Coming off its first conference win of the season, the Orange wrestling team maintained an undefeated record after winning all five matches at the Jim Coggins Hall of Fame Classic held at Southwest Guilford High School in High Point on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers defeated Rockingham County 66-15; shut out Ronald Reagan 77-0; also whitewashed Eastern Guilford 78-0; topped North Davidson 69-9 and held off Southwest Guilford 45-26.
Senior Charley Fitzpatrick scored four pinfall victories, improving his record to 14-1 with twelve pins. He pinned Rockingham’s Steven Washburn in 4:47, finished off Eastern Guilford’s Dalton Stanley in 1:05; pinned North Davidson’s Cameron Fisher in 2:32 and polished off Southwest Guilford’s Luiz Velez in :22.
Also earning four victories on the day was Avery Jenkins at 145 pounds. Jenkins is now 11-3 with ten pins. He pinned Rockingham’s Lawrence Mitchell in 3:41; pinned Eastern Guilford’s Darius Alston in 1:03; pinned North Davidson’s Gabriel Blackman in 1:58 and scored a major decision against Southwest Guilford’s Kevin Arango 13-0.
At 106, Mitchell Askew was the only grappler in the entire meet to earn five wins. After two forfeits, he defeated Eastern Guilford’s Tyree Harris 10-5; pinned North Davidison’s Logan Qualkenbush in 2:22 and got a technical fall over Southwest Guilford’s Tristen Dean 16-0. Askew is 14-2 on the season.
Josiah Ramirez, coming off his Jim King Invitational Championship at 170 pounds, also picked up four individual wins to remain undefeated at 16-0. After a forfeit win against Reagan, he pinned Eastern Guilford’s Isaiah Manning in 1:35; North Davidson’s Shawn Tibet in 1:25 and Southwest Guilford’s Alex Thompson also in 1:25.
Heavyweight Daylen Alston also earned four victories, three by pinfall. He pinned Eastern Guilford’s C.J. Newman in 2:45; North Davidson’s Desmon Hall in 1:14 and Southwest Guilford’s John Oxce in 2:37.
After winning the 220-pound championship at the Jim King Invitational, junior Payton Wilson earned four victories: forfeits over Rockingham and Eastern Guilford. He pinned Southwest Guilford’s Tyler Chambers in 2:02 and earned a major decision over Reagan’s Robert Sprinkle 15-1. Wilson, who began wrestling practice two weeks ago, is 9-0.
At 138 pounds, Levi Anderson picked up four wins, including three pins. Anderson is now 11-4 and is on a five match winning streak.
Junior Bailey Hawkins picked up three wins, including a pin of Reagan’s Rhett Steelman in :28. That ties Hawkins’ fastest pin of the season.
Orange is now 13-0 overall, 1-0 in the Big 8. They face a crucial Big 8 Conference match against Northwood on Wednesday in Jim King Gymnasium. Last year in Pittsboro, Northwood led Orange 36-34 going into the final match at 170, where then-sophomore Jamar Davis won 14-4 to give the Panthers a 38-36 victory.