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It’s always special to beat your crosstown rival. It’s even sweeter when you haven’t defeated them in four years.

Those were the circumstances that the Orange volleyball team found itself in on September 27th against Cedar Ridge. In the first match between the two teams on September 1st, the Red Wolves easily disposed of the Panthers 3-1, its seventh consecutive victory over Orange.

It wasn’t so much that Cedar Ridge had enjoyed an advantage over Orange. It was that they had become dominant. During its seven-game winning streak, the Red Wolves had won 21 out of 25 games against OHS. Four of the seven wins were sweeps.

The 2015 Red Wolves captured the Big 8 Championship in dominant fashion, finishing unbeaten in conference play. They even defeated Carrboro, who would go on to win the 2-A State Championhip a year later.

On September 27, Orange wasn’t just victorious against Cedar Ridge. They were due.

After dropping the first game 25-22, the Panthers won the final three sets 25-21, 26-24 and 25-18 to send the students inside Jim King Gymnasium into a frenzy, rushing the floor and gathering for a photo with the team.

Bailey Lucas had 13 kills with a kill percentage of 52%, a,one with 22 assists. Jordan Lloyd, who would sign with Division 3 Brevard College in December, finished with eight kills, 25 digs and an ace.

Unanimously, Lloyd, Macy Hughes, Mileah Shriner, Julia Lovingood and Eva Porter would call the win the highlight of their Orange careers.

The Panthers would go on to finish second in the Big 8, finishing only behind Chapel Hill. The Tigers, under first-year head coach Ross Fields, would claim the 3-A Eastern Regional Championship and face Concord Cox Mill for the state championship at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

Orange made the state playoffs, falling in the first round against Cleveland. They finished 11-10, 8-4 in the Big 8.

The only thing standing between Cedar Ridge’s Elizabeth Zarzar and more individual championships during the 2016 fall season were the very best runners in the state.

Zarzar finished 3rd in the Big 8 Girls Cross County Conference championship on a sultry fall day at Chapel Hill High School. The only runners who crossed the finish line ahead of her were two from Chapel Hill, a squad that captured the 3-A state championship claimed its second straight state championship.

However, nothing held Zarzar back on October 11 at Orange High. Competing against runners from Orange, J.F. Webb and Southern Durham, Zarzar completed the course in 21:05, beating the closest competitor by over one minute.

“I was proud of my run,” said Zarzar. “Especially because of the heat. My time was a lot better than I thought. I didn’t get my personal record, but I really wasn’t expecting to because of the heat. I was really happy with how I placed.”

Zarzar also finished 3rd in the 3-A Mideast Regionals at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, earning at spot in the state championships. In the 3-A state meet, she finished 11th overall at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.

Chapel Hill junior Katherine Dokholyan captured the conference, regional and state championships.

Zarzar, a senior, was still proud of her season, often running in temperatures far warmer than previous years.

“I thought I started this year really strong,” said Zarzar. “We start training in June, so once conference and regionals come around we have to make sure we don’t get sore.”

Elizabeth is ranked 6th in her class at Cedar Ridge and holds all of the school’s long distance records. She earned WRAL’s Extra Effort Award in October.

Orange Coach Greg Motley Discusses Winning the Eastern Guilford Holiday Classic

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Like lists? You’ll love the start of 2017 on HillsboroughSports.com.

Over the next ten days, we’ll count down the top ten moments from the fall sports season.

To start the list, we journey all the way back to August. The Orange boys soccer team got off to a 4-1-1 start, thanks in part to junior striker Jamar Davis.

To start his junior season, Davis scored nine goals in five games.

He began the year with a hat trick against Northern Durham in a 5-2 victory on August 15. A week later, he notched another goal in a 9-1 win over Graham.

But his best performance came in the Panthers’ third game of the season against Bartlett Yancey in Hillsborough. Davis scored four goals against the Buccaneers in an 8-1 win. Alfredo Rodriguez assisted on two of the goals.

Davis, who has placed four times this year for Orange’s wrestling team at 190 pounds, finished the year with a team-high 20 goals and six assists. He also led the team with 46 points.

Orange finished the year 8-11-1 and was eliminated from playoff contention following a 6-4 loss to Southern Durham on October 25. It was a disappointing finish after a 2015 campaign where Orange went 10-10-2 with a playoff appearance against Cleveland.

Next fall, Davis, Ewan McCallum (five goals), Bryan Torres (7 goals and 1 assist) and goalkeeper Noah Miller are all slated to return to the Panthers in a brand-new conference, which will include the addition of 4-A power East Chapel Hill, along with Northern Durham and Hillside.

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.