Two matches in two nights couldn’t stop Orange Wrestling perfect record.

The Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 60-15 on Thursday night at Orange High, meaning Orange is two wins away from winning its 16th consecutive conference championship. The Panthers, now 16-0, face Southern Durham next Wednesday in Hillsborough before taking on Northern Durham on January 24.

Orange registered seven pins to defeat the Tigers. Avery Jenkins victory at 160 over Jack Davenport in 2:56 put the match out of reach. The Panthers won the match in the heavier weight classes, reeling off four straight pins. After Jenkins’ victory, Trey Jones pinned Bryan Ramirez in 3:38. At 182, Josiah Ramirez remained undefeated by pinning Milan Aghaiepour in :48. Braden Homsey mainined his unblemished mark with a :39 pin of Daniel Gonzales. Heavyweight Daylan Alston received a forfeit win to start the night.

At 145, Luke Riley pinned Bryan Lopez in 2:46. Kessel Summers edged Ta’Vonne page 13-7 at 106. Mitchell Askew pinned David Cureton in 4:34.

The most competitive match of the night came at 120, where Zin Maung edged Justin Hutchins 6-4 in overtime.

Bailey Hawkins, who has won two individual championships this year, pinned Erick Islas-Hernandez in 2:51. Gavin Wiggins wrapped up a technical fall, 15-0, at 132.

With another conference championship possibly on the horizon, Orange will venture to Charlotte this Saturday for the King of Kings Tournament at Olympic High School.

Making a trip to the border of Virginia, the Cedar Ridge Boys Basketball team came away with its 2nd win in 24 hours.

Mekai Collins scored 20 points as the Red Wolves outscored Warren County down the stretch to defeat the Eagles (7-8) 66-61 on Wednesday night. After losing nine in a row, Cedar Ridge has now won consecutive games for the first time since December 2015, when they defeated Northern Vance and Granville Central just before Christmas.

Cedar Ridge put three players in double figures. Khalil Barnett added 14 points while Terrence Crawford added 12. Andrew Altieri came off the bench to score eight points.

The Eagles, who led 31-30 at the half, were led by 22 points from sophomore guard Andrew Smith. Sa’veyon Alston added 15.

Wednesday’s game wsa an make-up game from a contest that was supposed to be played last week, but was postponed because of winter weather.

Cedar Ridge will try for its first three-game winning streak since early December 2015 when they face Hillside at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. The tripleheader starts with the JV boys game at 4:30, followed by the girls game at 6. The boys game is slated to start at 7:30.

If the Orange Wrestling team wins its 16th consecutive conference championship, it will come under unique circumstances.

Since joining the Big 8 Conference, the Panthers’ two toughest competitors have been Northwood and Chapel Hill. Orange was supposed to face the Chargers last week, but the winter weather forced a delay to Tuesday night—-24 hours before the Chapel Hill match.

Orange climbed the first hurdle with relative ease on Tuesday night, beating Northwood 58-18 in Pittsboro after racking up six pinfalls and two technical falls. Trey Jones ensured another Orange win by pinning Northwood’s William Lane in :35, the second of four consecutive Panther pins that sewed up victory.

Kissel Summers opened the night with a major decision at 106 over Carson Richard 11-0. At 113, Mitchell Askew scored the first technical fall over Adam Wasmuth 16-0. That was followed by another major decision, where Justin Hutchins defeated Jamison Davis 9-1 at 120. Gavin Wiggins scored the first pin of the night at 126, putting Anthony Brinitzor’s shoulders to the mat in 1:22.

Senior Bailey Hawkins earned a technical fall over Grant Ray 15-0. At 145, Levi Anderson got a win with a major decision over Carter Stallings 13-1.

After Northwood’s Hunter Guinean and Jony Mazurek scored pins to narrow Orange’s lead to 28-12, Orange scored four consecutive pins to put the hay in the barn. Avery Jenkins pinned Montgomery Allgood in :57. After Jones’ victory, Josiah Ramirez ran his undefeated record to 29-0 with a pin of Hsemay Day in 1:03. Braden Homsey also remained undefeated by pinning Hunter Kingel in 1:58.

At heavyweight, Daylan Alston scored another pinfall victory, defeating Ben McGaughnea in 2:42.

Orange is now 15-0 and will host Chapel Hill tonight at 6.

It hasn’t shown in the win-loss record, but the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team has worked since early summer to try to make a daunting schedule in the Big 8 more manageable.

On Tuesday night, the hard work finally paid off.

Mekai Collins scored 16 points as the Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 47-43 at Wildcats Gymnasium. The victory ended the Red Wolves’ nine-game losing streak and was its first win since November 17 against Jordan-Matthews.

Cedar Ridge is now 2-10, 1-3 in the Big 8. The game was the first-ever conference matchup between the two teams.

The Red Wolves opened the game on a 14-5 run. Terrence Crawford added 15 points, while Eddie Altieri added six.

Justin Tucker led East Chapel Hill (3-9, 0-4) with 15 points. He was the only Wildcat in double figures.

Cedar Ridge will be right back in action tonight with another road game at Warren County. Tuesday’s victory over East was Cedar Ridge’s first game of 2018. They will return home on Friday to host Hillside.

The snow is off the ground, school is back in session, and the race to determine the Big 8 Girls Basketball Regular Season Championship appears to be as wide open as ever.

The only thing that seems certain is Cedar Ridge will be right in the thick of it.

The Red Wolves defeated East Chapel Hill 42-27 on Tuesday night at Wildcats Gymnasium. Madison Wardlow paced all scorers with 18 points as the Red Wolves improved to 3-1 in the Big 8, 9-5 overall. Cedar Ridge is tied with Hillside for 2nd place in the conference. The two teams will meet Friday at Cedar Ridge.

Jacori Walton added five points for the Red Wolves, who led 19-9 at halftime and were never seriously challenged in the second half. Yolanda Simpson and Logan Woody also scored five points each for Cedar Ridge, who played for the first time since beating Southern Vance on December 21.

No East Chapel Hill player got in double figures. Kayla Characklis paced the Wildcats with nine points. The Red Wolves held East to only four field goals in the entire second half.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Warren County tonight. Last week’s game against Northern Durham was postponed because of winter weather. A makeup date has yet to be announced.

CEDAR RIDGE: Yolanda Simpson 5, Tori Dalehite 1, Logan Woody 5, Madison Wardlow 18, Taylin Jean 3, Natalia Paray 4, Jacori Walton 5, Brianna Torain 2, Grace Davies 3.

EAST CHAPEL HILL: Kayla Characklis 9, T’Kiyah Reeves 5, Alex Mauney 6, Grace Vincent 2, Katie Characklis 2, Shoshana Halev 2, Victoria Baldwin 1.

As the Orange Wrestling team enters 2018, once again they appear to be the team to beat for the 3A Eastern Regional Team Championship, and possibly the entire state.

In its final meet of 2017, Orange swept all five matches in the West Stanly Open in Oaksboro on Saturday morning. A day that started with a 5:20AM bus ride ended with Orange remaining undefeated at 14-0 after five victories on Saturday.

Bailey Hawkins was named the Most Valuable Wrestler of the tournament following five victories, three by pinfall. In his final match of the day, Hawkins pulled out a 10-9 overtime victory over Mount Pleasant’s Dalton Milner.

Hawkins, who is now 26-4 on the season, started the day by pinning Central Davidson’s Brandon Goodnough in 1:57. In the following match against West Stanly, Hawkins pinned Kyle Black in 1:05. Following a forfeit win over Albermarle, Hawkins opened the match against Parkwood by pinning James Oliviero in 2:20.

Hawkins has ten pinfall victories this season.

The most competive deal match of the day came in the finale when the Panthers defeated Mount Pleasant 53-23. The Tigers took the opening five points with a technical fall at 138, but Orange assumed command after pins by Levi Anderson at 145 in 1:01 and Mario Manduiano in 1:34. Avery Penkins, coming off a 2nd place finish at the Tiger Holiday Classic, scored a technical falll 15-0 over Garrett McManus. Trey Jones pinned Pleasant’s Garrett Overbay at 4:56, while Josiah Ramirez remained undefeated on the season by pinning Nate Isenhour in 4:43. Braden Homsey, coming off a championship at the Tiger at 195, pinned Eli Gibson in :34.

At heavyweight, Daylan Alston edged Dustin Barnhardt 3-2 for his 101st career victory. Mitchell Askew pinned Travis Barley in 1:09 at 113.

Orange also defeated Central Davidson 59-18, West Stanly 64-6, Albermarle 71-6 and Parkwood 72-6.

Alston also earned five victories for the Panthers on Saturday. He pinned Central Davidson’s Anthony Chavis in just eight seconds, the fastest victory of Alston’s career. Alston also decisioned West Stalney’s Jessie Furr 7-2; pinned Albermarle’s Daylan Turner in :41 and pinned Parkwood’s Vareun Isaacs in :31.

Coming off his Tiger Holiday Individual Championship at 182 pounds, Josiah Ramirez remained undefeated on the season with four wins to improve to 28-0. Ramirez pinned Albermarle’s Montavius Hall in :33 and received forfeits against West Stanly and Parkwood.

At 195, Braden Homsey maintained his undefeated record with two victories to push his overall mark to 26-0. In addition to his pin of Hall, Homsey scored a forfeit win against West Stanly.

Gavin Wiggins had five victories on the day at 126. In addition to three forfeits, Wiggins defeated Central Davidson’s Drake Cullens by major decision 18-3. In his next match, Wiggins pinned West Stanly’s Korbin McNeill.

Mitchell Askew went 4-1 on the day at 113, as did Manduiano at 152 to improve to 22-13.

Orange returns to conference action on Wednesday at Northwood, who nearly defeated the Panthers in 2015. Action starts at 6 in Pittsboro.