Month: December 2019

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior basketball center Machai Holt. It’s been a strong all around year for Holt, only eight games into the season. Holt has four double-doubles this season, including a season-high 22 points and 12 rebounds in last week’s victory over Walter Williams. In addition, Holt had 13 points and 12 rebounds in a win against Southern Lee on December 5. He scored 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds in a 75-70 victory over Carrboro, including several crucial free throws down the stretch. During the fall, Holt was a wingback and safety for the Orange football team. On the first defensive play of the season against R.J. Reynolds on August 16, Holt intercepted a pass. On the subsequent Panther drive, he scored on a five-yard touchdown run. Holt scored 12 touchdowns for the Panthers. The son of Mark Holt, Machai and the rest of the Panthers will start play in the South Granville Holiday Tournament on Thursday at 2 o’clock. The Panthers face Sanderson in the opening round of the Navy Bracket. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 1:55 with Tim Hackett on the play-by-play.

Colin Guentensberger: The former Orange High linebacker celebrated his 19th birthday by suiting up for the Appalachian State football team on Saturday. Appalachian defeated UAB 31-17 to win the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It was the Mountaineers fifth straight bowl victory since joining the Football Bowl Subdivision officially in 2015. Since becoming eligible to play in bowl games after emerging from the Football Championship Series in 2015, Appalachian is 5-0 in bowl games and has four Sun Belt Conference championships. Guentensberger spent his freshman season in Boone as a walk-on. Though he didn’t play this season, Guentensberger is the first former Orange Panther for a bowl game since Alvis Whitted, who was a kick returner for N.C. State in the 1995 Peach Bowl. The Wolfpack defeated Mississippi State 28-24 at the Georgia Dome.

ASU’s win concluded an whirlwind period for Appalachian players, fans and staff alike. The day after winning the Sun Belt Conference championship over the University of Louisiana, reports circulated that former head coach Eliah Drinkwitz would leave for Missouri. Former Appalachian player Shawn Clark was named the new head coach of the Mountaineers last week. Guentensberger was the 2018 Orange football player of the year. A starting linebacker, he was second on the team in tackles. He also was 2nd on the team in receptions.

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team defeated Converse 64-56 at the Weisiger Center in Spartanburg, S.C. last Thursday. Barnett came off the bench for two minutes of action. The Hawks ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-4 in Conference Carolinas. Last Tuesday, Barton hammered the Hawks 79-56 at Wilson Gym in Wilson. Barnett played five minutes and grabbed one rebound. So far in her college career, Barnett has played nine games. She had a season-high 20 minutes against UNC Pembroke on November 30. Barnett scored four points against North Greenville on November 23. Chowan will return to action on January 2 when they host Converse.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team has won five of its last six. The Eagles defeated Bryant & Stratton College last Wednesday in Raleigh. Cates scored eleven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. She was 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Cates also had five rebounds and three assists. On December 14, Wake Tech defeated Southwest Virginia 89-75. Cates scored 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, all from 3-point range. The Eagles are 8-3 overall, 4-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Cates is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. She’s shooting 40% from 3-point range.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team started its season in the Gamecock Opener in Columbia, S.C. on January 17-18. Davis will start his sophomore season in Raleigh. During his freshman campaign, Davis was a second-team All-American in the triple jump for indoor track. In the outdoor season, Davis finished 2nd in the Raleigh Relays in the long jump with a distance of 23’11.75″. He qualified for the NCAA Championships after a 51’5″ leap. Davis finished sixth in the ACC Championships in the triple jump.

By Jon Franklin

THERE’S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY (PART II)

In this special edition of The Franklin Mint, I’m taking a brief holiday break from high school sports to talk about the upcoming bowl games and the College Football Playoff. Throughout the years, the NCAA Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision National Champion has held years of meaningless bowl games, heard opinions of sportswriters who cast poll ballots, and the debated banter among sports fans. With the advent of the Bowl Championship Series and now, the College Football Playoff (CFP) – we can finally end the debates and determine who the real national champion is on the field. 

That is, if the CFP Committee and the NCAA would agree to expand.

So here’s how I would expand it, and even tinker with the bowl system.

I. Selection of Teams

All conference champions will automatically qualify for the College Football Playoff. In addition, six (6) teams will be chosen to the CFP as at-large teams. The method of selection will originate from the final College Football Playoff standings. Each of the teams will be seeded in order from 1-16. 

For conference champions that do not appear in the standings, they will be seeded in order on overall records minus their conference’s championship games, if they have played a 12-game regular season. Should any CFP participant have a regular season game canceled for reasons beyond the school’s control, the conference championship game will be added to total a 12-game season, if applicable. 

—–

Should there be a tie among conference champions not appearing in the final CFP standings, the following methods will be used to break the tie.

Tie-Breaking Criteria among Conference Champions not appearing in the final CFP Poll and provisional bowl eligible teams awaiting placement:

1. Head-to-Head matchup, if applicable.

2. Results among common season opponents, if applicable.

3. Season records.

4. Conference records.

5. Points Forced (or Scored).

6. Points Against.

7. Most Touchdowns Scored.

8. Coin Toss.

All FBS Independents (Army, BYU, Liberty, Massachusetts, New Mexico State, & Notre Dame) can only qualify for the CFP as an at-large qualifier. 

Any team under NCAA-mandated or self-imposed postseason sanctions, regardless of conference finish, is ineligible for participation the College Football Playoff.

Any school undergoing the FCS to FBS transition, regardless of conference finish, is ineligible for participation in the College Football Playoff. They can provisionally qualify for a bowl game, but only after all qualified FBS members have been placed in a bowl.

—–

II. Venues

All CFP games will take place at neutral venues that host current bowl games. Venues that host multiple bowl games (Ex. – Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans) will only be allowed to host only one CFP game.

In the Round of 16, teams seeded 1-8 will be designated as the home team and can choose the bowl game venue nearest to their campus. The top seed will have first preference, second seed with next preference, and so forth. Bowl sites that also serve as the home stadium of any CFP participant may not be used by that participant. However, the venue may serve as the host site for another CFP participant, if they so choose.

The bowl games & stadiums that make up the “New Year’s 6” (Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, Sugar) will rotate each year to host the highest seeds remaining in the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the national championship game. If a “New Year’s 6” bowl is the host of the current national championship game (Example: 2020 – Sugar Bowl), another venue approved by the CPF Committee for a future national championship game, can be used in the CFP venue rotation to host the quarterfinal game of the fourth highest seed available (Example: 2022 – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis; 2023 – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles; 2024 – Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium, Houston, TX).

The 2019-2020 order of venues is as follows:

Round of 16: Bowl sites nearest to campus of the schools seeded 1-8, in order of preference.

Quarterfinals (In order of highest seeds available): Rose, Cotton, Orange, Indianapolis

Semifinals (In order of highest seeds available): Peach, Fiesta

National Championship Game: Sugar

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III. Payouts

With the current bowl game format, each game delegates a certain amount of monies designated to participating schools. In the College Football Playoff, the national champion makes the most money, while those who are eliminated in the Round of 16 make the least. The farther a team advances, the more money they make. 

The minimum payout for a CFP Round of 16 game is $1 Million. The maximum payout is $20 Million. The projected payout for the CPF “New Year’s Six” bowls and the National Championship Game are anywhere from $18 million – $23 million, so I went in the middle. Here is the following breakdown of payouts per level of the College Football Playoff.

Round of 16: Both Teams – $1 Million

Quarterfinals: Loser – $2 Million / Winner: $4 Million

Semifinals: Loser – $2.5 Million / Winner: $5 Million

National Championship Game: Runner Up – $5 Million / National Champion: $10 Million

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IV. Competition Dates

The College Football Playoff would begin the second week in December and finish on the Saturday, eight days prior to the Super Bowl. The design is to play the first two rounds on traditional college football game days of Thursday and Saturday, the semifinals on New Years’ Eve & Day (or the first available day not in direct competition with the NFL), and the National Championship Game on the Saturday, eight days prior to the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl would return to its’ normal place the week following the Super Bowl.

An idea of Competition Dates for the 2019-2020 College Football Playoff would look like this:

Round of 16: December 12 & 14, 2019

Quarterfinals: December 19 & 21, 2019

Semifinals: January 1, 2020 

National Championship Game: January 25, 2020

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V. Brackets

This is what the College Football Playoff would look like with the 2019 Final CFP Rankings. I simulated the tournament with a best guess. 

Winners highlighted in BOLD.

(#) – Seeds

Conference Champions (Automatic Berth) At-Large Berths

American: Memphis (12) Georgia (5) 

Atlantic Coast: Clemson (3) Baylor (7)

Big XII: Oklahoma (4) Wisconsin (8)

Big Ten: Ohio State (2) Florida (9)

Conference USA: Florida Atlantic (15) Penn State (10)

Mid-American: Miami, OH (16) Utah (11)

Mountain West: Boise State (13)

PAC-12: Oregon (6)

Southeastern: LSU (1)

Sun Belt: Appalachian State (14)

ROUND OF 16

at NRG Stadium at Levi’s Stadium

Houston, TX Santa Clara, CA

Host: AS&O Texas Bowl Host: RedBox Bowl

———————————- ———————————

(16) Miami, Ohio (11) Utah

(1) LSU (6) Oregon

at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium at Bank of America Stadium

Memphis, TN Charlotte, NC

Host: AutoZone Liberty Bowl Host: Belk Bowl

———————————– ———————————–

(9) Florida (14) Appalachian State

(8) Wisconsin (3)  Clemson

at Legion Field at Amon G. Carter Stadium

Birmingham, AL Fort Worth, TX

Host: Jared Birmingham Bowl Host: Armed Forces Bowl

———————————– ————————————–

(12) Memphis (10) Penn State

(5) Georgia (7) Baylor

at Cotton Bowl Stadium at Ford Field

Dallas, TX Detroit, MI

Host: First Responders’ Bowl Host: Ford Quick Lane Bowl

———————————– ————————————–

(13) Boise State (15) Florida Atlantic

(4) Oklahoma (2)  Ohio State

QUARTERFINALS

at The Rose Bowl

Pasadena, CA

Host: The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual

—————————————————————————————–

(8) Wisconsin

(1) LSU

at Lucas Oil Stadium

Indianapolis, IN

Host: Big Ten Conference

—————————————————————————————–

(5) Georgia

(4) Oklahoma

at Hard Rock Stadium

Miami Gardens, FL

Host: FedEx Orange Bowl

—————————————————————————————–

(11) Utah

(3) Clemson

at AT&T Stadium

Arlington, TX

Host: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

—————————————————————————————–

(10) Penn State

(2) Ohio State

SEMIFINALS

at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Atlanta, GA

Host: Chik-Fil-A Peach Bowl

—————————————————————————————–

(5) Georgia

(1) LSU

at State Farm Stadium

Glendale, AZ

Host: PlayStation Fiesta Bowl

—————————————————————————————–

(3) Clemson

(2) Ohio State

2019 College Football Playoff – National Championship Game

(3) Clemson

(1) LSU

—–

VI. Restructuring of the Bowl System

With the College Football Playoff now into existence, now is the time to restructure the bowl system. Currently, there are 39 scheduled bowl games on the 2018-2019 schedule. Due to the current qualification level of six wins, many times these games feature teams who are mediocre with 6-6 records, or worse, if given a waiver by the NCAA. Also, many of these bowl games NEVER fill the capacity of the venue. Therefore, the bowl games need to be scaled down to place the best teams in the best matchups that will draw a tremendous crowd. The NCAA needs to stop rewarding teams for being mediocre.

Under this new proposal, teams that do not qualify for the CFP and have the minimum of 7 wins (a winning record) can fully qualify for a bowl game. Teams that only have 6 wins can qualify only on three conditions:

1) A regular-season game was canceled due to inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstance, due to no fault of their own.

2) The team must have fewer losses than wins (I.e.: 6-5 record).

3) There are bowl vacancies and opponents after all 7 win teams have been placed in a bowl.

The aforementioned tie-breakers will be used to break ties in order to fill bowl spots. Also, bowl spots will be determined by Final CFP Poll placement & highest payout. The bowl games used in the CFP will still feature their traditional bowl games in addition to hosting CFP games, except for the CFP semifinals which will be both a bowl game and a playoff game. For the sake of time, the bowl games that have the largest payout will go to the highest ranked or seeded teams per conference tie-in, if applicable. Should a conference seat all qualified teams, bowl vacancies will go to the school with the best record closest to the bowl site. 

The posted link is reference to the conference tie-ins for the 2018-2019 bowl schedule.

2019-2020 College Football Bowl Ties, Affiliations For Each Conference

jwplayer PkCtjTd4-boEY74VG] All the 2019-2020 college football bowl ties, tie-ins and affiliations by conference. 2019-2020 College Football Playoff, New

If an FBS Independent (Army, BYU, Liberty, Massachusetts, New Mexico State, and/or Notre Dame) does not qualify for the CFP, but qualifies for a bowl game, they will qualify only as an at-large contender. Due to Notre Dame’s current agreements with ACC bowls, they only will qualify for said bowls if there are no qualified ACC teams to fill in the ACC bowl spots. Otherwise, they qualify as an at-large contender. However, they will not be placed in a bowl game against a current ACC member school. 

In regards to payouts, no bowl game will have a payout smaller than $1 million and no larger than $10 million. The design of the CFP is to reward the best teams with the most money. For teams that do not reach the CFP but qualifies for a New Year’s Day Six bowl game they will not make a sum larger than a CFP finalist ($10 million). _______________________________________________________________________________

List of Qualified Teams in Order of Conference Finish:

* – Conference Champion / BOLD – CFP Participants

American ACC Big XII Big Ten Conference USA

Memphis* Clemson* Oklahoma* Ohio State* Florida Atlantic*

Cincinnati Virginia Baylor Wisconsin UAB

Navy Virginia Tech Texas Penn State Louisiana Tech

SMU Louisville Oklahoma State Minnesota Marshall

Central Florida Wake Forest Kansas State Michigan Western Kentucky

Temple Pittsburgh Iowa State Iowa Charlotte

Indiana Southern Mississippi

MAC MWC PAC-12 SEC Sun Belt

Miami, OH* Boise State* Oregon* LSU* Appalachian State*

Central Michigan Hawai’i Utah Georgia Louisiana

Western Michigan Air Force USC Florida Arkansas State

Buffalo San Diego State Washington Alabama Georgia Southern

Utah State Arizona State Auburn Georgia State

Wyoming California Tennessee

Nevada Texas A&M

Kentucky

Independents

Notre Dame

BYU

Liberty

“New Year’s Day Six” Bowl Games

Capital One Orange Bowl

Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, FL

Conference Tie-Ins: ACC vs At-Large

Payout: $10 million

———————————————————————————–

Virginia vs Navy

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

AT&T Stadium – Arlington, TX

Conference Tie-Ins: At-Large vs At-Large

Payout: $10 million

———————————————————————————–

Notre Dame vs Auburn

The Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual

Rose Bowl – Pasadena, CA

Conference Tie-Ins: Big Ten vs PAC-12

Payout: $10 million

———————————————————————————–

Minnesota vs USC

AllState Sugar Bowl

Mercedes-Benz Superdome – New Orleans, LA

Conference Tie-Ins: SEC vs Big XII

Payout: $10 million

———————————————————————————–

Alabama vs Texas

The Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl games are in the College Football Playoff semifinals and will not feature a traditional game. The bowl games will coincide with the playoff games.

Traditional Bowl Games (in order of bowl payout)

Citrus Bowl presented by VRBO

Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL

Payout: $4.25 Million

——————————————————————————-

Virginia Tech vs Tennessee

Valero Alamo Bowl

Alamodome – San Antonio, TX

Payout: $3,887,500

——————————————————————————-

Oklahoma State vs Washington

Academy Sports & Outdoors Texas Bowl

NRG Stadium – Houston, TX

Payout: $3.1 Million

——————————————————————————-

Texas A&M vs Kansas State

Outback Bowl

Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL

Payout: $3,019,280

——————————————————————————-

Kentucky vs Indiana

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl

SDCCU Stadium – San Diego, CA

Payout: $2,965,000

——————————————————————————-

Michigan vs Arizona State

Camping World Bowl

Camping World Stadium – Orlando, FL

Payout: $2.9 Million

——————————————————————————-

Louisville vs Iowa State

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN

Payout: $2,893,750

——————————————————————————-

Wake Forest vs Cincinnati

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Liberty Bowl Stadium – Memphis, TN

Payout: $2.4 Million

——————————————————————————-

Western Kentucky vs SMU

Belk Bowl

Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC

Payout: $2,311,561

——————————————————————————-

Pittsburgh vs UAB

NewEra Pinstripe Bowl

Yankee Stadium – Bronx, NY

Payout: $2.1 Million

——————————————————————————-

Michigan vs Central Florida

RedBox Bowl

Levi’s Stadium – Santa Clara, CA

Payout: $1.8 Million

——————————————————————————-

Iowa vs California

Ford Quick Lane Bowl

Ford Field – Detroit, MI

Payout: $1.8 Million

——————————————————————————-

Central Michigan vs Temple

Cheez-It Bowl

Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ

Payout: $1.75 Million

——————————————————————————-

Hawai’i vs BYU

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Sun Bowl Stadium – El Paso, TX

Payout: $1,723,784

——————————————————————————-

Air Force vs Arkansas State

SERVPRO First Responders Bowl

Cotton Bowl Stadium – Dallas, TX

Payout: $1,667,000

——————————————————————————-

Louisiana vs Wyoming

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl

TIAA Bank Field – Jacksonville, FL

Payout: $1,558,214

——————————————————————————-

Marshall vs Georgia Southern

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Amon G. Carter Stadium – Fort Worth, TX

Payout: $1,557,500

——————————————————————————-

San Diego State vs Western Michigan

LendingTree Bowl

Ladd-Peebles Stadium – Mobile, AL

Payout: $1.5 Million

——————————————————————————-

Charlotte vs Utah State

Walk-On’s Independence Bowl

Independence Stadium – Shreveport, LA

Payout: $1,486,200

——————————————————————————-

Southern Mississippi vs Louisiana Tech

Las Vegas Bowl presented by Mitsubishi

Sam Boyd Stadium – Las Vegas, NV

Payout: $1.4 Million

——————————————————————————-

Nevada vs Buffalo

Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman

Navy/Marine Corps Memorial Stadium – Annapolis, MD

Payout: $1,033,495

——————————————————————————-

Liberty vs Georgia State

VII. Comments & Conclusion

Many people believe that if the teams in the “Group of Five” conferences, or the lower tier of the Football Bowl Subdivision, do not deserve to be in the College Football Playoff all because they come from small conferences that do not have the financial backing as the “Power Five” conferences do. It is my belief that if you are a team in the Group of Five and win your respective conference championship, you have a rightful claim to compete for the national championship. 

Are they good matchups with teams from the Power Five conferences? Yes and No. As we saw in 2007 when Appalachian State knocked off #5 Michigan, any team can be beaten on any given day. Without the opportunity to compete, we will never know how good a team can be unless they are given the opportunity to showcase their abilities on the field. Presently, the Group of Five conferences play in bowl games that many times couldn’t fill up a high school stadium, let alone the lower bowl of a major venue. 

If you do not allow the Group of Five conference champions the opportunity to compete for a national championship, then the Power Five should form its’ own division to compete for its’ own national championship while the Group of Five should follow suit or merge with the Football Championship Subdivision to create a national championship opportunity for these schools.

It’s also mentioned that a football tournament can be too long in that teams are playing too many games. With a 12 game regular season, plus a conference championship game (if applicable), playing four more games will seem like a drop in the bucket compared to the games already played. There is a sizeable break following the final week of the regular season game and/or the conference championship games (approximately 3-4 weeks) before the CFP begins to allow rest for team members, focus on pending final exams, recruiting, and press availabilities. This is no more different than in the NFL where teams can play up to 25 games in a season (5 preseason, 16 regular-season, and as many as 4 postseason games). Likewise, it’s not any different for the Division I-AA or FCS teams. Following a similar 12-game season, the FCS schools can play up to five additional weeks in their tournament to crown a national champion. 

With the obscene amounts of revenue generated by ESPN and its’ major advertisers for the CFP, the $20 Million payout for the national champion is by far, an exceptional payout. Even for the runner-ups ($15 Million – 2^nd, $7.5 Million – 3^rd/4^th, $3 Million – 5^th to 8^th), the payouts are much better than the majority of the current bowl games. 

As mentioned before, the current bowl game schedule is a complete disgrace. It needs to be reformed to put the best teams in the best matchups – and to stop rewarding mediocrity. 

Again, there’s got to be a better way, so let’s get to work.

It’s not even New Year’s Day yet, but the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team has already surpassed its win total from last year. The Red Wolves defeated Durham School of the Arts 56-47 on December 10 for its second win of the year. Mekai Collins scored 25 points to pace Cedar. Ridge, while Derrick Smith added ten. Cedar Ridge won’t play in a Christmas tournament this week. Instead, the Red Wolves will return to action on January 7th at Orange in a cross county matchup at Panther Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge started the year with a 77-48 rout of the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Hillsboroughsports.com’s Jmari Graham talked about the season thus far with Cedar Ridge men’s basketball coach Jaison Brooks.

The Orange men’s basketball team defeated Burlington Williams 74-56 on Wednesday night at Orange. The Bulldogs played for the 3A State Championship in March, but the Panthers came out firing in the second half with a 16-2 run. Machai Holt finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Holt shot 10-of-13 from the field. Jared Thompson added 14 points as Orange improved to 7-1. The Panthers avenged an 86-63 loss to Williams last year in Burlington. The Panthers return to action on Thursday at 2 PMin the South Granville Holiday Tournament in Creedmoor. The Panthers will compete in the eight-team Navy Bracket. Listen in on Hillsboroughsports.com for all the coverage all three days.

On the shortest day of the year, Orange’s had its briefest run in the Tiger Holiday Classic in a long time.

No Panther placed in the top five in any of the 14 weight classes at the end of the two-day event on Saturday. As was the case in the Jim King/Orange Invitational two weeks ago, inexperience in a deep tournament field was apparent. Of Orange’s 14 wrestlers, eight made their Tiger Holiday Classic debut this weekend.

Orange finished 19th among 41 teams with 76 points. It was the lowest total by any team fielding a wrestler in every weight class (Laney, Pinecrest and William Hough were the other three). Laney captured the team championship with 202 points, while William Hough finished with 186.5. New Bern and Pinecrest tied for third with 153.

The closest any Hillsborough product came to placing was Orange senior heavyweight Juan Navarro, the starting right guard for the Panther football team. After advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday night, Navarro lost to Person’s Marcus Vincent 9-1. In the consolation round, Navarro pinned Isaiah Verspoor of Havelock in 3:10. It improved his record to 15-2 and was his tenth pin of the season.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Laney’s Emmanuel Bell pinned Navarro in 2:26.

Cedar Ridge came in 29th with 24 points. In his first Tiger appearance, Red Wolf freshman Fernando Martinez advanced to the quarterfinals of 106 pounds. He lost to New Bern’s Paul DeNola in the championship round. Southern Durham’s Ashton O’Neal eliminated Martinez in the consolation round. Martinez is now 20-5 on the season.

Orange junior Henry Joubert-Stanzel reached the quarterfinals at 138 pounds. Dawson Allen of Greyson County, Virginia pinned Joubert-Stanzel in the championship round. Joubert-Stanzel pinned Croatan’s Cody Raymond in 4:12 to improve to 13-4. New Bern’s Jackson Bird eliminated Joubert-Stanzel in the consolation quarterfinals.

At 132 pounds, junior Matthew Smith-Breeden advanced to the quarterfinals. Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson pinned Smith-Breeden on the way to the tournament championship in a dominant showing. In four victories, Wilson scored two pins and two major decisions, winning the championship 21-9 over Lake Price of Northwest Guilford.

Cedar Ridge junior Daina Pritchard was eliminated by Greyson County’s Trey Allen in the 138 pound consolation round.

Orange and Cedar Ridge will be busy after Christmas. Next Saturday, the Panthers will compete in the West Stanly Duals at West Stanly High School. It will be their final event of 2019. In 2020, the Panthers will go for its 17th consecutive Big 8 Conference championship. Chapel Hill and Northwood figure to be the biggest challengers to the Panthers’ throne. The Tigers are tied in the loss column with Orange for first place. CHHS defeated Northwood 48-36 on December 11, and won 56-12 over Cedar Ridge.

Orange will travel to Northwood on January 8, then host Chapel Hill at a time to be determined. The Panthers are 13-1, 3-0 in the Big 8.

Cedar Ridge will take the rest of 2019 off. The Red Wolves will return to action on January 2 against Southern Alamance and Fuquay-Varina in a quad meet. The Red Wolves will travel to Northern Durham on January 8 in its first Big 8 dual meet of 2019.

The Red Wolves are 7-6, 0-3 in the Big 8 Conference.

The Orange men’s basketball team defeated East Chapel Hill 82-32 on Tuesday night in the Big 8 Conference opener. Joey McMullin had 19 points, while Jason Franklin added 18. The Panthers are 7-1, its best start in 14 years. They will start play in the South Granville Holiday Tournament against Sanderson Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Orange will compete in the Navy Bracket, an 8-team tournament. The winner will face either Middle Creek or Franklinton in the semifinals. Enjoy highlights of Orange-East Chapel Hill from Thompsonteamfilms.com.

The phrase “Play without looking at the scoreboard” has become a common refrain for coaches looking to motivate their players in tight circumstances.

In his first match at the Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic, Cedar Ridge freshman Fernando Martinez took it to another level.

Facing fellow freshman Gunnar Hillis of Pinecrest, Martinez was fresher in the final four minutes to score eight consecutive points and earn an 8-6 victory into the quarterfinals of Friday night.

When asked afterwards what he was thinking while trailing 6-0, Martinez replied “I was down 6-0?”

Yes, he was. But after winning his 20th match of his freshman season, Martinez won’t worry about it now. On Saturday morning, he faces New Bern’s Paul DeNola in the quarterfinals at Chapel Hill High School.

“I wasn’t aware of how far down I was,” Martinez said. “I was wrestling as hard as I could. I think the coaches at my school condition us better than other coaches do.”

After Hillis scored the opening takedown midway through the first period, he escaped out of Martinez’s clutch and scored two points on a reversal and an additional back point to take a 6-0 lead. Martinez started his comeback with an escape point, then got a go behind. He nearly pinned Hillis at the end of the second period, squaring the match 6-6 after a near fall.

Martinez scored the only takedown of the final period 35 seconds in and held Hillis down the rest of the way.

Orange had three wrestlers reach the championship quarterfinals on Friday. At heavyweight, Juan Navarro pinned Pasquotank County’s Hunter Mayo in 1:02. Navarro eluded Mayo’s first takedown attempt and fell on top of him to improve to 14-1. It was Navarro’s ninth pin this year. He will face Person’s Marcus Vincent in the quarterfinals. Vincent defeated Navarro last month at Orange’s Thanksgiving Duals.

For the third time in 13 days, Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden and Cedar Ridge’s Daina Pritchard locked horns. This time, it was in the 2nd round of the 132-pound weight class. Smith-Breeden grinded out a 6-1 victory. Earlier this month, Pritchard defeated Smith-Breeden 9-1 in the 3rd place match at the Jim King/Orange Invitational. Five days later, Smith-Breeden evened the score with an 8-1 victory in a Big 8 Conference dual match at Cedar Ridge.

Smith-Breeden, who lost both of his matches in the Tiger last year, will face Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson Saturday morning.

Pritchard rebounded to defeat Chapel Hill’s Bao Dinh in the consolation round.

At 138 pounds, Orange’s Henry Joubert-Stanzel reached the quarterfinals of the Tiger for the first time. He opened by pinning Southern Durham’s Zion McRae in 3:02. In the second round, Joubert-Stanzel defeated Person’s Jailin Smith 5-3. Joubert-Stanzel, now 12-3, faces Dawson Allen of Grayson County, Virginia in the quarterfinals.

41 teams from four states are participating in the two-day event, recognized as one of the most prestigious in the southeast. Wilmington Laney leads the team point standings with 68.5 points going into Saturday. West Carteret is second with 66.5. Orange finished the day tied for 10th with New Bern at 56 points.

Cedar Ridge, with eight wrestlers participating in 14 weight classes, is 24th with 23 points, one ahead of Carrboro.

Orange still has five wrestlers alive in the consolation round. Freshman Dillon Heffernan lost in the second round, but came back to defeat D.J. Barely of Fairfax in the consolation.

Campbell Bourlon, participating in his first Tiger Classic, is alive at 113 pounds.

Kessel Summers pinned Elijah Ybarra in the consolation round late Friday. Summers opened his day at 126 pounds by pinning Noah Thomas of Laney in 5:50. Leesville Road’s Richie Rizzuto, who defeated Summers at the JKO, pinned him again in the 2nd round.

Orange’s Noah Davis and Nathan Hecht are also still in contention in the consolation rounds.

In addition to Pritchard, Cedar Ridge’s James Rosati-Brown is also still going in the consolation bracket. At 152 pounds, Rosati-Brown staved off elimination by pinning Gage Tomlin of First Flight.

Orange senior Juan Navarro is in the quarterfinals of the Tiger Holiday Classic. On Friday, Navarro defeated Hunter Mayo of Pasquotank County in 1:02 for his 14th win of the season, along with his ninth pin. Navarro is the starting right guard on the Orange football team for the past two seasons. After missing the Jim King/Orange Invitational two weeks ago to have his wisdom teeth removed, Navarro wants to finish strong at the Tiger, one of the most elite tournaments in the southeast. On Saturday morning, Navarro will face Marcus Vincent of Person. Vincent and Navarro wrestled last month, with Vincent handing Navarro his only loss so far this season. Navarro narrowly missed qualifying for the 3A State Championships last year after he finished fourth at the Mideast Regionals. He lost to Hillside’s Rodney Harris in quadruple overtime 4-3 with a bid to the state championships on the line.

Orange’s Matthew Smith-Breeden and Cedar Ridge’s Daina Pritchard seem to have their own personal series going so far this wrestling season. On Friday in the 2nd round of the Tiger Holiday Classic, Smith-Breeden and Pritchard wrestled for the third time in 13 days. Smith-Breeden got an early go-behind and back points to take a 4-0 lead and went on to win 6-1. Earlier on Friday, Smith-Breeden defeated pinned Adell Shhata of Southern Durham in 2:38. He is now 15-4 with five pins this season. Last year was the first time that Smith-Breeden competed in the Tiger and he lost both of his matches. On Saturday, he will face Southeast Guilford’s Josh Wilson in the quarterfinals. Earlier this month, Smith-Breeden finished fourth in the Jim King/Orange Invitational.