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.

With 12 seniors competing regularly, there’s a sense of finality to Orange Wrestling this season.

There’s also a sense of unfinished business.

After falling one takedown short of winning its sixth state championship last season in a two-point loss to Piedmont, Orange is now 20-0 this season. For most teams, advancing to the state quarterfinals is uncharted waters. For Orange, it’s just another step to the ultimate goal.

On Tuesday night, the Panthers defeated Morehead 53-20 to wrap up its second consecutive trip to the state quarterfinals. Morehead and Orange faced each other for the sixth time in seven seasons. In 2016, the two sides faced off in a dramatic 2nd round match in Eden where Morehead won the final match at heavyweight to advance.

However, Tuesday night wasn’t nearly as dramatic. Donald Hicks pulled a surprising pin over Nate Lowe at 2:55, and the Panthers never looked back. Heavyweight Daylan Alston edged Marcus Griffin 3-2. Alston scored the only takedown early in the third period, which proved to be the margin of victory.

After Kessel Summers received a forfeit victory, Orange led 15-0. Mitchell Askew followed with a technical fall over Aaron Marriot 15-0. Gavin Wiggins, wrestling at 120, scored a major decision over Alberto Martinez 10-1 to push Orange’s lead to 30-0. Bailey Hawkins, in his final match at OHS Gym, got another technial fall against D’Ante Richardson 16-1.

Avery Jenkins clinched the match for Orange by pinning Tyler Horton at 160 in :40. Josiah Ramirez, also in his final match at Orange, pinned Zachary Baumann in :49. At 195, Orange’s Braden Homsey remained undefeated with a forfeit victory.

Earlier in the night, Orange defeated Gray’s Creek 62-7. Homsey, Alston, and Jenkins all scored pins. At 170, Francisco McKinley, the kicker for the Orange football team, pinned Leo Walsh in 1:31. At 182, Chandler Howard pinned Hunter Cunningham iin 2:45. Summers, Hicks and Askew earned forfeit wins. Hawkins defeated Ethan Maguin 12-0, while Wiggins also scored a major decision against Zachary Grierson 19-5.

Orange will face Cape Fear in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The location and time for that match will be announced Wednesday morning. The regional championship will also take place Thursday night.

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.