Acoya Isley’s nickname on the Orange wrestling team is “Alabama.”
It’s a natural nickname for somebody born around the time Nick Saban started his revival of the Alabama football program and molded it into the most successful dynasty in modern college sports. Crimson Tide fans have a noticeable population around Orange County, even if the main attraction is based simply on winning rather than geography.
Except Isley isn’t an Alabama fan. In fact, he has no idea how he got the nickname “Alabama.”
“It’s an old football nickname I got my freshman year,” Isley said. “It’s kinda just stuck ever since. They just say it because I’m crazy. I don’t know how I got it. It’s just ‘Bama Isley.’ You learn not to question it. I don’t even watch Alabama play football.”
As of last week, Isley has a new moniker: a regional wrestling champion.
At Cedar Ridge High School last Saturday, Isley defeated top-seeded Karin Sain of Eastern Guilford via injury stoppage at 2:53 to win the 195-pound championship. Isley, who is 32-2 on the season, became the first Orange wrestler to win a regional championship since Levi Anderson captured the 145-pound title in 2019.
Isley, who finished 3rd in the 2022 regionals, faced top-seeded Karin Sein of Eastern Guilford in the championship match. It took Isley 41 seconds to gain the match’s only takedown with a single-leg where Sein conceded his back. With 12 seconds remaining in the first period, Sein escaped to reduce Isley’s lead to 2-1. Sein attempted to take Isley’s legs out from under him, but couldn’t gain a change in position as the buzzer sounded on the opening period.
Isley started the second period on top and grabbed a waist lock takedown. With Sein facing the mat, Isley sank in a half-nelson and attempted to score back points when the official stopped the match to check on an injury to Sein. Following several minutes, Sein couldn’t continue as he favored his right shoulder. Isley was declared the winner for the 54th time in his Orange career.
Orange junior Jared Hutchins reached the finals of the 132-pound tournament. Hutchins scored a 10-5 decision over Eastern Guilford’s Malachi Hamilton in the semifinals. Hutchins, who is 25-5, pinned Emil Shaji of Carrboro in 41 seconds during the opening round. Douglas Byrd’s Cristian Rothrock won a thrilling final match against Hutchins 10-8. After Hutchins escaped to even the match 8-8, Rothrock earned a double-leg takedown with five seconds remaining to take the match.
At 126 pounds, Orange’s Braden Crawford finished 2nd. Crawford opened the tournament with a pin of Carrboro’s Jackson Brooks. For the second time in as many weeks, Crawford faced Union Pines Joseph Lloyd. Previously, the two had met in the 3A Eastern Regional championship match in the 3A State Dual Team Tournament at Orange High, where Crawford won 6-5. This time, Crawford scored a late reversal to win 9-8. Crawford opened the match with four points in the first period, including a takedown just 22 seconds in. Crawford would advance to the championship match over Ethan Croom via forfeit. Southern Durham’s Demarion Garner claimed the regional tile when Crawford was injured in the championship match.
Cedar Ridge junior Kaden Tatro was the fourth finalist from a Hillsborough school on the day. Tatro, the second-seed at 182-pounds, reached the finals after he defeated Solomon Howell of Eastern Guilford 9-0 in the semifinals. Union Pines’ Nicholas Mascolino, the #1 seed, improved to 46-3 on the season when he pinned Tatro in 1:57 in the championship match.
Tatro, 52-5 on the year, opened the tournament with consecutive pinfall wins on the opening day, February 10. He defeated Scotland County’s Wyatt Locklear in 59 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Tatro finished off Chevelle Cade of Westover in 3:16.
Orange finished third in the team standings with 139.5 points. Cedar Ridge came in fourth at 115.5 points. Eastern Guilford captured the regional team championship with 206 points. Union Pines, the 3A Eastern Regional Dual Team Champions, came in second at 175.5 points.
Cedar Ridge and Orange each had four wrestlers qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum. Red Wolves senior Fernando Martinez, the defending 113-pound Mideast Regional Champion, had a frustrating second day en route to a fourth-place finish. In the semifinals, Keaton Crawford of Union Pines defeated Martinez 10-7. Martinez led 5-4 at the end of a spirited first period where he got two back points after he notched a reversal. It was 6-6 at the end of the second period. Crawford scored a reversal to go ahead 8-6 with 1:12 remaining, then scored a near fall for two more points.
Martinez ensured a trip to the state championships after he dominated Sunday Oo of Northwood 16-1 in the consolation semifinals. In the 3rd place match, Martinez faced old rival Christian Lemaire of Person for the fourth time this year. Lemaire, who lost to Martinez last month in the Central Carolina Conference championship match at Orange High, defeated Martinez 4-2 in a match where all points were scored in the third period. After Martinez got the opening takedown, Lemaire escaped and got a double-leg with 44 seconds remaining.
Red Wolf sophomore Ryan Rakouskas advanced to the state championships for the first time in his career after he finished third at 145-pounds. Rakouskas pinned Jose Ortiz of Westover in the consolation semifinals in 4:54. He took the 3rd place match when Eastern Guilford’s Nasir Grant forfeited. Rakouskas, who is 36-18, opened the tournament with a pin over Joseph Vraback of Union Pines in 3:32. In the consolation round, Rakouskas pinned Daniel Edmonds of Fayetteville 71st in 1:48. He pinned John Mewborn of Harnett Central in 48 seconds.
At 195 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s James Este-Wittinger, seeded eighth, came in fourth at 195-pounds. Este-Wittinger defeated Rodriguez via pinfall in 4:44 in the consolation semifinals. Este-Wittinger opened with a pinfall win over Alex Parrilla of Triton in 3:53. In the consolation round, Este-Wittinger edged Western Alamance’s Cameron Pettigrew 3-2, then went to overtime to defeat Adaris McBride of West Johnston 10-8 to secure the match with Rodriguez. This is Este-Wittinger’s first trip to the 3A State Championships.
Also going to Greensboro for the first time will be Cedar Ridge senior Jalen Williams, who finished 4th at 126-pounds. Williams claimed a forfeit win over Ethan Croom of West Johnston in the consolation semifinals. Williams, who was a #10 seed, won four matches in the consolation round. He pinned Carrboro’s Jackson Brooks in 2:52 and also pinned Rylee Motten of 71st in 4:52.
Orange senior Ben Musser finished third at 138-pounds and earned his first trip to the state championships. Musser dominated Western Harnett’s Ben Rich, the #2 seed, in the consolation semifinals 11-1. Musser opened with a pin of Andrew Gross of 71st in 48 seconds. Musser scored wins over conference rivals Justin Hartsell of Cedar Ridge and Rodney Lyons of Person. He defeated William Sullivan of Douglas Byrd via forfeit in the 3rd place match.
There were also disappointments. The most controversial came at 120-pounds where Cedar Ridge sophomore Pierce Prescod, who was 2nd on the team with 44 wins this season, was disqualified in his consolation semifinal match against South Johnston’s Carson Cori. Just seconds into the first period, Prescod was penalized a point when he slammed Cori, who started favoring his back. Cori claimed an injury and said he couldn’t continue, which disqualified Prescod and led to Cori taking a spot in the state championships. A furious Prescod bolted the gym after he shook hands with Cori and darted into the school lobby after his season, which included two individual tournament championships, suddenly ended shy of his goal of getting to Greensboro.