Wheatmore: Madeline Brown, Emily Cribbs, Sydney Hall, Haley Hedrick, Paisley Hollifield, Victoria Joyce, Allison Moore, Elizabeth Underwood, Madison Varner, Ava Williamson.
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Wrestling
Lower Weight Wrestler of the Year: David Makupson (Trinity)
Upper Weight Wrestler of the Year: Doug Bowles (UCA)
Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Grayson Roberts works for a takedown against Avery County’s Bradley Parker at 160 pounds Saturday.
GREENSBORO – Uwharrie Charter Academy came within a couple of matches of claiming a state championship in dual team wrestling.
The Eagles rallied at times but ultimately came up short in a 39-30 loss to Avery County in the Class 1-A championship meet Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.
Avery County picked up its second straight state championship.
For UCA, it was a memorable experience.
“I thought the kids performed outside of their minds,” coach Chris Waddell said. “I thought they did great. I wasn’t looking at anybody’s performance with anything but positivity.”
The Eagles won five consecutive bouts to turn a 15-0 deficit into a 24-15 lead. But Avery County countered by winning the next five matches before a forfeit in the last weight class on the docket.
The meet began at the 138-pound weight class, with Avery County winning the first three matchups.
UCA’s run began with Grayson Roberts delivering a 6-4 decision against Bradley Parker at 160. Doug Bowles pinned Seth Blackledge in 5:14 at 170, Jayden Maness flattened Lane Hoilman in 3:34 at 182, Aiden Carter stuck Brandon Cabrera in 2:52 at 195 and Jaden Marion notched a 4-0 decision against Zach Vance at 220.
The only other points for UCA came when Aldo Hernandez was awarded a forfeit at 132 after the team outcome had been determined.
Avery County’s Kenneth Pritz was selected as the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler based on a pin of Aiden Allred in 1:33 of the 120-pound bout.
UCA (35-1) could be built for the long haul. There were just three seniors in the 14-wrestler lineup used Saturday.
“One of the funnest teams I’ve ever coached,” Waddell said. “We’re mostly made up of freshmen and sophomores. For them to be in this environment and do what they did was great.”
UCA won four times to advance to the final. That included capturing the East Regional semifinal by 45-40 against Pamlico County on Wednesday and later that day defeating host Rosewood 44-34.
In Class 2-A, Trinity’s title bid ended in the regional final. A 38-33 triumph against Newton-Conover in the West Regional semifinal was followed by a 33-31 loss to host Bandys.
Palma places second in girls
UCA’s Jazmin Palma was the runner-up at 114 pounds in the state girls’ invitational, a two-day event that concluded with Saturday’s finals at the Fieldhouse in Greensboro.
Palma posted three pins to reach the championship match. There, Mt. Airy’s Hope Horan recorded an 11-3 decision against Palma.
Palam advanced by pinning Lumberton’s Teresa Canady, Overhills’ Liliana Lizard and Cherokee’s Jaylynne Esquivel.
Regionals set
Individual regionals will be held Friday and Saturday, with berths in next week’s state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum up for grabs.
For Class 3-A, Asheboro’s qualifiers will go to the Midwest Regional at Eastern Guilford.
For Class 2-A, entrants from schools in the Piedmont Athletic Conference are assigned to the Midwest Regional at the Cabarrus County Arena.
For Class 1-A, UCA and Eastern Randolph wrestlers head to the East Regional at Rosewood.
It safe to say that it’s heating up in Piedmont Athletic Conference boys’ basketball.
Teams are chasing Providence Grove with a couple of weeks to play, but it’s clear the Patriots might not be in cruise control.
“We’re banged up,” Providence Grove coach Wes Luther said. “Who can survive the longest? Hopefully, we’re going to keep grinding it out.”
An example of the challenges that exist came with last week’s 55-52 escape at Southwestern Randolph.
The Cougars made it difficult for much of the night on the first-place Patriots, who cranked up their defense at opportune times.
“They turned up the pressure a little bit and really got after us on the perimeter,” Southwestern Randolph coach Matt Kiser said. “We allowed their pressure to bother us a little bit. Those were good adjustments that they made.”
With a cluster of teams in pursuit, the Patriots can’t afford to let their focus wander.
“I keep telling them don’t even think of one game at a time,” Luther said. “Just think of one quarter at a time.”
Southwestern Randolph could factor into how the pecking order unfolds near the top of the standings, particularly if the Cougars have pull off an upset or two down the stretch.
“Being right there at the end, that proves to our guys (that we can compete),” Kiser said. “I know it’s frustrating for them because we come out on the wrong end of so many of these games.”
Randleman’s Chenleigh Robinson lays the ball up during a game against host Eastern Randolph last week in Ramseur. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Staying within range
Meanwhile, Trinity and Uwharrie Charter Academy staged a clash to see which team will be the top contender to first-place Providence Grove across the final two weeks of the regular season.
It took overtime for Trinity to pull out a 66-63 road victory against UCA.
“It’s huge,” Trinity coach Tim Kelly said of aiding the positioning in the standings for his team.
Trinity’s Dylan Hodges sent the game to overtime with a basket in the waning seconds of regulation. That capped a rally from a 10-point hole in the fourth quarter.
“Once it got down to five, it’s anybody’s game if you make good plays,” Kelly said. “We just hung together and started doing the things we’ve worked on in practice.”
Kelly said he liked how his team displayed a scrappy approach.
“We really hit the boards hard in overtime. We’re not really big,” he said. “We made some things happen.”
The Bulldogs finished with a 43-33 rebounding advantage.
Also by the end, Dominic Payne’s 27 points provided the biggest boost, while Trace Moffitt added 14 points and Aiden Blakely had 10 points.
“Dominic really stepped up and started competing,” Kelly said.
UCA’s balance scoring included 14 points apiece from Alijah Barker and Pierce Leonard, 13 points from Ashton Troutman and 12 points from Dawson Dunn.
The outcome avenged UCA’s 61-54 victory from December.
Note of the week
The undefeated Randleman girls scored the first 17 points in last week’s 63-19 victory at Eastern Randolph.
The 1,000-point milestone is in the works for a couple of area girls’ basketball players.
Gracyn Hall of Randleman reached that mark with a couple of strong games last week.
Autumn Gentry of Trinity entered this week within range of 1,000. The Bulldogs are slated for a game Friday at Uwharrie Charter Academy and a make-up game Saturday at Southwestern Randolph.
Hall and Gentry are juniors, so there could be plenty of time for their point totals to swell.
Hall racked up 21 points and 13 rebounds in last week’s 51-34 victory at Trinity.
The next night she eclipsed 1,000 career points with a 26-point, 14-rebound effort in a 64-54 victory against visiting Wheatmore.
That result pushed the Tigers’ record to 15-0. They moved to 7-0 in Piedmont Athletic Conference play, more than halfway through their 12-game league schedule.
Gentry had 15 points in the game against Randleman.
Trinity and Randleman are slated for a rematch Feb. 8 at Randleman.
Sorting out the boys
As the midway mark approached in the PAC, Providence Grove and Uwharrie Charter Academy have begun to separate themselves.
Providence Grove entered this week with a 6-1 mark in league play, with the lone blemish coming Thursday night in a 52-43 home loss to UCA.
That pushed the Eagles’ league record to 5-1.
In the Mid-Piedmont Conference, there haven’t been as many league games.
Asheboro and Ledford both got off to 2-0 starts in conference play. Central Davidson started this week at 2-2.
Asheboro will have almost two weeks in between games, so the Blue Comets should have some busy stretches the next couple of weeks.
Providence Grove’s head coach Calvin Brown throws up 1 finger for the extra point after they took the opening kickoff to the house for a touchdown against Jordon-Mathews at PGHS in Climax, NC on September 3, 2021. Brown was named PAC Football Coach of the Year. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
ASHEBORO — The Piedmont Athletic Conference announced its All-Conference selections this week.
Boys’ cross country
Runner of the Year: Zach Hazelwood (Wheatmore)
Coach of the Year: John Ruiz (Providence Grove)
Jayten Beasley (Providence Grove), Robert Burton (Providence Grove), Justin Bush (Providence Grove), Evan Meadows (Providence Grove), Kadan Shoptaw (Providence Grove), Logan Stove (Providence Grove), Zach Hazelwood (Wheatmore), Jimmy Smith (Wheatmore), Hayden Yates (Wheatmore), Trajan Johnson (Trinity), Brody Gardner (Eastern Randolph).
Girls’ cross country
Runner of the Year: Jazmin Palma (Uwharrie Charter)
From Southwestern Randolph: Easton Clapp, Adam Cole, Lane Dalke, Eli Gravely, Keaton Reed, Bryson Reed, Ernest Robbins, Clay Sugg.
From Randleman: Jozy Akins, Errvod Cassidy, Riley Edwards, Chris Gentry, Caden Lundsford, Sawyer McCollum, Gus Shelton.
From Trinity: Landon Carter, Griffin Dills, David Makupson, Dominic Payne, Evan Stepp.
From Wheatmore: Bryson Coltrane, Porter Grimes, Jackson Passmore, Dylan Wells.
Girls’ golf
Providence Groves Caroline Wright hits out of the bunker at the 2A Golf State Championship in Pinehurst, NC on October 25, 2021. (PJ Ward-Brown)
Player of the Year: Caroline Wright (Providence Grove)
Coach of the Year: Chris Chapman (Southwestern Randolph)
Team: Anna Holloway (Providence Grove), Morgan Hielig (Providence Grove), Caroline Wright (Providence Grove), Lexi Auman (Southwestern Randolph), Lindsey Auman (Southwestern Randolph), Caiden McDuffie (Southwestern Randolph), Paula Palmer (Randleman), Elizabeth York (Randleman).
Boys’ soccer
Offensive Player of the Year: Yane Jaimes (Eastern Randolph)
Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Bowser (Eastern Randolph)
Coach of the Year: Jared Raya (Eastern Randolph)
Team: Aaron Bowser (Eastern Randolph), Jaime Cortes (Eastern Randolph), Oscar Gonazalez (Eastern Randolph), Yane Jaimes (Eastern Randolph), Jonathan Perez (Eastern Randolph), Alei Torres (Eastern Randolph), Colby Chamblin (Uwharrie Charter), Max DeNamur (Uwharrie Charter), Jordan Harrison (Uwharrie Charter), Brady Mowers (Uwharrie Charter), Jake Perreira (Uwharrie Charter), Joseph Phetmixay (Uwharrie Charter), Jose Gonzalez (Trinity), Brenden Jenkins (Trinity), Logan May (Trinity), Moises Ventura (Trinity), Ryan Baynard (Wheatmore), Hunter Brooks (Wheatmore), Jagur Williams (Wheatmore), Jesus Garcia (Randleman), Nick Muro (Randleman), Francisco Vences (Randleman), Yahir Flores Fernandez (Southwestern Randolph), Steven Vences-Santos (Southwestern Randolph), Andres Carbajal (Providence Grove).
Girls’ tennis
Wheatmore’s Kara Comer returns the ball against Providence Groves Anna Money during their Pac-7 Tennis match at PGHS in Climax, NC on October 5th, 2021. PJ WARD-BROWN/NORTH STATE JOURNAL
Player of the Year: Kara Comer (Wheatmore)
Coach of the Year: Michelle Cable (Randleman)
Team: Kelly Carrick (Wheatmore), Kara Comer (Wheatmore), Mikalah Walls (Wheatmore), Hanna Wilson (Wheatmore), Amber Busk (Providence Grove), Audrie Frazier (Providence Grove), Anna Money (Providence Grove), Andee Bullard (Southwestern Randolph), Kaitlyn Gainey (Southwestern Randolph), Autumn Gentry (Trinity), Kenzi Johnson (Trinity), Lea Ingle (Uwharrie Charter), Emily Roach (Randleman).
Volleyball
Southwestern Randolph’s Payton Shiflet spikes the ball in the 2A playoffs at Southwestern Randolph in Asheboro, NC on October 23, 2021. (PJ Ward-Brown)
Most Valuable Player: Payton Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Defensive Player of the Year: Coley Shiflet (Southwestern Randolph)
Coach of the Year: Darby Kennedy (Southwestern Randolph)
