Orange Wrestling

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior 195-pound wrestler Acoya Isley. On December 4, competing in his first major varsity tournament, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High School. In the championship math, Isley defeated pinned Bartlett-Yancey’s Dylan Wall, the top seed, in 4:36. Isley pinned Walter Williams Chandler Baysdon in the quarterfinals. At the end of December, Isley finished runner-up in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School at 195-pounds. In a 32-team event, Isley scored three pins leading up to the championship match. He pinned Dantrell Williams of Union Pines in the opening round in 5:15. In the quarterfinals, Isley finished off Joseph Poole of Granville Central in 1:16. In the semifinals, Isley pinned Maynor Ramos of South View in 1:50. In the championship match, Isley narrowly lost 2-1 to West Carteret’s Joshua Krepe, the top-seed. Isley won the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School earlier this month. On Tuesday night, Isley will join his teammates in going for its 18th conference championship in 19 years as Orange faces Eastern Alamance at Orange High. It will be Senior Night for Orange’s Brendon Worsham, Nate Hecht, Avery Clark and Jaylyn Roberson. Isley’s goal for this year is to qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Photo by Sandhills Community College Athletic Department

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team has won four in a row. On Saturday, the Flyers defeated Oxford College of Emory University 93-78 in Oxford, GA. McMullin scored 19 points, including 12 in the first half, as the Flyers improved to 4-0 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. McMullin shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, as the Flyers pushed out to a 41-29 halftime lead. McMullin and Darryl McCaster each had 19 points to lead the Flyers. McMullin added three rebounds and an assist. On January 12, the Flyers defeated Central Carolina Community College in Pinehurst. McMullin had four points, one rebound, one assist and one block. Last weekend, the Flyers swept a two-game weekend series against Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge, VA. On Friday, the Flyers defeated the Roadrunners 107-62. McMullin scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field in 15 minutes. He also grabbed one rebound. The following day, Sandhills defeated Lancaster 100-55. McMullin led all Flyers with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. He played 18 minutes. McMullin also led the team with nine rebounds. On January 4, USC Salkehatchie defeated Sandhills 104-91 in Walterboro, SC. McMullin scored 14 points in 20 minutes. He shot 7-of-15 from the field. He also had six rebounds and two assists. On New Year’s Day, Davidson-Davie Community College downed the Flyers 95-56 at Brinkley Gymnasium. McMullin had five points in ten minutes. McMullin, a freshman, is averaging 13.1 points per game over 20 games. Sandhills is 14-6 overall, 4-0 in Region X. McMullin is the last Orange player to score 1,000 points for his career. He accomplished that feat in his senior season during the 2019-2020 campaign.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team faced possibly the hottest team in the country on Friday night. The Davidson Wildcats won its 13th consecutive game after a 87-84 victory over the Spiders at the Robins Center. Crabtree came off the bench for Richmond to play three minutes. He knocked down his only shot from the field and finished with two points. On January 5, the Spiders defeated Massachusetts 80-72. Crabtree played eleven minutes against the Minutemen and scored five points. He shot 2-for-2 from the field, including his only 3-point attempt. Richmond scored 50 points in the first half, shooting 65% from the field. It was the most points in a half by the Spiders since March 2020. Richmond opened 2022 with a 76-69 loss to St. Louis at Chaifets Arena. Crabtree played seven minutes and scored two points and grabbed a rebound. Richmond’s game against George Mason, scheduled for January 11 in the Robins Center, was postponed due to COVID issues within the Patriots program. Richmond is 10-7 overall, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10. They will travel to Fordham on Tuesday. Crabtree started his college career with Tulane before transferring.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum Panthers wrestling team ended 2021 in the the Citrus Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Homsey, seeded #2 at 197 pounds, went to the finals. In the semifinals, Homsey edged Chance Lapier of Castleton University, who was seeded #3, 4-3 to advance to the finals. in the championship match, top-seeded Bentley Schwanbeck-Ost of Augsburg University defeated Homsey 10-4 for the championship. After receiving a bye in the opening round, Homsey defeated Sean Gillespie of Liberty University 14-1. In the quarterfinals, Homsey scored a technical fall over Tyler Raway of Augsburg 16-0 in 4:40. Ferrum placed 8th out of 12 teams in the tournament. Homsey placed the highest of any of the other Panther wrestlers.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior wrestler Elijah Acosta. Last week, Acosta won the Quentin Crosby Tournament in the 220-pound weight division at Dudley High School in Greensboro. It was his third individual championship this year, Acosta’s first as a varsity starter for Orange. On December 18, Acosta won the Eastern Alamance Invitational in Mebane, scoring three pins in all of his matches to win the championship. Acosta’s first varsity tournament came on December 4 in the Jim King/Orange Invitational. In the championship match, Acosta defeated Northwood’s Jake Dunning 12-5 for his first title. On December 22, Acosta finished third at the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School. This season, Acosta is 24-2 with 16 pins. Against Northwood on January 6, Acosta won his match via a 7-3 decision, which sewed up a victory along with a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship for Orange. Winning this award comes full circle for Acosta. His father, Mike, wrestled for Coach Bobby Shriner in the 1990s. Now, Elijah is wrestling for Orange head coach Spenser Poteat.

It has been a successful start to 2022 for Orange wrestling.

After beating Northwood to all but sew up the Central Carolina Conference championship, the Panthers captured the Quentin Crosby Tournament at Dudley High School in Greensboro on Saturday.

Four Panthers captured individual championships as Orange won its second team tournament title of the season. The Panthers finished with 148.5 points. Greensboro Page finished second at 101 points.

It was another impressive outing for 220 pounder Elijah Acosta, who captured his second tournament championship this year. Acosta, won rolled to the Jim King/Orange Invitational Championship last month, earned three pins en route to the title in Greensboro. In the championship match, Acosta defeated Jaquaid Owens of Dudley 5-2. Owens was the only grappler to go the distance with Acosta all day. Acosta opened by pinning Braylon Clark of Southwestern Guilford in 5:30. In the quarterfinals, Acosta pinned Noel Jennings of Eastern Alamance in 1:11. Acosta reached the finals after he pined Carter Bland of Southern Guilford in 2:50.

Acosta finished third in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on December 22. He defeated Asheboro’s Eduardo Soto-Canas 8-3 in the consolation final.

Orange’s Dillon Heffernan finished the Tiger Holiday Classic in 2nd place. In Greensboro, he captured the championship at 126 pounds, edging Allen Cohen of Eden Morehead 6-5 in the championship bout. It was the only competitive match of the day for Heffernan. In the semifinals, he pinned Eastern Alamance’s Mason Taner in 4:43. Heffernan had a 16-3 lead at the time of the pin. In the opening round, Heffernan had a technical fall over R.J. Reynolds Hamzah Mahmoud 16-0. Heffernan opened the season 15-5 with ten pins.

After losing 2-1 in the 195 pound championship match at the Tiger Holiday Invitational, Acoya Isley won the 195 title in Greensboro with three pins in three matches, none of which went beyond the first period. Isley pinned Christian Brown of Page in 1:09 for the championship. Isley pinned Dudley’s Collin Morehead in 33 seconds. In the opening round, Isley finished off Thomas Tippeconnie of R.J. Reynolds in 21 seconds.

It was the second individual championship of the year for Isley. He won the 195 title at the JKO Invitational.

Senior Brendon Worsham, who qualified for the 3A State Championships after a runner-up finish in the Mideast Regionals, won the 182 pound championship. Worsham defeated Lexington’s Chris Cartrette 9-1. In the semifinals, Worsham pinned Edwin Cantu of Morehead in 52 seconds. It was Worsham’s first tournament championship of the season. To open the season, Worsham won 17 of his first 22 matches with eleven pins.

Talan Pearley had his best-ever showing in a tournament, finishing 3rd at 138 pounds. After dropping his opening round match, Pearly pinned Eastern Alamance’s Jahzion Patterson in 1:18. In the consolation final, Pearley pinned Lexington’s Michael Mays in 54 seconds.

At 132 pounds, Orange’s Jared Hutchins finished third. Hutchins opened with a pin of Shawn Bass of Dudley in 1:56. Ivan Benitez pinned Hutchins in 2:33. In the consolation bracket, Hutchins pinned R.J. Reynolds Amarr Lumpkins in 2:52. Hutchins clinched third place with a 10-4 win over Donovan Edwards of Southwestern Guilford.

Orange’s Kale Womble finished 3rd at 113 pounds. In the third place match, Womble pinned Lexington’s Andres Couto in 4:25.

At 120 pounds, Braden Crawford finished 3rd. After losing in the opening round, Crawford won three straight matches in the consolation round. He pinned Page’s Omari Williams in 2:50. In the consolation semifinals, Crawford defeated Tucker Rakes in 4:12. In the consolation final, Crawford defeated Lexington’s Jason Allen 12-2.

Last Thursday, Orange defeated Northwood 43-24 in Pittsboro to improve to 5-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Panthers have clinched a share of the conference championship. They’re scheduled to host Eastern Alamance on January 19 in Hillsborough. If the Panthers win, they take the overall conference championship.

For more phots by Betsy Manners Sioussat, check out STXPix Photography

Going into Christmas, the race for the Central Carolina Conference wrestling championship has come down to Orange, Northwood and Eastern Alamance.

Orange remained undefeated in CCC action by beating Cedar Ridge 54-15 during a tri-meet at Red Wolves Arena last Wednesday. The Panthers, coming off winning the Jim King/Orange Invitational the previous weekend, also defeated Providence Grove 72-3 last Wednesday to improve to 7-2 overall, 4-0 in the CCC.

Despite losing to Orange last Wednesday, Cedar Ridge defeated Jordan-Matthews 72-4 and edged Providence Grove 37-31 during the tri-meet. The Red Wolves are 9-7 overall after splitting two dual matches during another tri-meet at Wakefield High in Raleigh on Thursday night.

Orange, Northwood and Eastern Alamance are tied for first place in the Central Carolina Conference with undefeated league records. Northwood is 3-0 with victories over Person, Cedar Ridge and Walter Williams. Eastern Alamance has defeated Williams and Western Alamance.

Orange will travel to Northwood on January 4 in a dual match that could determine the CCC championship.

Against the Red Wolves, Orange’s three individual champions in the JKO each captured wins. Acoya Isley pinned James Este Wittinger in 1:14 at 195 pounds. At 220 pounds, Orange’s Elijah Acosta earned a decision over Cedar Ridge’s Joe O’Melia 10-4. Acosta, in his first season as a starter, currently has a 12-1 record with seven pins. At heavyweight, the Panthers’ Hugo Vazquez defeated Louis Tedder 5-1.

Isley and Acosta are among eight new starters for Orange this season. Another newcomer, Kale Womble, defeated Jaylen Williams at 113 pounds 6-2. Braden Crawford, at 120 pounds, decisioned Pierce Prescod 5-0. At 132 pounds, Jared Hutchins, one of Orange’s few returnees from last year, pinned Tommy Heckler in 1:13.

Avery Clark (145), Samuel Crawford (152), Andre Hill (160) and senior Brendon Worsham (182) all claimed pinfall wins for Orange. At 170 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro edged Orange senior Nate Hecht 3-2.

Cedar Ridge’s junior co-Captain, Fernando Martinez, pinned Orange’s Dillon Heffernan in 3:05. Later in the night, Martinez would get a forfeit victory over Providence Grove for his 70th career win midway through his junior year. Red Wolves freshman Lee Oguntoyinbo pinned Orange’s Miles Adams in 5:56.

The following night, Orange earned three more dual match wins in the Lexington Quad at Lexington High Schoo. The Panthers defeated Alexander Central 66-13, Lexington 76-6 and R.J. Reynolds 78-3. Worsham scored two more pins to improve his season record to 11-3 with eight pins.

Last season may have been one of the first times that Orange didn’t have a competitor at 106 pounds. This season, Adrain Sierra has filled that void, and he earned two pins for Orange in Lexington. Heffernan had three pins at 120 pounds, while Braden Crawford scored three pins at 126. Womble and Vazquez each added two wins to their season total. Vazquez is 9-1 with six pins.

On Friday, Orange will return to the Tiger Holiday Classic, a two-day event that brings together teams from across the southeast. Traditionally, it’s one of the major tournament in the southeast that didn’t take place last December due to the pandemic.

Also on Thursday, Cedar Ridge participated in the Wakefield tri-meet. The Red Wolves defeated Sanderson 60-9, but lost to Wakefield 51-27.

Martinez improved his season record to 17-2 with a pin of Wakefield’s Lincoln Froh in 2:53. Against the Spartans, Martinez pinned George Sessions.

Cedar Ridge’s Joe O’Melia earned two wins at 195 pounds. Against Wakefield, O’Melia pinned Frankie Nahilia in 3:18. In the victory over Sanderson, O’Melia pinned Thomas Kenner.

At 170 pounds, Tatro pinned Ethan Kring of Sanderson. Against Wakefield, Tatro earned a 6-0 decision over John Page.

Cedar Ridge will go to Knightdale next weekend for the two-day WRAL Invitational at Knightdale High School. The event will also include a women’s tournament, which will feature Cedar Ridge’s Zoey Moreno, which earned two wins during the Red Wolves Invitational last month.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler and linebacker Brendon Worsham. In the opening week of the season, Worsham won his first three matches for the Orange wrestling team. Competing at 182 pounds, Worsham defeated Northwest Guilford’s Alex Brasheer 7-2. In Orange’s Central Carolina Conference opener, Worsham pinned Western Alamance’s Dylan Teague in 1:08 as the Panthers won the dual match 66-18. Last season, Worsham qualified for the 3A State Championships at 182 pounds. He wrestled for the Mideast Regional championship when he pinned Northwood’s Cliff Davis in 3:30. Last season, Worsham finished 16-4. The past two years, Worsham played football under head coach Van Smith. This season, Worsham started at linebacker and as an offensive lineman. He made 55 tackles. Last Saturday in the Jim King/Orange Invitational, Worsham finished 4th at 182 pounds and scored pins over Person’s Aiden Walker, as well as Northwood’s Cliff Davis. Worsham is looking to help Orange win another conference championship in wrestling. The Panthers are 3-0 in the CCC and will face off against Cedar Ridge, Jordan Matthews and Providence Grove in a quad match on Wednesday night.

In 2020, there were many local traditions that temporarily fell by the wayside because of the pandemic.

Locally, the Jim King/Orange Invitational Wrestling Tournament is a staple at Orange High School during the first weekend in December. Dating back to 1980, some of the best wrestling teams across central North Carolina journey to Hillsborough for the one-day tournament. But the only activity inside Orange’s gym last December was volleyball.

This year, the JKO returned with 13 teams. And Orange returned to the top of the standings.

Behind eleven wrestlers who placed in their respective weight classes, the Panthers finished first with 195 points to win the 40th JKO Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Cardinal Gibbons, who captured the 2019 championship, came in second with 154.5 points. Cary, which has won 21 JKO team championships, finished third with 148 points. Riverside finished with 115.5 points.

It was the tenth time that Orange won the JKO Invitational.

Three Panthers captured individual championships, all making their JKO debut. At 195 pounds, Acoya Isley pinned the top seed, Dylan Wall of Bartlett Yancey, in 4:36.

At 220 pounds, Orange’s top-seeded Elijah Acosta defeated Northwood’s Jake Dunning in the championship match.

At heavyweight, the Panthers Hugo Vazquez defeated Person’s Trevquan Gray 8-2 in the final match of the afternoon. Vazquez, who wrestled at Stanford, didn’t start in his eighth grade season for the Chargers. Three years later, he claimed his first tournament championship.

“It was good to have some first-year guys come through,” said Orange wresting coach Spenser Poteat. “We have some older guys and some younger guys in the lineup and it was refreshing to do this tournament after not having it last year.”

It was an impressive bounce back for Orange from the 2019 JKO, when not one Panther placed in a championship final for the first time in the history of the event. On Saturday, six Panthers reached the championships of their respective weight classes. Along with Vazquez, Acosta and Isley, Braden Crawford (126), Samuel Crawford (152) and Andre Hill (160) all finished in second place.

In the opening month of the season, Poteat and his staff has worked to develop a younger team that lost four wrestlers who qualified for the 3A State Championships last June. Among them was Kessel Summers at 120 pounds, who racked up 115 wins in his Orange career. Hayden Horne (who finished 4th in the state at 220 pounds), Matthew Smith-Breeden, and Henry Joubert-Stanzel also graduated last summer.

Of the three Orange grapplers who won individual championships, only Vazquez has started for Orange in his career. Vazquez competed at 220 pounds in the abbreviated 2021 season last summer.

Isley, who competed at Gravelly Hill Middle School, scored an immediate takedown against Wall in the championship match and used a vice-like grip to keep Wall from escaping. Isley recorded back points as the first period wound to a close to go ahead 6-2. In the second period, Isley started from the bottom and quickly gained a reversal to build an 11-3 lead. Isley finished him off with a pin.

“Acoya has continued to get better every week,” Poteat said. “He knows what our goals are he continues to work towards them.”

In the 220 championship, Dunning nearly got a takedown on Acosta in the early seconds, but Acosta escaped and gained Dunning’s back for the opening takedown. Dunning struggled to find an opening after Acosta quickly gained an escape point to start the third period. Acosta scored a double-leg takedown to take a 5-2 lead in the second. Acosta clamped on a waist lock to haul Dunning to the mat and eventually prevailed 12-5 for his first high school tournament championship.

The opening period of the heavyweight championship match went scoreless between Vazquez and Gray. After Gray gained an early escape point in the second period, Vazez hooked Gray’s arm and secured a trip takedown that led to back points and a 5-2 lead. Vazquez was fresher down the stretch as Gray couldn’t shoot in for a takedown.

“Hugo has come a long way,” Poteat said. “He’s worked hard and we enjoy having him lead this team as a junior.”

Orange’s Dillon Heffernan pinned Paul Vogel of Bartlett-Yancey in the 3rd place at 126 pounds match in 1:41. Heffernan opened the tournament pinning Vogel in the first round in 1:40 before losing to the eventual champion, Cardinal Gibbons’ Liam Hickey.

Orange’s Jared Hutchins finished 3rd at 132 pounds after pinning Northwood’s Aiden Vigus in 2:31. Hutchins reached the semifinals after he pinned Cameron Stokes of Bartlett Yancey in :28 seconds.

Kale Womble and Brendon Worsham finished fourth in their respective weight classes.

The Panthers will return to dual match mode on Wednesday when they face Cedar Ridge, Jordan-Matthews and Providence Grove in a quad match at Red Wolves Arena. The Panthers are tied with Northwood for 1st place in the Central Carolina Conference with a 3-0 record. Orange has defeated Person, Walter Williams and Western Alamance in the opening month of the season as they pursue its 18th conference championship in 19 years.