41 local wrestlers reach state tournament

The excellent tradition of Randolph County wrestling continued this past weekend at the NCHSAA’s regional tournaments as 41 Randolph County wrestlers representing 8 county schools earned their way into the state championship meets.

Uwharrie Charter Academy, which won the state 1-A dual meet team championship for the third year in a row last week, had 13 wrestlers reach the individual state 1-A meet, meaning UCA will be represented in 13 of the 14 weight classes. Trinity had 10 wrestlers qualify, while Wheatmore had six, Randleman, Southwestern Randolph and Eastern Randolph had three each, Asheboro had two and Providence Grove one.

There were a total of 17 regional champions this year among the 41 qualifiers. Last year, Randolph County had 10 regional champions among its 38 qualifiers.

In the 1-A East Regional at Rosewood High School, UCA had five regional champions with Ayven Virasone Chiavong in the 106-pound weight class, Brandon Jordan (144), Lorenzo Alston (157), Aiden Foster (165) and Michael Shropshire (215) claiming titles.

Eastern Randolph’s Maddox Carson won the regional title at 285.

At the 2-A Mideast Regional held at Morehead High School, Randleman’s Alex Raymundo (106) and Braxton Walker (215) captured championships as did Southwestern Randolph’s Jose Flores (285) and Providence Grove’s Mitchell Freeman at 157.

In the 2-A Midwest Regional at Lexington High School, Trinity’s Aiden Burkholder (106), Stephen Cross (113), Jaden Allred (138), Lawson Coltrane (165) and Joseph Trahan (285) won regional championships, while Wheatmore’s Dominic Hittepole (175) and Ayden Sumners (126) also won titles.

The state wrestling championships are scheduled to be held later this week at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UCA’s other 1-A state meet qualifiers were Paxton Kearns (2nd at 113), Andrew White (2nd at 120), Caleb Saldana (4th at 126),  Brennan Worrell (3rd at 132), Rick Riccardella (2nd at 138), Caden Thorne (3rd at 150), Caden Bond (2nd at 175) and Ryan Alvarez (4th at 190).

“Our guys did what they came to do,” said Hayden Waddell, who is in his first year as head coach at UCA. “I’ve been preaching all year to trust your training. This tells me we’re doing things the right way and peaking at the right time.”

Alston will be seeking his third straight state championship.

“I mainly told myself to go out there and have fun,” Alston said. “Don’t worry about what the next kid is going to do. Just go have fun.”

Shropshire is headed to the state meet for the first time.

“Last year, I didn’t even qualify, I lost in the blood round,” said Shropshire, a junior. “This is my first time qualifying and it felt good delivering.”

UCA’s Chitavong pinned American Leadership Academy’s Lennon Ogden to win at 106; Jordan earned a first-period fall over Landon Yeates of Pamlico County at 144; Alston remained undefeated on the season with a technical fall victory at 157; Foster captured a 9-6 decision over Fabian Sabillon of Rosewood High School; and Shropshire earned a first-period pin over Central Carolina Academy’s Charlie White at 215.

ER’s Carson recorded a 5-3 decision over North East Carolina Prep School’s Daniel Silver at 285. 

ER’s Lucas Kennedy placed fourth at 120 and David Lambright was third at 126 to reach the state 1-A meet.

Trinity’s Burkholder pinned West Stanly’s Dax Osborne in the first round for the title at 106; Cross earned a hard-fought 5-4 decision over Alan Benetiz of Forbush at 113; Allred pinned East Surry’s Michael Fischer in the second period at 138; Coltrane recorded a 7-4 decision over Lexington’s Leviathan Haynes at 165; and Trahan earned a second-period fall over Terrel Williams of Forest Hills at 285.

Wheatmore’s Hittepole won a major decision over Mount Pleasant’s Jacob Reigel and Sumners defeated Mount Pleasant’s Seth Almond 8-1 at 126.

Trinity’s Omega Edge (3rd at 120), Edgar Vasquez (4th at 126), Kayden Hess (2nd at 132), Baron Justice (3rd at 144) and Jayden Henry (3rd at 150) all qualified.

WHS’ Nolan Hammonds (4th at 132), Spencer Moore (2nd at 144), Noah Browning (3rd at 190) and John Kelly (2nd at 215) qualified for the state 2-A meet.

RHS’ Raymundo, a junior at 106, recorded a heart-pounding 11-10 win over Colton McBride of McMichael for the title. He placed third a year ago.

RHS’ Walker repeated as regional champion, beating Ethan Kuball of Seaforth 4-1 in the 215 finals.

SWR’s Flores, the 2023 state champion who finished fourth in the state last year, recorded a fall in this year’s regional title match over Michael Vazques of McMichael at 285.

PG’s Freeman won a 19-6 major decision over Jamari Ray of South Granville in the finals. 

Also qualifying for the state 2-A meet were RHS’ Hezekyah Matson, who placed third at 126, and SWR’s Michael Jaimes (2nd at 138) and Nathan Garner (3rd at 150).

In the 3-A Midwest Regional held at North Davidson High School, Asheboro High School qualified two wrestlers. Oscar Zelaya placed third at 120 pounds and Berik Bigelow placed fourth at 126.

Overall, Randolph County had 17 regional champions, eight second-pace finishers, 10 third-place finishers and six fourth-place finishers. 

Trinity captured the team title with 222 points. Wheatmore was second with 148 and Mount Pleasant third with 129.5. 

UCA won the East Region team competition with 288.5 points. NECPS was second with 129 and Rosemont third with 128.5. ER was sixth with 96.5 points. There were 29 teams at the regional.

SWR was sixth in its regional (85.5), Randleman eighth (87) and Providence Grove 13th (58). There were 22 teams in the regionals. 

AHS was ninth in its regional with 81.5 points.