Month: January 2024

Orange senior wrestler Andre Hill captured the 175-pound championship at the Central Conference Tournament at Walter Williams High School in Burlington on Saturday, January 20. Though Hill was the first to admit that it was a controversial win. Facing Western Alamance’s Zeke May, Hill scored an escape point to go ahead 3-2 in the final period. After a restart with ten seconds remaining, May shot in for a takedown. It appeared to many that May scored a takedown, which would have put him ahead 4-3. But the referee ruled there was no change in position as the clock faded to zero. Hill preserved a 3-2 win despite protests from the Western Alamane bench and many fans in attendance. Afterwards, Hill admitted that May scored the takedown and consoled him. Nonetheless, Hill captured his first conference championship and improved to 39-2 on the season. In January, Hill celebrated his 100th career win as a Panther. Hill played offensive line for three seasons on the Orange football team. After winning the conference title, Hill will now focus on the Mideast Regionals at Union Pines High School in Cameron on February 10. Hill will look to qualify for the 3A State Championships. This season, Hill has already won the Jim King/Orange Invitational, the Quentin Crosby Invitational and the Eagle Invitational.

This weekend, Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team will compete in the 3A Central Regional Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Last Wednesday in the Central Conference Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex, the team of Quinn McCrimmon, Sophia Stinnett, Sierra Godfrey and Hala Zafar claimed the conference title in the 400 yard freestyle relay, ending with a time of 4:19.23. Stinnett, a junior, spam the anchor leg in 27.19 seconds, beating Western Alamance’s Adriana Carmon to the wall. McCrimmon, who opened for Cedar Ridge, captured the conference championship in the 100 yard butterfly earlier in the night. McCrimmon finished at 1:04.66. Last year, McCrimmon won the conference championship in the 200 yard individual medley. Stinnett, a junior, claimed an individual conference championship for the third year in a row. She won the 500 yard freestyle for the first time in her career, closing with a time of 5:31.96. In 2022 and 2023, Stinnett won the conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. McCrimmon also finished with the silver medal in the 200 yard individual medley.  Zafar, a sophomore, came away with the bronze medal in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:25.81. The championship by the relay team helped the Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team finished second in the Central Conference team standing. The 3A Central Regional championships will get underway at 4 o’clock on Saturday afternoon.

Everything that Cedar Ridge wrestling has ever accomplished, they’ve done the hard way.

After two decades competing in the long shadow of Orange High, one of the most established programs in North Carolina, the Red Wolves broke through this winter. They won the Central Conference regular season championship, its’ first league title as a 3A team.

However, their first trip to the 3A State Dual Team Tournament wouldn’t be a short drive up the road. Instead, Currituck County, the champions of the Northeastern Coastal Conference, finished the regular season 23-0, ranked #10 in the final dual team rankings.

Which meant the Red Wolves, which earned the #6 seed for the tournament, would drive four hours by bus on Saturday afternoon to the upper northeast corner of the state. Joining them would be Central Conference rival Person and Carrboro.

It was a long way to go, but by the end of the day, an exhausted Red Wolves team returned home late on Saturday night as the first Cedar Ridge wrestling team to ever reach the 3A State Dual Team quarterfinals.

Cedar Ridge started the day with a 70-7 win over Carrboro. On the adjacent mat inside Knights Gymnasium, the Red Wolves watched on as Person stunned Currituck 40-37. The Rockets’ Gavin Jones pinned Kurtis Spruill to vault the Rockets ahead in the final match and hand the Knights its first loss of the year. The match had five ties and four lead changes.

At the end of the day, Cedar Ridge drove a total of 448 miles to face a conference opponent that’s ordinarily about a 35-minute drive away from Hillsborough. But it would be worth it.

The Red Wolves blended youth with experience to defeat the Rockets 45-33 and advance to the state quarterfinals.

On Wednesday night, Cedar Ridge will face Jacksonville in the round of eight at Jacksonville High School. On the opposite mat, defending 3A Eastern Regional Champion Union Pines faces Croatan. The regional championship match will immediately follow.

While Cedar Ridge had already defeated Person 45-30 on November 21 in Hillsborough, that was a lifetime ago in wrestling circles.

On Saturday, the lead changed four times in the opening seven matches. it was freshman Alejandro Briones who put the Red Wolves ahead for good with a pin over Gabe Cameron in a dual match that had 12 pins and only two decisions. Briones, coming off his championship at 144 pounds in the Central Conference tournament, defeated Cameron to improve to 23-11 with his eleventh pin of the season.

It was the first of four consecutive pinfall victories for the Red Wolves.

Another conference champion, senior Angus Pritchard, pinned Ryan Dollar to give the Red Wolves some breathing room with a 27-18 overall lead. Pritchard, who won the 150 pound championship in the conference tournament, improved to 23-9 with his 12th pin of the season.

Junior Ryan Rakouskas pinned Addison Carey to improve the Red Wolves lead to 33-18. Kaden Tatro, who is now 2nd all-time in school history in wins, pinned Thai Meeler to improve to 47-4 with his 22nd pin this year.

Person’s James Rose (175) and Malakai Newman (190) each scored pins to pull the Rockets within 12 points at 39-27 with two matches remaining. The last of those matches was at heavyweight featuring Person’s Trevquan Gary, the conference champion and a potential All-State candidate.

Fortunately for Cedar Ridge, Joe O’Melia made the heavyweight match moot when he pinned Jones to ensure the win. Gary won by forfeit at heavyweight as Cedar Ridge exited Barco with a 45-33 victory.

The last time Cedar Ridge won a match in the state dual tournament, they defeated North Johnston 51-27 in the opening round of the 2A State Tournament in 2010. Later that night at Red Wolves Gymnasium, Topsail defeated the Red Wolves 53-25.

In the opening match against Carrboro, Cedar Ridge scored seven pins to cruise to victory. Heavyweight Aaron Olivares started with a pin over Milo Thornton. Olivares improved to 25-17 with his 20th pin. Olivares has pinfall victories in nine of his last ten matches. At 113 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Trevor Long scored his fourth pin of the year against Penelope Tovar. At 132 pounds, Graylon Collins earned a major decision over Ajax Hopler 8-0 to put the Red Wolves ahead 22-7. At 144 pound,  Briones pinned Ajax Hopler.

That pin officially put Cedar Ridge into the second round.

Pritchard pinned Zach Westrick at 150 pounds. Rakouskas pinned Shiloh Smith at 157. Rakouskas, who now has 93 career wins, is 31-11 this season.

Pierce Prescod, Jordin Blue, Shea Spiller and James Este-Wittinger all earned forfeit wins. Tatro pinned Spencer Crawley.

After someone stays at one place long enough, it becomes a part of them.

That’s why Katie Belle Sikes was emotional on Wednesday night. Though she dipped into the ocean on family vacations as an adolescent, the 25-yard pool at the Orange County SportsPlex was where she went from just playing in the water to becoming a swimmer.

It all started in 2014. Through her voracious work ethic, Sikes made the SportsPlex the location of her daily routine. For the past decade, she became just as much a part of the SportsPlex as the pool itself. It led to her becoming the most decorated swimmer in Orange High history.

Her final meet at the SportsPlex came during the Central Conference Championships on Wednesday night. She went out as only she can, being named the Conference Swimmer of the Year for the second time.

Sikes led Orange to its second consecutive team championship. The Lady Panthers came away with 417 points. Cedar Ridge, keyed by strong finishes from juniors Sophia Stinnett and Quinn McCrimmon, finished second at 371 points.

“I was super emotional,” Sikes said. “It’s the last time I was going to swim here after so long. It’s really bittersweet. I’m so happy I got to swim here for so long, but the fact that it’s coming to a close is really, really sad.”

Orange had first-place finishes in seven of the 12 events to earn the team title. Sikes broke her own school record in the 200 yard freestyle by five seconds. She touched the wall at 1:53.92. Stinnett finished second at 2:06.14.

Sikes also claimed gold in the 100 yard freestyle, where she is the defending 3A State Champion. She finished at 50.81 seconds. Abigale Robinson of Walter Willams finished runner-up at 1:01.81. Ainsley Rasinske of Orange came in third at 1:03.06.

Sikes ends her career with six individual conference championships. There weren’t any Big 8 Conference Swimming Championships (where Orange competed in 2021) during Sikes’ freshman year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was also the final meet at the SportsPlex for Orange senior Riley White, who encouraged Sikes to try swimming when she was still in elementary school.

Riley won two individual gold medals. She claimed the 200 yard individual medley at 2:19.17. McCrimmon earned the silver at 2:31.51, while Rasinske took the bronze (2:37.23). In the 100 yard breaststroke, Riley finished first at 1:13.28. Alejandra Gonzalez, a freshman at Walter Williams, was second while Cedar Ridge sophomore Hala Zafar came in third.

For the second year in a row, Orange’s Piper White won the 50 yard freestyle. This year, White won the sprint at 26:54 seconds. White also won the title as a freshman last year.

For the third time in her career, Stinnett claimed a conference championship. This time, Stinnett won the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.96. It was Stinnett’s first conference crown in the 500. In 2022 and 2023, she captured the 200 yard freestyle.

Orange junior Zoe Jones earned silver in the 500 at 6:12.50.

McCrimmon won her second individual championship in the 100 yard butterfly. In a tight race, McCrimmon won at 1:04.66, beating Piper White to the wall. White finished at 1:06.80. Jones came in third at 1:08.02.

Last year, McCrimmon took the conference title in the 200 yard individual medley.

Cedar Ridge’s team of McCrimmon, Stinnett, Zafar and Sierra Godfrey won the 400 yard freestyle relay at 4:19.23. Last year, McCrimmon, Stinnett, Zafar and Abbygale Pearce finished runner-up behind a quartet from Northwood.

Orange, the defending 3A State Champions in the 200 yard freestyle relay, won another conference championship. Sikes, White, Rasinske and White took the title at 1:47. 82. Southern Alamance’s Annabelle Hazelwood, Sophia Eusantos, Autumn Barber and Sydney Williams finished second.

F0r the first time in recent history, Orange had a female diver participate in the conference championships. Junior Lily Howard, who had been a swimmer in her first two years at Orange, finished third at 219.75. Western Alamance’s Michaela Bentley won the conference championship with a score of 357.00.

In the final days of January, the Orange men’s swimming team is in a familiar position.

This Saturday, they will head to the Greensboro Aquatic Center with hopes of winning the 3A Central Regional Championship. Last year, they finished runner-up in regionals to Carrboro.

Following that, it will be the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on February 8th.

For the third year in a row, Orange will go into Greensboro after winning the Central Conference championship.

Senior Nack Baczara and juniors Luke Roman and Alex Andre each won two individual events as the Panthers finished with 417 points in the conference championships at the Orange County Sportsplex on Thursday night.

Cedar Ridge finished 2nd with 371 points. Red Wolf senior Nikhil Agans won the 100 yard freestyle at 51.39 seconds to take the conference title. Freshman Christopher Seawell captured the 50 yard freestyle at 25.24 seconds in his first conference championship appearance.

Roman was named the Central Conference Male Swimmer of the Year for the second time in his career. He also earned the honor as a freshman. For the third straight year, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle as he literally lapped the field with a time of 4:51.05. Phillip Cauwels of Cedar Ridge earned the silver medal at 5:33.00.

Roman also won the conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle at 1:46.63. Agans, the defending conference champion, finished 2nd at 1:52.33. It was his second 200 yard freestyle conference title. Roman last won the event in his freshman year, narrowly edging Cedar Ridge’s Alexander Hill by :.54 of a second.

Roman now has six individual conference championships in his career. Last year, Roman won the 500 yard and 100 yard freestyle.

Baczara won the 100 butterfly at 59.29. Cauwels finished second at 1:02.93. Later, Baczara added the 100 yard breaststroke to his gold medal collection with a time of 1:16.78. Evan Sawyer, a freshman from Eastern Alamance, came in second at 1:18.59.

Andre, a junior who finished 3rd in the 3A State Championships in the 500 yard freestyle last February, captured the gold in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:03.33. Eamon Hipps of Western Alamance was second at 2:19.71. Orange senior Benjamin Sirgany was third at 2:29.15.

Andre captured the 100 yard backstroke at :58.68. Cedar Ridge freshman Christopher Seawell was second at 1:00.62. Sirgany took the bronze at 1:06.98.

In his first conference championship meet, Seawell came away with an impressive medal total. In addition to winning the 50 freestyle, Seawell and Agans would add another gold to their collection in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The duo would team with Cauwels and junior Jacob Olmstead to win at 1:42.33, The time automatically qualified Cedar Ridge for regionals. Orange’s team of Dylan Cowan, Noah Jones, Andrew Jouannet and Sirgany finished 2nd at 1:45.96.

Orange’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Roman, Andre, Baczara and Ayden Twiddy took first place in two relay events. They captured first place at 3:38.46. It was their first victory in the 400 relay. Last year, Roman, Andre, Andrew Weeks and Evan Phillips finished second behind a team from Northwood.

Orange also repeated as the winner of the 200 yard medley relay. Roman, Andre, Twiddy and Baczara registered a time of 1:53.13. Western Alamance’s team of Zack Ollis, Wylie Kline, Eamon Hipps and Jacob Miles came in second. Orange’s team of Colin Wuthrich, Sirgany, Cowan and Noah Jones finished third at 2:04.69.

Jones took the bronze medal in the 100 yard freestyle at :59.06.

Twiddy finished third in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:40.65, which automatically qualified him for regionals.

With a trip to Greensboro next on its itinerary, Orange is going to a pool that have plenty of experience with. In December, several Orange swimmers competed in the Robert Sawyer Invitational at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. In that event, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle at 4:47.39, beating many swimmers from 4A and private schools from across the state.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior men’s soccer goalkeeper Finn Kelly. This season, the Panthers made the 3A State Playoffs. It was the second straight year that the Panthers reached the postseason.It is the first time in the 37-year history of the program that Orange has made the state playoffs in consecutive years. At midseason, Kelly had consecutive clean sheets against Cedar Ridge and Person. Against the Red Wolves, Kelly kept the Red Wolves off the scoreboard as the Panthers won the second leg of the Hillsborough Derby. That led to Orange strengthening its position to make the state playoffs. In his final regular season game, Kelly had another clean sheet as the Panthers defeated Eastern Alamance 2-0 at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane. He made three saves to earn the win. Kelly has trained with the North Carolina Football Club Academy in Cary, members of the United Soccer League Championship. This season, Kelly had four clean sheets for Orange, who finished 8-8-3 overall. The Panthers finished 6-4-3 in the Central Conference. Kelly will graduate from Orange in June. He finished the 2023 season with 132 saves. Kelly earned a win on opening night when Orange defeated the Durham School of the Arts 2-1 in downtown Durham.