Cedar Ridge High School

There’s making an immediate sensation and there’s what Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor did on Monday night.

In his first high school meet, Sandor broke the school record in the 100 yard butterfly, immediately qualifying for the Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in February.

In addition, Cedar Ridge women’s relay team of Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay. The Red Wolf 200 yard freestyle relay team of Stinnett, McCrimmon, Payton and Hala Zafar came close to breaking the school record in a runner-up finish to Orange. The Lady Panthers’ Ainsley Rasinske, Zoe Jones, Piper White and Reilly Jermyn won the event at 1:44.63.

It completed a big start to the season for the Red Wolf swimming team. Both the men’s and women’s squads won all five of its dual matches against Central Conference opponents, including victories over defending conference champion Orange at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday. The Red Wolves men’s team won 71-67 over the Panthers. The Cedar Ridge women edged the Lady Panthers 88-79. Cedar Ridge also won over Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance, Southern Alamance and Walter Williams.

Orange senior Luke Roman, the defending 3A 500 yard freestyle state champion, already earned a spot in regionals in his top event last week. On Monday, he finished ahead of Sandor and also took the 200 yard individual medley, qualifying for regionals with a time of 2:05.21. His teammate, senior Nick Baczara, finished second at 2:16.42, also earning a spot in Greensboro.

Cedar Ridge’s Christopher  Seawell won two individual events. He took the 200 yard freestyle at 1:54.60, topping the runner-up by 20 seconds. Seawell also took the 100 yard backstroke at 1:00.92, beating out the 2nd place finisher by 12 seconds.

The Red Wolves’ Phillip Cauwels won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:25.49. Orange’s Ayden Twiddy came in second and earned an automatic spot at regionals at 5:40.65. Cauwels also earned a spot in regionals at 100 yard freestyle at 54.29, finishing second behind Western Alamance’s Eamon Hipps. Orange’s Noah Jones came in 3rd, punching his ticket to Greensboro at 57.50.

In the final event of the night, the Cedar Ridge men’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Seawell, Sandor, Cauwels and Zion Green finished 1st at 3:47.10, beating the runner-up finisher by 53 seconds.

Orange’s Ayden Twiddy qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing second at 24.18 seconds. Hipps won the event at 23.29.

Sandor also earned a spot in the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:09.38, finishing second. Walter Williams Liam Miller edged out Sandor for first place by .17 of a second.

Orange’s men’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Baczara, Noah Jones, Jason Spey and Roman won the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:37.91.

Stinnett, who won two regional championships last year, won the 100 yard backstroke at 1:05.47. Stinnett also finished second in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:41.26.

McCrimmon, another Cedar Ridge senior, won the 100 yard butterfly at 1:09.28.

Jermyn, in her second high school meet, won the 100 yard breaststroke (1:18.47). She also teamed with Rasinske, Jones and Piper White to win the 200 yard medley relay. The Orange women’s team won dual meets against Western Alamance, Southern Alamance, Western Alamance and Walter Williams.

Piper White swept the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. White, who was a member of two state championship relay teams last year, won the 50 yard freestyle at 25.95, holding off Payton for second place. Both qualified for regionals. White took the 100 yard freestyle at 1:00.79, beating Kunz for second. Cedar Ridge’s Eden Pollard finished third.

Also earning a spot in regionals for the Cedar Ridge women: Kunz in the 200 yard freestyle (3rd at 2:17.25); McCrimmon in the 200 yard individual medley (4th place at 2:31.25); Pollard in the 20o individual medley (5th at 2:39.14); Payton in the 50 yard freestyle (2nd at 27.33); Payton in the 500 yard freestyle (3rd at 6:05.14).

Also earning a spot in regionals for Orange was Jones, who finished second in the 200 yard individual medley and fourth in the 500 yard freestyle (5:57.33); Rasinske, who came in second in the 200 yard freestyle (2:19.79); and Addison Moore, who came in 5th in the 500 yard freestyle and 4th in the 100 yard backstroke.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore men’s basketball guard Jordan Jacobson. The Red Wolves have already surpassed its win total from all of last season. In its season-opener, the Red Wolves defeated Carrboro 54-52 at Red Wolf Gymnasium. Jacobson led Cedar Ridge with 20 points and finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Last season, Jacobson played regularly as a freshman. On Wednesday night, Jacobson hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Cedar Ridge pulled away from Eno River Academy 73-53. He scored 16 points, including a dozen in the fourth quarter as the Red Wolves improved to 4-2. In a win over Durham School of the Arts on December 6, Jacobson scored 18 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bulldogs 80-66. It was the first time since the 2017-2018 season that Cedar Ridge won consecutive road games. On November 26, the Red Wolves defeated Seaforth 80-66 to end a 16-game road losing streak. In the spring, Jacobson plays lacrosse. Last season, Cedar Ridge hosted a state playoff game against West Carteret. Jacobson scored 45 goals in his freshman year for the Red Wolves. He was second on the team with 75 points. During his freshman basketball season, Jacobson averaged 6.9 points per game. Jacobson has already been a vital contributor to a Cedar Ridge team that is looking to return to the state playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Jordan Jacobson

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore men’s basketball guard Jordan Jacobson. The Red Wolves have already surpassed its win total from all of last season. In its season-opener, the Red Wolves defeated Carrboro 54-52 at Red Wolf Gymnasium. Jacobson led Cedar Ridge with 20 points and finished 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

The Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team had a big start to the season in its season-opening meet at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay and automatically qualified for regionals in the final women’s event of the night. Stinnett won two Central Regional championships in 2023 individually in the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. She finished third in the state in the backstroke. On Monday night, Stinnett qualified for regionals by winning the 100 yard backstroke at 1:05.47. McCrimmon won the 100 yard butterfly, also earning a spot in regionals, at 1:02.41. Kunz, in her first high school meet, finished third in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:17.25. The Cedar Ridge women won all five of its dual meets to open the season, including beating the defending Central Conference champions Orange 88-79. The Red Wolves also defeated Southern Alamance, Walter Williams and Western Alamance to finish the night with four wins. McCrimmon, Stinnett, Payton and Hala Zafar also qualified for regionals in the 200 yard freestyle relay, where they finished second behind Orange’s team. The Cedar Ridge women’s team won the 2023 Central Conference championship under head coach Amanda Jones and is off to a promising start for the 2024-2025 season. Their next meet is slated for Friday against Southern Alamance and Eastern Alamance at New Millennium Fitness in Burlington.

Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton & Natalie Kunz talk start to season

The Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team had a big start to the season in its season-opening meet at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay and automatically qualified for regionals in the final women’s event of the night.

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The first female wrestling champions from Hillsborough in the Jim King/Orange Invitational provided a study in contrasts.

Thalia Paterno is a freshman at Cedar Ridge who has wrestled since her sixth grade year at Stanback Middle School.

Chloe Pankratz is a senior at Cedar Ridge who started wrestling last year mainly because one of her best friends was the Captain of the women’s team who successfully talked her into joining the squad.

In terms of experience, Pankratz and Paterno are different. In terms of success so far this season, they’re similar.

On Saturday, Paterno won her second individual championship at the JKO, which hosted a women’s tournament for the second time ever at Orange High School. In a four-competitor, round robin format, Paterno pinned all three of her opponents in less than one minute. She defeated Kailey Cabrera of Bartlett Yancey in 19 seconds, then finished off Angela Chen of Cary in 38 seconds. In the de facto championship match, Paterno pinned Sophia Gould of Millbrook in 33 seconds.

Paterno is 13-1 with nine pins in her freshman season. Her only loss came in the championship match of the season-opening Atkins Invitational in Winston-Salem.

“I think I was pretty good,” Paterno said. “My first match wasn’t great, but I think my other two were pretty good.”

Paterno started her career in middle school when her parents lobbied her to play a winter sport in middle school. She would have selected Ultimate frisbee, but Stanback didn’t have a team. So she chose wrestling.

She’s also on the Cedar Ridge women’s junior varsity cross country team.

“Wrestling is fun,” Paterno said. “I get to make friends and I get to stay in good shape.”

Shortly after Paterno became the first female wrestler from Hillsborough to win a JKO Championship, Pankratz became the second. She pinned all three of her opponents in the 132 pound tournament , none of the matches exceeding one minute. Pankratz, the top-seed, pinned Leilani Valai of Terry Sanford in 51 seconds. In the semifinals, she finished Anneliese Garcia-Rodriguez of Middle Creek in 36 seconds. In the championship match, Katie Lloyd of Seaforth scored an early takedown, but Paterno quickly reserved it and scored a pin in 59 seconds.

This season, she is 16-1. In each of her non-forfeit victories, she has pinned her opponents, 12 times overall.

Pankratz joined Cedar Ridge’s wrestling team last year at the urging of Zoey Moreno, who won the Red Wolf Invitational at 120 pounds last year. In one year’s time, Pankratz went from failing to place at the Red Wolf Invitational in 2023 to winning the championship last month at 132 pounds.

Though Moreno graduated in June and is now wrestles at Division III Greensboro College, Pankratz hasn’t forgotten her. She ties her hair up in pigtails for each of her matches, just as Moreno did, as a standing tribute.

“It takes maybe five minutes,” Pankratz said.

What started as a hobby has turned into a borderline obsession for Pankratz. After every match, she scours video to find strengths, weaknesses and what to work on for the future.

With four wrestlers, Cedar Ridge still finished 4th in the women’s team standings with 51 points. Millbrook, with 12 competitors, won the women’s team championship with 153.5 points. Cary, fielding nine wrestlers, came in second with 65 points.

Orange’s Ava Lytle finished runner-up at 126 pounds. Lytle pinned Rebecca Parker of East Chapel Hill in the semifinals. Ellyaunnie Jacuinde Ramirez of Western Harnett took the championship.

Orange’s Rose Brady finished second in the 235-pound division. Brady pinned Ava Briel of Millbrook in 5:00 in the opening match of the round robin tournament. Cary’s Ella Taylor won the championship with a pin over Brady in the final.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler Chloe Pankratz. On Saturday, Pankratz won the 138-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High School. It was her third individual championship of the year. Last month, Pankratz won the Atkins Invitational in Winston-Salem. She has also won the Red Wolf Invitational, pinning all three of her opponents in a round-robin tournament. Pankratz is part of the emergence of women in wrestling locally. She just started competing last year because her friend, Zoey Moreno, was a team Captain who encouraged Pankratz to give the sport a try. She has quickly developed a love of wrestling and wants to continue her pursuit of excellence after she graduates in June. Pankratz constantly studies video of her matches, win or lose, and is now part of a Cedar Ridge team that is competing in dual matches for females only. Last month, Pankratz was seeded #3 in the Watkins Invitational, but pinned the two higher seeds to win the championship. In the semifinals, Pankratz defeated Amelia Martino of East Mecklenburg in 18 seconds. In the final, she pinned the #1  seed, Jadyn Magallanes of West Forsyth in 56 seconds. On Saturday, Pankratz pinned Katie Lloyd of Southeast Alamance in the championship match at 138 pounds. Pankratz pinned all three of her opponents on Saturday, including Anneliese Garcia-Rodriguez of Midde Creek in the semifinals. Pankratz pinned all three of her opponents in less than a minute on Saturday.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Chloe Pankratz

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior wrestler Chloe Pankratz. On Saturday, Pankratz won the 138-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High School. It was her third individual championship of the year. Last month, Pankratz won the Atkins Invitational in Winston-Salem.

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PITTSBORO: There was something special waiting for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team as they approached Thanksgiving break.

Playing inside a gym adorned with championship banners even though it’s barely four years old, the Red Wolves hung in after a tough start to end a 16-game road losing streak.

While two guards were instrumental in keeping things close in the first half, it was a senior who paved the way to victory.

Braeden Wilbourn scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half as the Red Wolves defeated the Hawks 59-50 on November 26 at Seaforth Gymnasium. It was the Red Wolves first win over Seaforth.

It was Cedar Ridge’s first road win since they defeated Western Alamance 42-33 on February 3, 2023 in Elon.

“I just told them that,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Mike Jones, who just started his third year. “They didn’t believe me. It’s a relief, but at the same time I don’t want to make a big deal out of it because we still have work to do. I finally feel like we’re trending in the right direction. We’re just trying to build a program here.”

Junior Tripp Beasley, in just his third varsity game, scored 15 points as the Red Wolves improved to 2-1. Cedar Ridge opened the season with a victory over Carrboro in Hillsborough on November 15.

Seaforth, who lost at Carrboro to open the season, fell to 0-2.

The irony was that sophomore guard Jordan Jacobson, who kept Cedar Ridge in the game early with ten first half points, didn’t score after halftime until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. Wilbourn set the tone of the second half when he drained a three-pointer on the first shot of the third quarter to put the Red Wolves ahead 26-25. Beasley added another 3-pointer and Seaforth spent the final 16 minutes chasing the Red Wolves.

On two separate occasions, Wilbourn scored a field goal, then stole the subsequent inbound pass and was fouled.

Seaforth didn’t score in the opening 5:00 of the fourth quarter. Christian Conrad, a backup forward, ended the Hawks dry spell when he scored off a stick back to cut Cedar Ridge’s lead to 57-52. Seaforth guard Nate Emerson, who led the Hawks with 13 points, scored off a steal to cut into the Cedar Ridge lead. Red Wolf junior center Jack Kelsey scored on two lay-ins during the third quarter, then came up with some crucial blocks in the final minutes as Seaforth tried to narrow the gap.

Wilbourn and Beasley sank pressure free throws down the stretch.

“I love Tripp,” Jones said. “Tripp is aggressive. Tripp is always looking to score. Tripp is really receptive to coaching. He’s going to be a big part to what we do this year, for sure.”

Seaforth led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. Jacobson kept the Red Wolves close with a 3-pointer. Beasley, Jacobson and Luke Orstad each knocked down 3-pointers in the second quarter.

While Cedar Ridge returned three starters from last year’s team, the senior captain from the 2023-2024 team isn’t that far away. Landon Dalehite, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, has joined Jones staff as an assistant coach.

“Me and Landon think alike,” Jones said. “The kids listen to Landon. He can give them a teenage voice because he was teammates with half of them. We really enjoy having Landon here, for sure.”

Cedar Ridge will travel to Durham School of the Arts on Friday night.

The Red Wolves (2-1) lost its opening road game to Chapel Hill on November 19 in Tiger Gymnasium. Jeremiah McIlwaine led the Tigers with 19 points. Cedar Ridge was led by Jacobson, who scored 19 points, including 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.

Not even three weeks into the winter sports season, it’s already been a landmark year for Cedar Ridge senior Ryan Rakouskas.

At the Atkins Invitational, the opening tournament of the year, Rakouskas defeated Brice Baker of Oak Grove High in sudden victory to win the 157-pound championship. He also became the eighth Cedar Ridge wrestler to win 100 career matches.

On November 23, Rakouskas won his second consecutive Red Wolf Invitational championship and defeated the top-seed at 157 pounds to do it. Rakouskas pinned Andrew Taylor of West Rowan in 56 to successfully defend his championship. Last year, Rakouskas defeated Thomas Gingerich of Green Level 9-3 to take the tournament title.

Despite being the defending champions, Rakouskas entered the tournament as the #2 seed. But he pinned four opponents in four matches to repeat as champion.

Rakouskas finished off Bilial Benzenmour of Southeast Raleigh in the semifinals just as the first period ended. Rakouskas led 6-1 when he scored the pin as the official hit the mat just before the buzzer sounded. In the quarterfinals, Rakouskas pinned T’mari Mcclelland of McMichael in 29 seconds. After receiving a bye into the second round, Rakouskas pinned his own teammate, Isaiah Craig, in 1:17 in a rare instance of two competitors from the same team facing each other.

Rakouskas stood above the rest in a crowded field to repeat as champion. Cedar Ridge finished 4th in the team standings with 139 points. Seaforth took the team championship with 179 points. West Rowan finished 2nd. Person, led by defending 3A State Heavyweight champions Trevquan Gary, finished 3rd.

Orange finished 11th. The top Panther finisher was senior Jayden Medley who finished 3rd at 215 pounds. Medley, who was named All-Conference in football this week, defeated Quentez Butler of Asheboro in the consolation final 8-3. Medley pinned Gavin Jones of Person in the consolation semifinals.

Orange’s Braden Crawford finished 4th at 138 pounds. Crawford reached the semifinals after he pinned Graylon Collins of Cedar Ridge in 1:29. Jackson Young of Panther Creek defeated Crawford 6-2 in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Crawford advanced when Person’s Jameer Farmer couldn’t continue due to injury. Stetson Collins of West Rowan, the top-seed, won the consolation final 9-2.

Cedar Ridge senior Pierce Prescod finished 3rd at 126 pounds. Prescod, the defending 120 pound champion, reached the quarterfinals before he was edged by Carter Furman of Northwest Guilford 5-4. Furman got an escape with 46 seconds remaining in the third period after Prescod earned a takedown to even the match at 4-4.

In the consolation round, Prescod earned technical fall win over Noah Vo of Panther Creek and Julian Combs of Person. In the consolation semifinals, Prescod’s match against Western Alamance’s Omar Rushing went to overtime. Prescod scored a rare pin in sudden victory to advance to the 3rd place match, where he faced Furman in a rematch. This time, Prescod led 11-8 before the match was stopped in the third period. Prescod was named the winner by disqualification.

At 150 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Alejandro Briones finished 3rd at 150 pounds. Briones defeated Alexander Patino of Asheboro 19-11 in the 3rd place match. Briones, who won the 144 pound championship in the Central Conference Tournament last year, opened with a pinfall win over Gabriel Mumma of Panther Creek. Top-seeded Kevin O’Brien of West Rowan, the eventual champion, defeated Briones in the quarterfinals.

At 113 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Favio Jaramillo Espar finished 4th. He opened by pinning Orange’s Mason Horne in 45 seconds. Jesse Farnsworth of Panther Creek edged Jaramillo 8-7 on a takedown coming with 18 seconds remaining. Farnsworth would upset the top-seed, Alex Raymundo of Randleman en route to the championship match.

Jaramillo scored a technical fall over Mason Browne of Apex Friendship to start his stint in the consolation round. He pinned David Matus of Athens Drive in 49 seconds. In the consolation semifinals, Jaramillo held off Damonte Bradley of Carrboro 3-0.

Raymundo won the 3rd place match 16-5.

Last year, Jaramillo finished 3rd at 106 pounds.