After three bouts of winter weather in January, the winter sports schedule locally has spiralled into uncertainty with no clear answers immediately available.
The opening round of the 5A State Dual Team Wrestling playoffs, scheduled for Cedar Ridge High on Tuesday night, has been postponed. The quad meet is set to feature Big 7 Conference champion Cedar Ridge, Orange, Atkins Academic & Technology out of Winston-Salem and Currituck County. Orange County Schools will be closed on Tuesday after the weekend snowfall.
The delay will also mean the state quarterfinals, which were set to start on Thursday, will also be delayed. The 5A State Championship match is scheduled for Novant Fieldhouse in Greensboro on Saturday.
Early Tuesday night, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released a statement on social media that read: “The NCHSAA acknowledges the widespread snow and hazardous travel conditions impacting communities across our state. The safety of student-athletes, coaches, officials, and spectators remains our highest priority, and we will continue to honor the policies of local education agencies that may prohibit travel on days when school is not in session. We are actively working on solutions for the conclusion of the wrestling, swimming, and indoor track seasons and post-seasons, and are evaluating available options. Any schedule adjustments will be announced as soon as they are finalized and approved by the NCHSAA Board of Directors.”
The statement was released after a devastating weekend storm that left eleven inches of snow in Winston-Salem, 8.9 inches in Currituck County and ten inches in Greensboro and Asheboro that left lingering impact.
Many school systems are still closed throughout the state.
In men’s and women’s swimming, the 5A East Regional championship, originally scheduled for the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary last Friday, was canceled. As of Monday night, the 5A State Championships are scheduled for Friday morning in Cary, but that’s now in question, as well.
The men’s and women’s basketball schedules with Cedar Ridge and Orange have been altered with several nonconference games wiped away. Cedar Ridge was supposed to face Seaforth in Pittsboro on Monday night, but that has been postponed until Saturday. The Red Wolves also had to cancel a tripleheader that was set for Eno River Academy, which would have been the first time Cedar Ridge had traveled to face the Bobcats. That game was cursed as it was originally supposed to take place on December 9, but was postponed to winter weather. The game was rescheduled for two weeks ago, but also fell through.
Cedar Ridge’s next scheduled game is a home tripleheader against J.F. Webb on Wednesday night.
Orange’s trip to South Granville, scheduled for Tuesday night, has been postponed until Thursday. As of right now, Orange will have games set for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Panthers will face Durham School of the Arts on Friday for its senior night. On Saturday afternoon, Orange will face Carrboro with the women’s game starting at 2:30 and the men’s game slated for 4PM.
The date with the Orange women facing South Granville is for a share of first place in the Big 7 Conference. The Lady Panthers and the Vikings are in a three-way tie in the loss column for first place with Seaforth.
The Orange women’s team had to cancel a nonconference game against the Burlington School that was scheduled for last week. A tripleheader against East Chapel Hill, also scheduled for last month, hasbeen canceled.
There are plans for a Big 7 Tournament scheduled to start on February 16. Currently, the regular season for each Big 7 school is set to end on February 13.
An indoor track meet scheduled for Tuesday at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane has also been canceled.
