The Cedar Ridge wrestling team is off to the best start in program history.
The Red Wolves improved to 17-1 after sweeping all five dual matches at the Coggin Hall of Fame Duals at Southwest Guilford High in High Point on Saturday. The 2023-2024 Cedar Ridge wrestling team started 8-6 on its way to the Central Conference championship. The 2009-2010 Red Wolf squad, the only other team to claim a regular season wrestling championship in school history, finished 8-7 going into the 2A State Dual Team playoffs.
For the day, Cedar Ridge defeated Greensboro Smith 48-32; Eastern Randolph 42-32; Christ the King Catholic 72-12; Lake Norman High 53-30 and Wake Forest 46-34.
Senior Favio Jaramillo and his younger brother, Juan, each won four matches on the day. Favio, who won his 100th career match against Eastern Alamance on November 13, earned two pins on the afternoon. The Jaramillo brothers came up huge in the win over Wake Forest, which led 28-16 after Dillon Balkus pinned Cedar Ridge’s Luis Donjon at heavyweight.
At 106, Juan pinned Finneas Wainscott in 53 seconds, which started a string of five straight Cedar Ridge wins via pinball. After Angel Ramirez pinned Ethan Simms-Lassiter in 3:07, Favio finished off Sebastian Patterson in 1:53. Cedar Ridge freshman Caleb Copeland pinned Lincoln Gifford in 27 seconds. Another freshman, David Angel, pinned Noah Garcia in 1:29 to sew up the Red Wolf win.
Juniors Alejandro Briones and Will Streilein had tech fall wins for Cedar Ridge against the Cougars.
Eastern Randolph led Cedar Ridge 17-15 at the end of the sixth match, where Jamie Crabtree scored a tech fall over freshman Landon Kemp. The Red Wolves scored four consecutive pins, starting with Briones beating Trevor Young at 150 pounds. Mikey O’Melia (157), Isaiah Craig (165) and Jose Rios (175) added pins as Cedar Ridge pushed its lead to 39-17. Eastern Randolph responded with three straight pins from Hayden Payne, James Combs and Maddox Carson, reducing the Red Wolf lead to 39-35 going into the final match of the meet. At 106, Juan Jaramillo scored a pin over Ethan Thomas.
Juan Jaramillo is 17-0 on the season, including the 106-pound championship at the Red Wolf Classic. Briones is 22-2.
Cedar Ridge is atop the Big 7 Conference with wins over Seaforth and Orange. They will return to conference action against J.F. Webb in the quad match at Red Wolf Gymnasium on Wednesday.
In the women’s matches, Cedar Ridge went 2-2. Sophomore Thalia Paterno pinned Danna Valentin-Zotelo of Atkins Academic and Technology in 2:25. Lake Norman edged the Red Wolves 27-24. Cedar Ridge defeated R.J. Reynolds 31-30, a match where Paterno pinned Natasha DeJesus-Valdivia in 1:35. At 126 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Olivia Carotenuto pinned Laura Hughes in the final match, which ensured the win for the Cedar Ridge women.
Orange Wrestling:
Senior Logan Scarantino scored five wins and four pins as Orange went 3-2 in the Rumble in the Jungle Duals at Carrboro High on Saturday.
The Panthers claimed wins over Carrboro (42-33); Cummings (72-6) and East Chapel Hill (42-36).Both of Orange’s losses came down to the final match. For the second time in three days, Southeast Alamance defeated the Panthers 41-40 via criteria. Green Level edged Orange 39-36 when Aaron Sadler defeated sophomore Jordan Barbee 5-4 in the final match at 190 pounds.
East Chapel Hill led Orange 36-30 going into the final two matches. Sophomore Markus Thomas pinned Kaine Matak in 2:21 to even the match. Barbee claimed a forfeit win at 190 to earn the dual match win.
None of Scarantino’s four matches exceeded 90 seconds. He pinned East’s Matthew Son in 20 seconds. He also defeated Southeast Alamance’s Yahir Villela in 43 seconds; pinned Green Level’s James Estes in 90 seconds and pinned Cole Harrison in 35 seconds. He won via forfeit over Carrboro.
Thomas pinned three opponents, beating Theo Childs of Carrboro (3:20); David Fabrega of Cummings in 22 seconds and the victory over Matak.
