BURLINGTON–If Braden Crawford was going to win the Central Conference championship, he had to finish it fast.
That was the message from his father after a blood stoppage of nearly five minutes at Walter Williams High School on Saturday afternoon. In the opening minute of the 126-pound tournament championship match against Southern Alamance’s Cameron Aiden, Crawford shot in for a takedown. Aiden wound up lifting Crawford up and briefly had his back over his shoulders. Crawford fell onto the mat face first and stayed there until the referee halted the action.
There was blood on the mat and Crawford didn’t move for a few seconds. It appeared possible that he would be unable to continue and Aiden would be declared the winner. But Crawford was fitted with a mask that shielded his nose.
If the match went beyond the first period, Crawford may not have been able to go on. So he aimed to finish it as quickly as he could. Despite his new head gear impeding his vision, Crawford scored a quick double-leg and earned the pin on Aiden at 1:28. He stayed long enough for the trophy presentation, then left for a nearby hospital to treat what was likely a broken nose.
Crawford, now 29-2 with 20 pins, earned his 20th pin of the season. He repeated as the 126-pound champion of the Central Conference. Last year at Orange High, Crawford pinned Williams Zy’Aire Priester of Williams in the championship match.
The championship round was filled with dramatic finishes. Orange’s Andre Hill officially defeated Zeke May of Western Alamance 4-3 to win the 175 pound championship.
If only it was that simple.
Hill, the top seed with an overall record of 39-2, ended the second period even with May at 2-2. Hill started the final frame from the bottom and finally earned an escape point with 1:20 left to go ahead 3-2. Hill nearly got a reversal but May escaped out of the circle. With ten seconds remaining, May shot in for a takedown and appeared to have a change in position that would have given him a 4-3 lead. Even Hill had a look of resignation on his face and he tried to balance out in the final seconds.
But the officials never made a signal for two points and the clock ran out, infuriating the Western Alamance bench who immediately protested. While Hill was declared the winner, he admitted afterwards that May was the rightful winner.
“Honestly, it probably should have been two,” Hill said. “I thought it was a bad call and I told him (May) that. I told his coaches that. I wanted to let him know he deserved credit for that.”
May defeated Hill 7-6 in the 170-pound championship last year at Orange.
On the day, Orange finished fourth in the team standings.
Juniors Logan Scarantino and Aidan Sierra each finished second in their respective weight classes. At 113 pounds, Scarantino pinned Gavin Smith of Western Alamacne in 30 seconds to earn a trip to the championship match. Tavern Moss of Person defeated Scarantino 7-1. Scarantino is 25-9 with 14 pins this season.
In the 120 pound tournament, Sierra opened by pinning Riley Neil of Southern Alamance in 4:16. Sierra nearly scored the pin in the opening period, scoring five back points in the second minute. Sierra led 7-0 after the opening two minutes.
Sierra held off Julian Combs of Person 9-8 in the semifinals. Combs opened with the first four points, including scoring the only near fall of the match. Sierra scored two reversals in the second period and led 8-4, but Combs scored a takedown just 17 seconds into the final stanza. Sierra got an escape to go up 9-6 and held on while Combs got a late takedown, but couldn’t press any further.