PITTSBORO–With the burgeoning popularity of women’s wrestling, it’s inevitable there will be more regional champions from northern Orange County in the immediate future.
But Ella-Grace Reed can always lay claim to being the first.
Reed, of Cedar Ridge, pinned top-seeded Maliyah Jackson of South Brunswick to win the 138-pound 5A Eastern Regional Championship on Saturday at Seaforth High School. Reed, who is 32-8 on the season, found herself looking at the mat in the opening seconds. After a restart, Reed decided to utilize a single-leg trip, a takedown she had never even attempted before.
But she heard her coaches saying “Step forward behind her leg.”
It worked.
Reed immediately gained a near fall and eventually put Jackson’s shoulders on the mat and scored the pin at 1:22.
“I feel like it’s really important to stay aggressive and have a plan of knowing what you’re going to do,” Reed said. “I’m just grateful for all of my coaches that taught me all of these things that got me here.”
Reed scored pins in all three of her matches
“The feeling hasn’t sunk it yet,” Reed said. “But I feel like it’s a great accomplishment and I’m proud. I hope that more people will join the sport to see it grow.”
Reed was one of three Cedar Ridge women’s wrestlers to reach the championship match in their respective weight classes. Reed, junior Thalia Paterno, sophomore Caroline DonJuan and sophomore Eva Dockery will all compete at the 5A State Championships starting Thursday at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro.
The Cedar Ridge women’s team won the Big 7 Conference championship this season.
In addition, Orange sophomore Elyse Wilscam, freshman Mackenzie Doty and senior Rose Brady advanced to the state championships.
In the semifinals, Reed defeated Lorelai Walsh of Currituck County in 1:14. She started the tournament by pinning Jocelyn Phillips of Havelock in 1:59.
Reed has 18 pinfall victories this season.
With her pink hair flowing, Paterno was the #1 seed in the 107-pound tournament. She opened with a pin over Sophia Beyer of Havelock in 1:11. In the semifinals, Paterno pinned Sarah Maddalena of Dixon in 1:52.
In the championship match against South Brunswick’s Olivia Kibler, Paterno got the opening points with 1:20 remaining in the second period with a reversal to go ahead 2-0. Paterno rode behind Kibler to take the advantage into the third period.
Kibler scored an escape to open the third period and later took Paterno down to ahead. Paterno suffered a head injury, but finished the match. Kibler won 13-4.
Paterno leads Cedar Ridge with 39 wins this season with a team-best 19 pinfalls.
In the final women’s match of the long day, DonJuan faced Person’s Tylanii Lunsford for the 235-pound championship. DonJuan scored the opening takedown in the second period. Lunsford took the lead in the third period as DonJuan suffered a right shoulder injury. Lunsford, the top-seed, earned the championship as she stayed in position over DonJuan for the remainder of the match to win 7-3.
Orange’s Wilscam pinned Kaleigh Poteat of Southeast Alamance in 1:59 to open the 100-pound tournament. After falling to Izabella Johnson of Croatan, the eventual champion, Wilscam defeated Naomi Berry of Havelock in the consolation semifinals to officially earn a spot in the state championship. Isabella Raygoza of South Brunswick defeated Wilscam 9-0 in the third place match.
Doty earned a reversal with 1:32 remaining in the third period to defeat Addison York of Havelock in the consolation round. With a spot in the state championships on the line, Doty trailed Taylor Hunt of Currituck 12-10 with 35 seconds remaining. Doty gained a reversal with to even the match, then got the game-wining point when Hunt was penalized for stalling.
Skylar Reynolds of Dixon defeated Doty to earn third place.
