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In theory, it was possibly the longest road trip for any Orange High sports team in the 53-year history of the school.

In practice, Orange Wrestling Coach Bobby Shriner went home.

Shriner, a native of Roselle Park, New Jersey, returned to his stomping grounds this week after a 10-hour bus trip each way. It was a fulfilling journey, on and off the wrestling mat.

After a tour of Manhattan on Wednesday, the Panthers captured the Roselle Park Invitational team championship, finishing with 224 points in the nine team competition. Passic Valley High, from Little Falls, NJ, finished 2nd with 204 points.

It was another Payton Wilson victory at 220 pounds. Wilson, who won the 220 championship at the Tiger Holiday Classic after beating South View’s Cade Smith 10-3, earned his third tournament championship this year at 220. Wilson is 25-0 on the season and remain #1 in the state at 220.

Just weeks after suffering an injury on his right knee from an ingrown hair on his right knee, junior Bailey Hawkins captured his first individual championship at 132 pounds. Hawkins, ranked 5th in the state at 132, is now 25-6 thus far.

Also claiming his first individual championship was heavyweight Daylen Alson, who learned how delicate winning tournament championships can be at the Tiger last week. Facing Carrboro’s Emanuel Oquaye in the semifinals, a weary Alston got a takedown to go ahead 9-6 with :23 remaining in the third period. Yet Oquaye had the stamina to secure a two-point reversal to force Alston to the mat, then gained a near fall in the dying seconds to win the match 10-9 and advance to the finals. Alston, ten seconds away from facing Southeast Guilford’s Evan Surgeon in the finals, finished the tournament 5th.

His fortunes in New Jersey were better. He captured the championship, improving his record to 21-6.

Five Orange grapplers finished second: Gavin Wiggins (120); Charlie Fitzpatrick (152); Josiah Ramirez (170); Branden Homsey (182) and Jamar Davis (195).

Mitchell Askew, Mitchell Lopeman, Levi Anderson, Avery Jenkins, Noah Davis and Caleb Brimmer all placed for Orange.

That ends the 2016 calendar for the Panthers. Now, Orange enters 2017 the favorites to win the Big 8 Conference Championship after beating Northwood before Christmas break. The Panthers return to Big 8 action with a tri-meet against Northern Vance and J.F. Webb at Webb on Wednesday.

When a wrestling team ventures into a tournament against 44 other squads from five states, there’s an aura of the unknown.

Different opponents from different schools leads to a wider variety of competition levels. Which is why the end of the first day of the Tigers Holiday Wrestling Classic at Chapel Hill High School had pleasant surprises, and a few disappointements, for Orange.

Overall, the news couldn’t be much better. The Panthers will go into the final day of the event with the overall team lead with 85 points. Southeast Guilford has 80 points, while Newton Conover had 69.5.

Out of 14 wrestlers who started the competition across all weight classes, the Panthers placed eight in the quarterfinals. Southeast Guilford had seven quarterfinalists, while Newton Conover ended up with six.

The quarterfinals begin at 9AM Friday morning at Chapel Hill High School.

The most dramatic Orange win of the night came at 138 pounds, where junior Bailey Hawkins trailed West Brunswick’s Brandon Risen (23-4) 4-2 going into the final minute of the final period. Hawkins edged Risen’s shoulders to the mat for a stunning pin at 5:18, improving his record to 19-2. Hawkins faces senior Sammy Peticos of Chase High in the quarterfinals.

Earlier, Hawkins pinned Northern Pitt’s Andrew Mizell in 1:48.

At 220 pounds, Payton Wilson’s search for a third individual championship this month started with a pinfall over Tyler Onyebbilanma of Greensboro Smith in 1:43. Wilson, who received a bye into the 2nd round, is now 16-0 this season.

At 170, Josiah Ramirez bounced back after a tough loss last weekend at Eastern Alamance with two decisive wins. He needed only :41 to defeat Northwood’s Montgomery Allgood, then finished off Hough High’s Andrew Boykin 13-1.

Avery Jenkins scored two pins to earn a spot in the 145 quarterfinals. He started with a win over Croatan’s Andrew Litz in 1:05. In the 2nd round, he pinned Jacob Holt of Newton Conover in 3:16.

Sophomore Caleb Brimmer continued a strong campaign with two wins to improve to 15-4. He pinned Morehead’s Dilyn Roudesbush in 2:34, then handed Bunn’s Jalen Kelly a 12-7 defeat. It was only the 2nd loss of the year for Kelly. Brimmer faces Purnell Swett’s Ronald McNiel on Friday.

Heavyweight Daylen Alston didn’t work by the hour in his victories. He pinned Greensboro Smith’s John-Rob Brown in 2:28, then rolled into the quarterfinals with a :32 pin over Southern Alamance’s Alex Crawford. Alston will face Heritage’s Joseph Vickers to start Friday.

At 195, junior Jamar Davis pinned Northern Nash’s Jalen Spooner at 4:49. Davis, who received a bye into the second round, led 2-0 going into the final period.

Mitchell Askew was the 1st Orange wrestler to reach the quarterfinals. He earned a major decision over George Wythe (VA)’s Sebastia Lamrouex 11-1. Askew pinned Carrboro’s Gavin Leone in :30 to open the night.

The tournament featured schools from as far away as Kissimmee, Florida, where one of the wrestlers pulled among the bigger surprises of the night. Osceola High’s Blake Fuller defeated Orange’s Charlie Fitzpatrick 11-5. Fuller got two near falls late in the third period to break open a close match. The loss ended Fitzpatrick’s 13-match winning streak.

Fitzpatrick rebounded to win his first consolation match over George Wythe’s Arelon Kapuy via pinfall in 2:54.

At 120, Gavin Wiggins pinned North Pitt’s Dominic Maurizzio in only :25, but lost a rematch to Southern Alamance’s McKray Mundy 5-1. Wiggins won his first consolation match 11-1 over Providence’s Will Nguyen.

44 teams from four states will participate in the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic, which starts today at Chapel Hill High School. Orange High, which has already claimed the team championships at the Jim King/Orange Invitational and Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational, is one of four teams from Orange County participating. The host, Chapel Hill, joins East Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

Orange will have representatives in all 14 weight classes.

Because Chapel Hill High has classes in session today, the action won’t start until 4 o’clock this afternoon.

The brackets for today’s opening round have been released. Four grapplers who have earned individual championships in Orange’s previous tournaments will all be in action today.

Payton Wilson, who claimed championships at the JKO and Eastern Alamance, puts his undefeated record on the line against Carrboro’s Jesean Barkley.

At 120, Gavin Wiggins, who won an individual championship in Mebane last weekend, takes on Dominic Maurizzio of North Pitt.

Josiah Ramirez (21-1), coming off his first loss of the season last weekend after winning the 170 pound championship at the JKO, takes on Bryan Osorio Suare of East Chapel Hill.

Charlie Fitzpatrick will wrestle at 152 after winning the Eagle Invitational. He opposed hasn’t been announced.

The only Orange wrestler to receive a bye into the 2nd round is Jamar Davis at 195. He awaits the winner of Jalen Spooner of Northern Nash (5-2) vs. Providence Grove’s John Young (15-9)

Heavyweight Daylen Alston (13-2) is opposed by John-Rob Brown of Greensboro Smith.

At 106, Orange’s Mitchell Askew (19-3) faces Carrboro’s Gavin Leone.

At 113, Noah Davis (9-9) faces Chapel Hill’s Zin Muang (16-7).

Orange’s Bailey Hawkins (15-2), who finished as a runner-up at Eastern Alamance, goes against North Pitt’s Andrew Mizell (15-11).

At 138, Levi Anderson (15-5) will wrestle senior Sam Russ (15-8) of Hough High.

At 145, Orange sophomore Avery Jenkins (17-4) takes on Riley Chambers of James Brynes High (S.C.).

In the 182 weight class, Braden Homsey (15-6) faces Hough’s Collin Paradis.

Follow along on Twitter at @Hboroughsports for match-by-match results.

The Big 8 conference has 12 regular season games, and Orange is 2-0 in league play.

Clearly, it’s too early to say that Orange’s victory at Southern Durham on Tuesday night puts the Panthers in the driver’s seat in the chase for the conference regular season championship.

But winning at Spartans Gymnasium for the first time since 1990 is quite the stocking stuffer.

Connor Crabtree scored 29 points while classmate Logan Vosburg added 12 points and 18 rebounds as Orange defeated the Spartans 66-60 on Tuesday night at Spartans Gymnasium.

Orange’s previous win at Southern Durham was when Southern High was at its old location on Moore Drive in the 1990-91 season. The Panthers, under first-year head coach and future Durham Schools Superintendent Pat Rhodes, defeated Southern 68-63 in the season opener.

Southern was hampered when its leading scorer, Antonio Daye, was forced to leave the game intermittently because of cramps. Daye stretched behind the bench while junior Jomaru Brown took over the game for the Spartans, leading the team with 24 points.

Vosburg gave Orange a 48-46 lead off a quick transition feed from Mitch Portman with :16 remaining in the third quarter. It was the Panthers’ first advantage of the game.

Southern held the Panthers scoreless in the opening 4:52 of the fourth quarter, which included five missed free throws. During that time frame, the Spartans reeled off ten straight points after three field goals from Brown and another from Tyriq Burris to take a 56-48 lead with 3:22 remaining.

Crabtree started the rally with a 3-pointer, followed by a lay-in by Ryan Sellers off transition. Burris missed a dunk off a no-look pass from Daye, but a foul was called on Eli Haithcock. Burris missed the two free throws.

Vosburg scored off his own miss on an entry pass from Mitch Portman to narrow the Southern lead to 56-55 with 1:08 left.

On the ensuing Southern possession, Vosburg rebounded a Daye miss, which led to Portman breaking free for an errant shot. Vosburg rebounded and fed to Eli Haithcock for a lay-up that gave Orange a 57-56 lead with :57 remaining.

After Brown tied the game with a free throw, Vosburg tossed a kick-out pass to Sellers, who canned a three-pointer. Vosburg blocked a shot at the other end, giving the Panthers the lead for good.

The Panthers six of its last eight free throws to salt the game away.

Orange will travel to Eastern Guilford for the Eastern Guilford Holiday Tournament on Wednesday.

After playing twice in two days, the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team will have to be content with a split going into Christmas break.

Elijah Haynes scored 21 points as the Tigers defeated the Red Wolves 75-62 at Tiger Gymnasium.

Terrance Crawford led the Red Wolves with 16 points, while Dmonte Kinney and Khalil Barnett added ten.

According to the News of Orange, Cedar Ridge led 22-15 in the second quarter before the Tigers finished the half on a 18-2 run. CHHS led 33-24 at the half and never trailed again.

Cedar Ridge heads into the Holiday at the Pines Tournament in Southern Pines with a 5-4 record, 1-2 in the Big 8.

On Monday night, the Red Wolves had a healthy Caleb Cashaw against Granville Center, which made a big difference.

Cashaw paced the Red Wolves with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field as Cedar Ridge cruised past the Panthers 68-54 in Stem. Freshman Mekai Collins added 13 points, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

Trailing 15-14 after the first quarter, Cedar Ridge held the Panthers to nine points in the second quarter. Cedar Ridge shot a season-high 51 percent from the field.

B.J. Freeman added eight points and nine rebounds.

The Cedar Ridge girls basketball team enters the holiday break on a three-game winning streak. The Red Wolves defeated Granville Central 71-35 on Monday, then knocked off Chapel Hill 40-25 on Tuesday. Cedar Ridge is now 6-3, 2-1 in the Big 8. The Red Wolves of Coach Felton Page will start play in the Eastern Alamance Holiday Tournament on Thursday.