For his first Mideast Regional tournament, Cedar Ridge sophomore Josh Mayhew set a goal of beating one of Chapel Hill’s top players.
Mission accomplished.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mayhew defeated Chapel Hill senior Eddy Ferreira 6-2, 6-2 to reach the championship match of the Mideast Regional at the Burlington Tennis Club. In the final, Chapel Hill’s Dennis Perumov defeated Mayhew 6-2, 6-2 for the regional title.
Mayhew had the best singles finish in a regional for any singles player from Hillsborough since 2014. It was the third time this year that Mayhew had faced Perumov, a senior who is 13-0 this year.
Mayhew will be the #2 seed from the Mideast for the 3A NCHSAA State Singles Tournament, which begins Friday morning in Burlington. Mayhew, in his first varsity season, is 11-2. His only losses in singles play have come against Perumov.
Also on Tuesday, Orange’s doubles team of Brandon Gwinn & Colin O’Hagerty lost to East Chapel Hill’s Kabir Grewal & Michael Gannon 6-2, 6-1. Gwinn & O’Hagerty will become the first representatives from Orange in the state tennis championships since 2013 on Friday. They will be the #4 seed in the 3A State Doubles Tournament.
Wrestling: Orange 60, Northwood 9
Though wrestling season falls during the spring this year, that doesn’t mean it will be any different than most others within the Big 8 Conference. Once again, the conference title will come down to Chapel Hill vs. Orange.
On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Northwood 60-9 to improve to 7-0. It was senior night at Panther Gymnasium for grapplers like Kessel Summers, who won his 100th match last week. On Tuesday, Summers pinned Northwood’s Asher Rockriver in 40 seconds at 132 pounds for his 103rd career win.
Senior Hayden Horne pinned Northwood’s Jacob Dunning in 5:41. At heavyweight, Tyler Larkin pinned George Gilson in 1:42.
Matthew Smith Breeden, who has wrestled four years at varsity, scored a major decision over Ian Morrison 10-2. Henry Joubert-Stanzel pinned Ryan Brinker in 1:09. At 195 pounds, Elliot Woods earned another major decision against Hunter Klingel 15-1.
At 120 pounds, Colton Jones pinned Coltrane Northington in 1:19. Jared Hutchins put Orange ahead 12-0 after he pinned Aiden Vigus in 1:14.
Avery Clark won via forfeit at 138. Andrew Hill pinned Northwood’s Nathan Davis in 1:31 at 160 pounds.
Orange will prepare for Tuesday’s match against Chapel Hill when they face Riverside and Hillside in a tri-meet in Durham on Thursday.
Cedar Ridge 36, Eastern Alamance 33; Cedar Ridge 54, Northern Durham 12
Fernando Martinez, James Rosati-Brown and Daina Pritchard maintained their undefeated individual records for 2021 as Cedar Ride swept a tri-match inside Red Wolves Gymnasium on Thursday night.
The Red Wolves defeated Eastern Alamance 36-33. Kaden Tatro won the deciding match for the Red Wolves after he pinned Aidan Clark in :45 at 170 pounds. Martinez started the dual match with a pin of Caden Parsons in 48 seconds. Martinez would go on to a forfeit victory over Northern Durham to improve to 8-0 with four pins this season.
At 152 pounds, Rosati-Brown pinned Northern Durham’s Khayree Dixon in 1:24. Rosati-Brown, who picked up a forfeit win over Eastern Alamance, is also 8-0. His victory over Dixon was the 63rd of his Cedar Ridge career.
Pritchard pined Cameron Rivera of Eastern Alamance in 6:30. It was Pritchard’s sixth pin of the year. A forfeit win over Northern Durham improved Pritchard’s record to 8-0 this year. Pritchard now has 59 career wins.
Senior Kady Watkins also earned two wins on the night. Watkins pinned Eastern Alamance’s Mason Tanner in 2:49. She earned a forfeit win against Northern. Watkins pinned Southeast Guilford’s Colton Krall for her first win this season last week at Orange High.
At 132 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Mac McGhee pinned Khamani Dixon in 1:46. Gavin Mintz got a forfeit win at 160 pounds for the Red Wolves, as did Wyatt Robinson at 182 pounds.
Cedar Ridge improved to 4-4 and will travel to East Chapel Hill for a tri-meet on Thursday.