener, the Orange boys team fell to Heritage High 65-59. The Panthers are now 0-3. Orange started its season with road losses to East Chapel Hill and Sanderson.

The Orange girls suffered a similar fate in Wake Forest. The Huskies defeated the Panthers 65-30. Heritage’s Alissa Smalls finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Cydney Johnson added 18 points and six rebounds.

The Orange boys will travel to Yanceyville tonight to face Bartlett Yancey at 7:30. The Panthers will host Cedar Ridge on Friday night in the Big 8 opener for both teams.

We’ll have coverage of both the boys and girls games on Friday night on Hillsboroughsports.com. Go to our facebook page to listen to the broadcast over your web browser, you smart phone or tablet.

The 35th Jim King Invitational Wrestling Tournament will be remembered at Orange for a variety of reasons.

Of course, foremost is the Panthers captured the team championship for the sixth time in the event’s history. Orange finished with 223.5 points, ahead of Southern Alamance’s 202,5. Cary, who has won the JKO 22 times, finished third with 196.5 points.

The tournament also featured another generation of grapplers under the tutelage of Bobby Shriner that progress to another level of success in a short amount of time.

Last year, Orange placed Byron Stephenson (heavyweight), Stone Edwards (220), and Gonzalo Cantoral (132) in the finals. Stephenson and Cantoral graduated, while Edwards is recovering from a foot injury suffered during football season.

While the Panthers didn’t have any individual champions this year, they had eleven grapplers place in the top six, including runner-up finishes for freshman Gavin Wiggins (113), Joe Scott (152), and Juan Torres (182).

Torres may have made the most improvement.

“His technique has really improved,” said Shriner, who came to Orange in 1990 to replace King as head wrestling coach. “He has a unique ability being so low to the ground. We’re really glad he came out for wrestling.”

Torres was quick to credit his training partners Payton Wilson (who finished 3rd at 220 after a 3rd place finish at 182 in 2014) and Shannon Thompson for getting him ready for the JKO.

“I’ve been improving a lot since last year,” said Torres. “In terms of condition, I’m getting better. Our sessions are intense. They push me and I push them. That’s how we get better.”

Freshman Gavin Wiggins, in his first JKO, finished 2nd at 113 pounds. He’s now 6-3 on the season.

“I was excited to come out here and wrestle, “said Wiggins. “I had some tough opponents to face. I was ready to come out here on the mat.”

For Scott, the runner-up finish was a dissapointment by his own admission. The 2013 JKO Champion at 120 pounds, Scott was focused on a championship for his senior year. Instead, he fell in the championship match to Eastern Alamance’s Mitch Dean, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

“I’ve got work to do,” said Scott, who is 10-1 on the season. “I can’t get too upset. Mitch Dean is probably the best in the state at that weight.”

Sophomore Bailey Hawkins finished 3rd at 120. The son of Cadwell’s Randy Hawkins, Bailey is 11-1 to start the season.

Hawkins went 0-2 in the JKO last season.

“We did a lot during the summer,” said Hawkins. “We went to Appalachian State for the summer camp. We went to Pennsylvania together for a tournament. Just worked hard.”

Orange will start its defense of the Big 8 dual meet Conference Championship on Wednesday night against Cedar Ridge at Jim King Gymnasium. First match is at 6.

For the first time since 2011, Orange captured the team championship at the Jim King Invitational. Coach Bobby Shriner discussed winning the championship.

Orange Wrestling Coach Bobby Shriner Discusses the Panthers Championship at the Jim King Invitation

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In America, this is the heart of the school year. Thanksgiving is over. Christmas is around the corner, and so is the holiday break. Summer vacation seems like years away.

In Australia, what we call winter is their summer vaction, and they’re on it right now. In recent years, various high school teams from the land Down Under journey across the southeast United States to play American teams.

On Monday night, Cedar Ridge will play one of those squads in Hillsborough.

Make no mistake, these are players dedicated to playing in America, even if its only exhibition games. They pay their own way for the 20-hour flight. They seek living arrangements with various American families in advance. Then they pay a grueling schedule across various towns, often as many as five games in a week.

Though it won’t count in the official standings, it’s a chance for the Red Wolves to gear up for another busy week. After a trip to Graham on Tuesday night, the Red Wolves start Big 8 Conference play on Friday night at archrival Orange.

Cedar Ridge arrives into tonight’s game against the Aussies with a 4-2 record. After beating Southern Alamance on Wednesday, the Red Wolves lost to Burlington Cummings 75-59 on Friday night.

Leading 31-28 at the half, the Cavaliers exploded for 31 points in the third quarter to put the game away. Peyt0n Pappas led the Red Wolves with 21 points while Jacob Thomas added 15.

Hillsboroughsports.com will have coverage of Orange-Cedar Ridge on Friday night starting at 6:50. Go to Hillsboroughsports.com Facebook page to listen in.

It’s safe to say Gavin Wiggins has come out of the gates running in his high school career. Only a freshman, Wiggins is already starting for the Panthers at 113 pounds, going 6-3 in his first two weeks as a high school grappler. In the King Invitational, Wiggins opened with a 4-3 decision over Clayton’s Christian Prescott. In the quarterfinals, Wiggins pinned Winston Salem Glenn’s Nick McCormick in 1:29. He advanced to the finals by beating Simon Ruff of Leesville Road 6-0. Wiggins discussed working with Coach Bobby Shriner in his opening weeks as a high school grappler and what lies ahead.

Orange Freshman Gavin Wiggins Finishes 2nd at 113 in initial King Invitational appearance

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After opening the season with ten consecutive victories, Orange senior wrestler Joe Scott finished 2nd at 152 pounds in the 35 Jim King Invitational on Saturday at King Gymnasium. Eastern Alamance’s Mitch Dean, who was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, edged Scott 4-2 in the championship.

Scott talked about his performance in the tournament afterwards.

Joe Scott Goes to 10-1 on the Season after 2nd place finish at King Invitational

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Caldwell’s Bailey Hawkins finished third in the 120-pound weight class at the Jim King Invitational, going 4-1 for the weekend. Hawkins scored pins in his opening two matches. In the consoloation bracket, he earned consecutive victories by scores of 4-0 & 7-3. He talked about his weekend and what’s ahead in the Tiger Holiday Classic later this month.

Orange’s Bailey Hawkins Finishes 3rd at King Invitational

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Senior Juan Torres improved to 9-1 on the season after finishing 3-1 in the Jim King Invitational. His only loss came in the championship match at 182. Juan discusses his rigorous training under Coach Bobby Shriner.

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Torres finished 2nd at the Jim King Invitational on Saturday, helping Orange win the team championship for the first time since 2011.