From the very beginning of this year, the Cedar Ridge wrestling team seemed destined to leave their mark on school history.
On opening night, Favio Jaramillo earned his 100th career win in a victory over Eastern Alamance. Just before Thanksgiving, the Red Wolves defeated Orange inside Panther Gymnasium for the third straight year.
A week later, the Red Wolves defeated Seaforth 54-24, handing the Hawks its first loss to a conference opponent since 2022. It ended the Hawks 36-match conference winning streak dating back to its first year as a team.
From that point forward, Cedar Ridge’s path to the Big 7 Conference championship was more coronation than competition.
On Wednesday night, the Red Wolves completed a dominant run to the league crown with a 77-3 win over South Granville at Vikings Gymnasium in Creedmoor. Cedar Ridge (28-5) finished 6-0 in the Big 7. To finish the dual meet regular season, the Red Wolves also defeated Northern Durham 66-12 in Creedmoor.
It is the third wrestling regular season conference championship in school history, joining the 2010 and 2024 teams. Cedar Ridge also won the 2023 Central Conference Tournament championship during a season when Orange won the regular season crown.
“I’m just really proud of them,” said Cedar Ridge wrestling coach Scott Metcalf. “They worked hard, came together and made it happen. They’ve been a joy to coach this year.”
The perpetual question for Metcalf this season has been whether his team would have a RPI high enough to host the opening two rounds of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 5A State Dual Team Playoffs, which starts Saturday. If Cedar Ridge is seeded fourth or higher, they would host the opening two rounds.
The only other time in school history when Cedar Ridge acted as a host was in 2010, when they won the Carolina 9 Conference title as a 2A school. The Red Wolves defeated North Johnston 51-27 in the opening round, but lost to Topsail 53-25 later that day.
In 2024, Cedar Ridge had to make a 215-mile trip to Currituck County for the opening two rounds, where they defeated Carrboro and Person to reach the state quarterfinals.
Cedar Ridge earned four pins in its win over South Granville. Freshman David Angel earned an 18-2 tech fall at 126 pounds.
At 144 pounds, Evan Bower pinned South Granville’s Bradley Graham in 1:33. Senior Isaiah Craig defeated Evan Zollo in 5:20. At 165 pounds, Tanner Kearns pinned Alton Graham in 2:51. At heavyweight, Landon Walker pinned Drew Hobgood in 1:47.
Juan Jaramillo, Favio Jaramillo, Colton Poole, Caleb Copeland, Alejandro Briones, Jose Rios, Damian Carbajal and Daniel Silva all earned forfeit wins for Cedar Ridge against the Vikings.
Angel, who won a Orange Person Athletic Conference championship at Stanback Middle School, earned another tech fall win over Northern Durham’s Mason Winstead 18-2. At 138 pounds, Landon Kemp defeated Northern’s Mathew Kemp 3-1 to put Cedar Ridge ahead 20-6.
After Northern’s Jacob Johnson pinned Will Streilein in 4:40, Cedar Ridge won the final eight matches. Junior Alejandro Briones pinned Rhys Clayton in 42 seconds to improve to 35-7. It was Briones’ 20th pin of the season, which leads the team.
At 157 pounds, Craig earned a major decision over William Gardner 16-4. In the final contested match of the night, Juan Jaramillo pinned Rider Dowdall in 1:17. Juan improved to 32-3.
Favio Jaramillo earned a forfeit victory for his 36th win of the season.
Kearns, Rios, Carbajal, Silva, and Walker also picked up forfeit wins.
In the women’s matches, Cedar Ridge defeated South Granville 36-0. The Red Wolves also defeated Northern Durham 30-12.
Cedar Ridge’s Ella-Grace Reed pinned Lailah Shabazz in the only contested match with the Vikings. Thalia Paterno, Hannah Manoogian, Eva Dockery, Caroline DonJuan and Olivia Carotenuto all picked up forfeit wins.
Against Northern Durham, Genesis Dowdall pinned Carotenuto at 120 pounds.
Patero, a sophomore, improved to 34-4.
The Big 7 Conference Championships were scheduled for Saturday at Seaforth High, but were postponed due to the winter weather. They have been rescheduled for Wednesday.
