Orange High School

Orange 132-pound senior Bailey Hawkins is one win away from making the 3-A State Wrestling Tournament for the second consecutive year. On Friday night at the Mideast Regionals at Chapel Hill High, Hawkins started the night with a technical fall win over Jose Chahuiz of Burlington Williams 15-0. In the second round, Hawkins defeated Zach West of Southern Guilford 14-3. On Saturday afternoon at approximately 4, Hawkins will take on Matthew Bivens of Eastern Guilford in the semifinals. Hawkins is now 32-4 on the season.

There will be other wrestling matches for the 12 Orange High seniors who came up short against Piedmont for the 3A State Championship on Saturday.

In fact, almost all of them will be back on the mat on Monday morning at Orange High, preparing for the Mideast Regionals that start on Friday. Josiah Ramirez and Braden Homsey are favorites to reach the state tournament.

But after 52 dual match victories over the past two years, they will never wrestle as a team again. That’s why the tears flowed at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse a little more on Saturday afternoon.

If anything, Saturday’s loss to Piedmont may have been more disappointing than last year, when Orange led 29-17 with four matches remaining and was one takedown away from beating Piedmont to take its fifth state championship. Instead, Piedmont rallied for wins in the last three matches to win 29-27 in Monroe.

That memory stayed in the minds of Orange wrestlers for the rest of the year, even after Orange captured the 3A Individual Team Championship at the State Tournament two weeks later. The buzzword throughout the week around the Orange wrestling room was “redemption.” Plus, there was a sense of finality. The 12 seniors, who came up together after a disappointing loss to Eden Morehead two years ago in the 2nd round of the state playoffs, were competing for each other for the final time.

Orange couldn’t have asked for a better start. Josiah Ramirez pinned Travis Murphy in 1:31, and the large Orange contingent exploded. At 220, Braden Homsey remained undefeated with a major decision over James Price 17-9.

Then things quickly fell apart. Piedmont won seven straight matches, starting at heavyweight when Luis Oropesa defeated Daylen Alston 9-6. Just as they did last year, Piedmont controlled the lighter weighs to take the state title. Tripp Collins started things at 106 by pinning Kessell Summers in 3:59.

At 113, Bailey Wicker edged Mitchell Askew 6-3 to give Piedmont a 12-10 lead it would not relinquish. At 120, Nathan Huntley, who earned a huge victory last year against Orange when he defeated Askew, shut out Justin Hutchins 4-0.

Angelo Gilvary knocked off Gavin Wiggins 8-1 to put Piedmont ahead 18-10. Colby Funderburk, the hero of last year’s state championship match when he defeated Noah Davis 18-2 to seal the title, decisioned Bailey Hawkins 7-3 at 132. Mason Fisher pinned Malcolm Phillips in 1:34. Kylan Thomas pinned Orange’s Marion Manduiano at 4:22 to earn Piedmont its third Dual Team State Championship and second consecutive title.

Levi Anderson won a match at 145 for Orange.

It was a cruel ending that the same team that handed Bobby Shriner his last dual match loss also gave Spenser Poteat his first. But even harder for Orange is how it ends for 12 seniors who have earned four conference championships, two regional titles and an individual state championship.

However many victories Orange wrestling has gathered over the past 27 years, the quality of the young men involved have proven to be the program’s legacy, which will continue to get passed down. When it does, that will make the sweet times sweeter.

A month after blowing a 14-point lead to Chapel Hill, Orange gained a measure of revenge on Friday night by beating the Tigers 53-40. Orange started the game on a 17-4 run to lead wire-to-wire. Playing on three consecutive nights, the Lady Panthers captured two wins to improve to 8-13, 4-7 in the Big 8 Conference. Orange is currently tied with Chapel Hill for 5th place in the Big 8, three games behind Cedar Ridge. Orange wraps up the regular season next week with games against Southern Durham, East Chapel Hill and Northern Durham.

There was an old story about George Steinbrenner when he ran the New York Yankees. He said it wasn’t the winning that made the Yankees the envy of Major League Baseball. It was the collecting.

Orange Wrestling knows what it’s like to collect. They also know what redemption is, and they want to feel it on Saturday.

For one day at least, the Panthers will savor its tenth Eastern Regional championship, the first under new head coach Spenser Poteat.

For the second year in a row, the Panthers ventured into an opponents home gym in Cumberland County and came away regional champions. Last year, it was Gray’s Creek. On Thursday night, the challenger was stiffer.

Cape Fear was 15-0 and ranked #2 in by NCmat.com, only behind Orange. They had six wrestlers ranked in the state. Orange arrived shorthanded, losing 170-pounder Trey Jones to a knee injury in Tuesday’s 2nd round victory over Eden Morehead.

That forced Poteat to have several of his grapplers “go heavier,” or wrestle a weight class higher. Josiah Ramirez, normally a 182-pounder, competed at 195. Undefeated senior Brandon Homsey wrestled at 220.

And the Panthers hardly missed a beat.

Orange won four consecutive matches at the heavier weights, including a crucial pin by Caleb Brimmer at 182 pounds over Tyone Tillman at 1:28 of the 3rd period, and went on to defeat the Colts 32-30. Orange led 30-15 before forfeiting the final three matches.

Levi Anderson started the night with a major decision at 145 over Devan Reynolds 15-3. Without Jones, Orange forfeiting 160, falling behind 12-4, but senior Avery Jenkins started to make up that deficit with a critical 4-3 victory against Joey Saldana where Jenkins got the margin of victory with a 3rd period takedown.

After Briimmer’s pin, Ramirez defeated Nick Minacapelli 9-2 to increase the Panther lead to 16-12. Homsey notched his own major decision, 12-2, against Chris Matthews. At 106, Kessel Summers defeated Dylan Bryant 8-3. At 113, senior Mitchell Askew pinned Hudson McFadyen at 4:30. Another senior, Justin Hutchins, scored the most thrilling win of the night when he got a takedown against Jack Culberth with :15 remaining in the third period, sewing up the win for Orange.

In the regional championship match, Orange defeated West Brunswick 43-31, scoring six pins in the process. Mario Manduiano started the night with a 11-6 victory over Jeremiah Daily at 152.

Trailing 10-3 in the fourth match, Ramirez pinned DeVontae Frank in :58 at 182. Homsey followed by pinning Sae’vyon McVray in 2:14. At heavyweight, Daylan Alston put the shoulders of Emery Resendez to the mat at 1:23, giving Orange a 21-13 lead.

Orange won the final four matches to take the regional championship. It started with Mitchell Askew earning a major decision over Matthew Smith 13-4. At 120, Hutchins won his second match of the night by pinning Wyatt Gentile in 2:44. At 120, Gavin Wiggins pinned Julian LeGrande in 2:43. Senior Bailey Hawkins, in his only match of the night, completed the win with a pin of Gavin Bipes in 1:00.

On Saturday in the 3A State Championship match, Orange will get a rematch against Piedmont, the team that defeated Orange 34-32 last February in Monroe for the state title in what turned out to be Bobby Shriner’s final match as Orange coach.

The Panthers will face Piedmont on Saturday at noon at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse.

Orange senior Levi Anderson faced, what some would think, was an intimidating circumstance on Thursday night. He opened Orange’s dual match against undefeated Cape Fear inside Colts Gymnasium against Devan Reynolds. Anderson blocked out any distractions and defeated Reynolds 15-3 to improve to 21-3. Anderson’s win helped pave the way for Orange to capture its 10th regional championship later in the night against West Brunswick.

The Orange Wrestling team captured its 10 Eastern Regional Championship on Thursday night by defeating Cape Fear and West Brunswick. Possibly the most exciting individual victory of the entire night came at 120 pounds, where Orange senior Justin Hutchins scored a takedown with :15 remaining to defeat Cape Fear’s Jack Culberth 3-2. The victory vaulted Orange to a 29-15 win, and would lead to the Panthers giving Cape Fear its 1st loss of the season in the state quarterfinals. Against West Brunswick, Hutchins scored a pin in to put the Panthers head of the Trojans 37-19.

Pressed into a situation where he wrestled at a heavier weight than usual, Orange senior Avery Jenkins pulled off a huge victory in the state quarterfinals on Thursday night. Jenkins scored a takedown in the third period to defeat Cape Fear’s Joey Saldana 4-3 at 170, the first of four straight Panther victories. Orange would go on to hand the Colts its first loss of the season. Later, the Panthers would defeat West Brunswick to win the Eastern Regional Championship and advance to Saturday’s state championship match against Piedmont.

Don’t count the Orange girls basketball team out of the state playoff chase just yet.

For the second straight game, junior Icez Barnett led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 15 points to lead Orange past Northern Durham 40-28 at Poe Gymtorium. Orange (7-12, 3-6) led wire-to-wire, starting the game on a 12-3 run. Lauren Cates scored all five of her points in the first quarter, while Barnett scored seven.

Orange led 20-9 at the half. In the second half, Jala Rainey had her highest-scoring quarter of the season, finishing with eight points. Barnett scored Orange’s only two field goals of the fourth quarter as the Knights (3-13, 1-7) made a late run to make the score look respectable.

Wednesday’s victory was the first game in three days for Orange. They will travel to Northwood on Thursday for a tripleheader, then host Chapel Hill on Friday.

After action on Wednesday, Hillside leads the Big 8 at 10-1. Southern Durham is 9-1. Cedar Ridge is 5-3, while Northwood is 4-4. Chapel Hill is 4-6, while Orange is 3-6. The top four teams from the Big 8 will likely make the playoffs.

Also on Thursday night, Cedar Ridge will travel to Poe Gymtorium to face Northern Durham in a tripleheader that starts with the JV boys game at 4:30. The girls play at 6, followed by the boys at 7:30.

ORANGE 40, NORTHERN DURHAM 28

ORANGE: Grace Dively 3, Kate Burgess 2, Janea Myers 3, Icez Barnett 15, Lauren Cates 5, Nashyra Wilkins 2, Namron Chapman 2, Jala Rainey 8,

NORTHERN DURHAM: Eliniya Black 4, Alyssa Leishear 3, Breanna Jenkins 11, Malika Pierce 9, Zee Winston 1.

It was a hectic day for Orange Wrestling on Tuesday. Grapplers and coaches awakened to learn school was canceled because of snow, meaning the first round of the state dual team playoffs was seemingly postponed. However, after receiving permission to go on with the matches, Orange emerged with victories over Gray’s Creek and Morehead to advance to the 3A state quarterfinals. It will be Orange Wrestling Coach Spenser Poteat’s first trip to the state quarterfinals, where the Panthers will face undefeated Cape Fear on Thursday.

113-pound Senior Mitchell Askew wrestled his final two matches at Orange High Gym on Tuesday night. He won via forfeit against Gray’s Creek, then scored a technical fall over Aaron Marriot of Morehead 16-1. Askew will be a vital piece of the puzzle of Orange wants to advance past Cape Fear on Thursday night. The Colts are undefeated on the season after winning both its matches at Western Harnett on Tuesday to advance to the State Quarterfinals.