Orange Wrestling

Last year, the Orange wrestling team came one win shy of reaching the NCHSAA State Dual Team Championship match for the eleventh time.

This year, the Panthers are more experienced, if banged up. They will start their mission to return to Greensboro’s Novant Field House this weekend.

The Panthers will face Southern Nash in the opening round of the 32-team 3A State Dual Team Playoffs on Saturday. Orange will host the first and second rounds of the tournament according to the bracket released by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association on Thursday morning.

Competing on the opposite mat from Orange will be C.B. Aycock, the #7 seed from the Quad County Conference, against #10 seed Carrboro from the Northern Lakes Conference. The winner of the first round matches will meet immediately afterwards to determine who reaches the 3rd round next week.

Orange was undefeated as a team going into its final regular season dual match against Currituck County in the Havelock Duals on January 14. Currituck came away with a controversial victory after a Knight wrestler claimed that an Orange wrestler bit him, an allegation that Orange coach Spenser Poteat vehemently denied and immediately protested to no avail. The Orange wrestler was leading when the match was stopped. At the time, Orange led the dual match 33-25. Currituck ended up getting six team points after they won the match via disqualification, plus Orange had three points subtracted due to “flagrant misconduct.” Currituck won the dual match 34-32. If it wasn’t for that ruling, Orange  likely would have had the #1 seed in the East Region.

Instead, the Panthers, 19-1 overall and 6-0 in the Central Carolina Conference, got a #2 seed in the East. Union Pines received the top seed. Currituck County didn’t make the postseason as First Fight got the only 3A bid from the Northeastern Coastal Conference (one of many 3A/2A conferences).

Last weekend in the Central Carolina Tournament, Orange competed without six starters, leading to a fourth place finish. The Panthers are expected to have 195-pounder Acoya Isley back in the lineup against Westover. This season, Isley is 30-2 with 19 pins. He has individual championships at the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School in Greensboro and the Eastern Alamance Invitational in December. Isley finished 2nd at the Tiger Holiday Classic in Chapel Hill, the highest of any Orange wrestler.

Dillon Heffernan, at 145 pounds, will also return to the lineup this weekend. Heffernan, a senior, also won individual championships at Eastern Alamance and the Quentin Crosby Invitational. He is 29-4 with 15 pins.

Even without six staters, Orange had four grapplers win their individual weight classes last week in the CCC Championships: Elijah Acosta (220), Sam Crawford (152), Jared Hutchins (132) and Braden Crawford (126).

Southern Nash,, from the Big East Conference, will face Orange at 11AM on Saturday.

C.B. Aycock won the Quad County Championship with a 15-3 record. They went undefeated in conference action.

Carrboro was the top 3A team out of the Northern Lakes Conference, another split 3A/2A conference. South Granville, a 2A team, won the Northern Lakes Conference championship.

The Panthers have won five dual team state championships and ten regional titles. Their last trip to the State Championship match came in 2018, when they lost to Piedmont 33-31. It was the second straight year that Piedmont and the Panthers faced off for the State Championship. In the previous year, Orange led 29-17 with four matches remaining, but Piedmont won the last three matches to prevail 29-27. That was the final dual match for legendary Orange coach Bobby Shriner.

The regional semifinals and finals will be held on Wednesday at a location to be determined. The 3A State Championship match will take place at Novant Health Fieldhouse in Greensboro next Saturday.

Elijah Acosta has preserved through a senior season where he batted illness and injury to win a conference championship. Last Saturday in the 220-pound championship mach of the Central Carolina Conference tournament, Acosta wrestled Northwood’s Jake Dunning for the sixth time in two years. Acosta’s grip proved to be a strong one as he defeated Dunning 3-0 to take the title, his first individual championship this year. Acosta got an escape point in the second period. Late in the frame, Acosta made a rush at Dunning and scored a takedown with three seconds remaining. Dunning couldn’t get an escape point in the third period. Last year, Acosta qualified for the 3A State Championships and finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals. This Saturday, Acosta and the rest of the Panthers will start action in the 3A State Dual Tournament. The 32-team field for the tournament will be released Thursday. Orange was the Central Carolina Conference regular season champion and will be the #1 seed in the 3A State Dual Tournament from the CCC.

The championship banners inside Orange High School’s gymnasium honors every sport that has captured a title.

A stranger doesn’t have to look long to figure out which sport has been the most successful in terms of conference championships. The banner for the wrestling team is adorned with emblems of two wrestlers grappling position. Beneath each emblem is the year of the championship. They stretch up towards the roof and all the way down the floor.

The Orange wrestling team has just added another title to its banner.

Last Wednesday, the Panthers defeated Person 43-25 inside Rocket Gymnasium in Roxboro to complete an undefeated Central Carolina Conference season. The Panthers were 16-0 coming out of the match going into the Havelock Duals over the weekend. They finished 6-0 in the CCC.

For a squad with seniors Sam Crawford, Dillon Heffernan, Elijah Acosta, and Hugo Vazquez, it would have been an upset for the Panthers to fall short of a conference championship this year. Orange reached the Eastern Regional championship match in the 3A State Dual Team Playoffs in 2022, where they fell to Croatan in the finals.

The matchup with Person was a battle of teams undefeated in conference action. The Rockets (9-4)went in with a 5-0 conference record after beating Eastern Alamance 79-0 on January 4.

Sam Crawford started the night on a strong note with a pin in the third period against Davis Garrett. Crawford, who finished fourth in the Tiger Holiday Classic in December at Chapel Hill High, was 23-7 for the season after his 17th pin of the year.

Orange junior Andre Hill, who is 29-6, scored his 19th pin of the year over Patrick Anderson at 170 pounds to put the Panthers ahead 12-3. Hill, an offensive tackle in football, finished third at the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane on December 17.

After Malaki Newton preserved a decision victory for the Rockets at 182 pounds, Orange’s lead was reduced to 12-6. Acoya Isley, who is 25-2 on the season, earned a decision at 195. Elijah Acosta scored a pin over Gavin Jones at 220 pounds to increase Orange’s lead to 21-6.

That advantage was reduced to 21-12 after Person wins by Fabian Rivera (106 pounds) and Najonii Aguilar (113). Orange’s Quadir Medley took a victory at 126 pounds to start a string of four straight Orange individual wins that paved the way for a team championship.

Orange notched three consecutive pins. At 126 pounds, Braden Crawford earned his 14th pin of the season when he defeated Person’s Taveon Moss. Junior Jared Hutchins got a pin at 132 pounds, which secured the Panther victory. Dillon Heffernan, who won at the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School on January 7, ended the night with another pin. Heffernan went into last weekend with a 26-3 record on the season.

The conference championship is Orange’s 19th conference title in the last 20 years. That stretches across three classifications dating back to Orange’s days as a 4A team. The Chapel Hill Tigers ended Orange’s run of 16 consecutive conference championships in 2020, a month before the pandemic hit.

Orange is now guaranteed to be the #1 seed from the Central Carolina Conference going into the 3A State Dual Team Championships, which will start on January 28. The field for the tournament will be announced on January 26.

Before Orange focuses on the State Dual Tournament, there will be the first Central Carolina Conference individual tournament set for this Saturday at Orange High. Last year was supposed to be the first CCC Tournament at Eastern Alamance, but the event was canceled because of winter weather.

The conference championship is the fifth for head coach Spenser Poteat, who took over for Bobby Shriner in 2017. Shriner now works with the University of North Carolina wrestling team. Poteat wrestled for Shriner as a Panther student in the 1990s.

Over the weekend, Orange dropped its first dual match of the year in the Havelock Duals against Currituck County is what was reportedly a controversial result on several levels.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Sam Crawford. This season, Crawford is 23-7 with 16 pins. On Wednesday night, Crawford was in the first match for Orange in their dual match against Person. Crawford scored a pin in the third period to get the Panthers off to a strong start. Orange went on to win 43-25 and claim the Central Carolina Conference championship for the third straight season. It’s Orange’s 19th conference championship in wrestling in the last 20 years. This season, Crawford finished second in the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane. Just before Christmas, Crawford finished fourth in the 152-pound tournament at the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School. Next Saturday, Crawford will compete in the 152-pound tournament in the 1st annual Central Carolina Conference individual tournament at Orange High School. Crawford will aim for a high finish to prepare for the 3A Mideast Regionals. This weekend, Crawford and the rest of the Panthers will journey out east to compete in the Havelock Duals.

Dillon Heffernan became the 49th wrestler in Orange High history to win 100 matches. On senior night, Heffernan edged Northwood’s Ronald Walker 6-5 to take his 100th win. He becomes the first Orange wrestler to win 100 career matches since Kessel Summers did it in 2021. Heffernan reached the milestone despite losing most of his sophomore season due to the pandemic. Last season, Heffernan finished second in the Mideast Regionals at 126 pounds. He was the top seed going into the tournament after finishing the regular season with a 26-9 record. Over the summer, Heffernan elected to move up three weight classes to 145 pounds, where he already has an individual championship this year. Heffernan has been a member of two conference championship teams with Orange. Next week, the Panthers will journey to Roxboro to face Person with the winner taking the Central Carolina Conference championship. This weekend, Heffernan will join the Panthers as they compete in the annual Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School in Greensboro. Orange is undefeated as a team in dual matches this year.

Photo by Katie Medley 

December is always a busy month for the Orange wrestling team.

They usually compete in three individual tournaments, including hosting their own on the first Saturday of the month. There’s always the Tiger Holiday Invitational, among the largest in the state, either the week before or the week after Christmas. And then there’s the annual two hour trip to Oakboro for the West Stanly Duals.

As a team, Orange will go into the new year with an undefeated dual record.

On Friday, the Panthers emerged from Oakboro with five wins. The Panthers defeated Montgomery Central 54-24; West Stanly 66-16 and Metrolina Christian Academy 69-9. Orange also won two other dual matches to remain undefeated during the dual season.

Orang also had another wrestler move closer to 100 career wins. Dillon Heffernan pinned Jagger Dry of West Stanly and Luke Niday of Metrolina Christian Academy. That places him at 99 career wins. Heffernan will attempt to become the latest member of Orange’s 100 career wins club on Wednesday night in Hillsborough when the Panthers face Northwood. Fittingly, it will be senior night.

A year after the Panthers reached the Eastern Regional Finals of the 3A East Dual Team Tournament, the Panthers are 14-0, 4-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. Orange is two wins away from its third consecutive conference championship. Following Northwood, Orange will face Person.

Orange has won 18 conference championships in the last 19 years.

A week earlier, four Panthers placed in the Tiger Holiday Invitational. The annual event brought 37 teams from across the state to Chapel Hill High School on December 22 and 23.

Orange’s Acoya Isley, whose record was 16-2 after the tournament, wound up finishing 2nd at 195 pounds. In the championship match, top-seeded Joshua Knipe of West Carteret defeated Isley 6-3. With 40 seconds remaining in the first period, Knipe scored a reversal and scored back points to take a 3-0 lead. Isley escaped but trailed 4-2 at the end of the first period.

In the semifinals, Isley defeated Bo Schiano of William Hough 12-1 to reach the finals. Isley started the tournament by pinning Elisha Roberts of Southern Durham in 1:26. In the quarterfinals, Isley pinned A.J. Pile of Croatan in 1:18.

At 152 pounds, senior Sam Crawford finished 4th place. Crawford reached the consolation final after a forfeit win over Adam Yessef of Pinecrest. Crawford pinned Ja’Bari Stroud of Durham School of the Arts in 28 seconds. In the consolation round, Crawford pinned Jonathan Moses of Jacksonville in 2:22. Crawford, who is 14-6 on the year, defeated Houston Leeah of Union Pines via pinfall in 2:43.

Heffernan finished fifth at 145 pounds. He pinned Har Htoo of New Bern in 1:55  in the fifth place match to improve to 18-3 on the season. Heffernan reached the semifinals after he edged Will McRae of Hough 2-0. In the second round, Heffernan pinned Noah Ramirez of Jack Britt in 40 seconds. Tyler Tracy of Cardinal Gibbons, who eventually won the championship, defeated Heffernan via technical fall.

At 126 pounds, Orange’s Braden Crawford also finished fifth. Crawford defeated Mason McMullen of Jacksonville 10-4 in the opening round. Crawford reached the semifinals after beating East Chapel Hill’s Asher Yeo 7-4. Liam Hickey of Cardinal Gibbons, another eventual champion, pinned Crawford in the semis. In the fifth place match, Crawford defeated Yeo again by an 8-4 margin.

Junior Andre Hill finished sixth at 170 pounds. Hill, an offensive lineman in football, started with a 10-1 major decision over Dustin Maness of Union Pines. Hill advanced to the semifinals after Richard Post of Rutherfordton-Spindale was injured.

Orange went into the Tiger Holiday Classic without the services of two wrestlers who qualified for the state championships last year. The Panthers finished eighth in the team standings with 109 points. Union Pines won the team championship with 180.5 points. Cardinal Gibbons finished second with 150.5 points.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Dillon Heffernan. On December 17, Heffernan captured the 145-pound championship in the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane. Heffernan’s victory helped the Orange wrestling team finish first in the event. Last week, Heffernan came in fifth at the Tiger Holiday Classic in Chapel Hill, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the region. Heffernan reached the semifinals after opening the tournament with wins over Will McRae of William Hough High and Noah Ramirez of Jack Britt. Heffernan is 18-3 with eight pins so far this season. He is undefeated in dual matches. Heffernan finished 2nd in the Jim King/Orange Invitational earlier this month. Last season, Heffernan went 26-9 and qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 126-pound division. Heffernan finished 2nd in the Mideast Regional in 2021. As a sophomore, Heffernan qualified for the 3A State Championships during the pandemic and finished his sophomore year with a record of 18-4. He has been a member of two conference championship teams with Orange. He was a starter on an Orange team that advanced to the 3A Eastern Regional Championship match in the State Dual Team Championships last February. This Saturday, the Panthers will compete in the West Stanly Duals to finish out 2022.

Over the course of one of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments in the southeast last week, Orange sophomore Daisy Lopez made history. Lopez became the first female wrestler to win a tournament match for Orange. In the consolation bracket of the 126-pound division of the Chapel Hill Women’s Classic, Lopez pinned Mirabelle Chi of East Chapel Hill in 2:24. After Chi scored the opening takedown of the match, Lopez notched her first win of the season with a reversal and guided Chi’s shoulders to the mat. She went on to finish fourth, becoming the first Orange female wrestler to place in a tournament. Lopez is believed to be the second female wrestler in Orange history. She started in wrestling last year when a friend suggested trying it out. Despite some apprehension from those close to her, Lopez continues to progress with one of the most storied and successful programs in the state. Last year, Lopez won a match via forfeit. She will continue to work during the intense training designed by Orange wrestling coach Spenser Poteat as the Panthers search for another conference championship. With women’s wrestling gaining traction across North Carolina high schools annually, Lopez’s win at Chapel Hill last week will become an important benchmark in Orange wrestling history.

Though there are some things different with the Orange wrestling team this year, the winning continues.

Orange will go into Christmas with a 9-0 record in dual matches. The Panthers, who have won 18 of its last 19 conference championships, is 4-0 in the Central Carolina Conference with dual matches against Person, Eastern Alamance and Northwood coming up in 2023.

On Saturday, the Panthers claimed its first team championship in an individual tournament this season. For the second year in a row, Orange won the Eagle Invitational at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane.

Four Panthers won their individual weight classes. Dillon Heffernan, who reached the Eagle Invitational championship match at 120 pounds in 2021, rolled to the title at 145 pounds. Heffernan, who finished second at the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 3, defeated Jace Rich of Southern Alamance 9-4 in the final. Heffernan, 14-1 on the year, pinned Cameron Stokes of Bartlett Yancey in 1:15 in the opening round. In the semifinals, Heffernan defeated Darius Evans of Northern Guilford 6-3.

Acoya Isley, who lost in the championship match last year in Mebane by one point via sudden victory, won the 195-championship by winning three matches, none of which went beyond the first period. Isley defeated Jeremiah Lumpkins of Walter Williams in :56 seconds to take the title. In the semifinals, Isley pinned Chase Crews of Northern Guilford in 1:15. In the opening round, Isley defeated Jesus Ponce of Graham in 23 seconds. Isley, who finished 3rd in the Mideast Regionals last February, is 13-1 with 12 pins this season.

Orange’s Elijah Acosta captured the 220-pound championship. In the final, Acosta pinned Cameron Pettigrew of Western Alamance in 3:22 to improve to 14-2 on the season. In Friday’s opening round, Acosta pinned Wesley Reece of Cummings in 59 seconds. In the semifinals, Acosta defeated Wade Cash of Northern Guilford 9-5.

Acosta, who won the 220-pound championship of the JKO in 2021, captured the Eagle Invitational for the second straight year. In 2021, Acosta won all three of his matches via pinfall en route to the title.

Braden Crawford, the second-seed, captured the 126-pound championship. In the final, Crawford scored a technical fall over Alex Porter of Grimsley 17-1. Crawford battled back to reach the final. In a dramatic semifinal, Owen Adkins of Northern Guilford led Crawford 7-4 with time running out in the final period before Crawford scored a pin at 5:52 to advance to the championship match. In the opening round, Crawford pinned Riley Neil of Southern Alamance in 26 seconds.

The Panthers had several grapplers finish in second place. Senior heavyweight Hugo Vasquez scored pins in each of his first two matches. Vasquez defeated Chatham Central’s Adin Holton in 58 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Vasquez defeated Justin Booker of Southern Alamance in 3:26. In Saturday’s title match, Noah Lumpkin of Northern Guilford held off Vasquez 4-2. Vasquez, who won the heavyweight championship of the 2021 JKO, is 9-4 with five pins so far this season.

At 113 pounds, Orange’s Aidan Sierra had his best finish of his young career. Sierra opened by pinning Toriana Murphy of Williams in 1:09. In the semifinals, Sierra pinned Southern Alamance’s Aiden Cameron in 1:50. Grant McCord of Greensboro Grimsley defeated Sierra in the championship match by technical fall.

Orange’s Sam Crawford reached the championship match at 152-pounds. Crawford pinned Jeremiah Baptiste of Western Alamance in 33 seconds of the opening round. He pinned Zyneal White of Burlington Cummings in 3:06 in the semifinals. Cohen Beane, the fifth-seed, of Northern Guilford defeated Crawford via pinfall in the title match.

Anyone who even casually attends Orange wrestling matches won’t have to look hard to find something different this year. There isn’t a Shriner sitting along the mats.

Bobby Shriner, the longtime head coach at Orange who amassed over 500 wins and five state championships, retired in 2017. His son Nick served as an assistant for four seasons, but left to become the head coach of the Orange Middle School Chargers this year.

Orange Middle feeds directly into Orange High School.

It marks the first time there hasn’t been a Shriner matside for Orange wrestling since 1988.

“He’s still going to be helping out with us whenever he gets a chance,” said Orange coach Spenser Poteat, who wrestled and coached alongside Bobby Shriner. “Hopefully, he can get our feeder program get back to where it was.”

Orange will compete in the Tiger Holiday Invitational at Chapel Hill High School starting on Friday.

The Orange wrestling team stated the season successfully at former conference rival Southern Durham on Wednesday night. In the Spartans Quad, Orange actually started the dual match season against a Central Carolina Conference opponent, Eastern Alamance. The Panthers prevailed 70-9. Colton Jones, Adrian Sierra, Jace Womble, Andre Hill, Jayden Ramirez, Elijah Acosta, and Hugo Vazquez all scored pins as Orange got off to a successful start in defending its CCC Conference championship. Orange defeated Southern Durham 75-0. The Spartans, who played Northern Nash in the 3A State Football playoffs on Friday night, had a high amount of forfeits. Acoya Isley and Vazquez had pins against the Spartans. Quadir Medley (126), Talan Pearley (138) and Andre Hills (170) also scored pins. The Panthers ended the night with a 60-18 victory over Enloe. Womble, Hill, Isley, and Acosta all notched pinfall wins for Orange.Luke Stitz at 120 pounds earned his first career win over the Panthers with a pin in 4:35 over Francisco Loncan. Sierra pinned Owen Donohoe in 2:45 at 113 pounds. Medley defeated Souvik Milligan in 1:39. Orange will continue its season in the Orange quad at Panthers Gymnasium on Tuesday night. That will include another conference match against Western Alamance.