Orange Panther of the Week: Elijah Acosta

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.