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Xavier Santos

Asheboro boys Jerquarius Stanback at Ledford

Asheboro athletes rank high on Mid-Piedmont Conference lists

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Jerquarius Stanback of Asheboro takes a shot during a boys’ basketball game at Ledford in the Mid-Piedmont Conference. He was named the league’s Player of the Year. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Here’s a list of the Mid-Piedmont Conference’s major award winners plus Asheboro’s all-conference selections for winter sports:

Boys’ basketball

Player of the Year: Jerquarius Stanback (Asheboro)

Defensive Player of the Year: Tanner Marsh (Asheboro)

Coach of the Year: Brian Nance (Asheboro

Asheboro: Jerquarius Stanback, Tanner Marsh, Hakeeme Butler, D.J. Headen.

 

Girls’ basketball

Player of the Year: Trista Charles Stanback (Oak Grove)

Defensive Player of the Year: Haley Long (Oak Grove)

Coach of the Year: Sissy Rauch (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: Sion Murrain

 

Boys’ swimming

Swimmer of the Year: Connor Cayer (Central Davidson)

Co-Coaches of the Year: Jennifer Brinkley (North Davidson), Brian Thoma (Ledford)

Asheboro: Tyler Smith

 

Girls’ swimming

Swimmer of the Year: Jenna Koh (Ledford)

Coach of the Year: Rachel Greene (Oak Grove)

Asheboro: Megan Becker, Maci Columbia, Madison Burnette, Fiona Wolfe-Roberts

 

Wrestling

Wrestler of the Year: Diego Gutierrez (Asheboro)

Coach of the Year: Jake Berrier (Asheboro)

Asheboro: Diego Gutierrez, Bearik Bigelow, Xavier Santos, Sammy Salinas, Michael Brady, Eddie Soto

UCA wrestling Carson Robinson v ER Bryce Foland Feb2023

Prep wrestling: UCA sends 10 to state tournament

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Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Carson Robinson, top, works on Eastern Randolph’s Bryce Foland during the 160-pound final in the Class 1-A East Regional. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

Five county schools have regional champions

ASHEBORO – Aldo Hernandez and Grayson Roberts will try to repeat as state champions as Uwharrie Charter Academy will send 10 wrestlers to the state tournament.

UCA, as the host school, rolled through Friday and Saturday’s Class 1-A East Regional.

Hernandez at 138 pounds and Roberts at 170 pounds were regional champions, joining 106-pounder Ethan Hines, 145-pounder Lorenzo Alston, 160-pounder Carson Robinson and 195-pounder Jaden Maness with those first-place spots.

The Eagles were overwhelming team champions with 251 points compared to runner-up North East Carolina Prep’s 152. Eastern Randolph was sixth with 115½.

The multi-day state tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum begins Thursday for Class 2-A, Class 3-A and Class 4-A, while Class 1-A starts Friday. Finals are slated for Saturday night.

Hernandez, who won in the 2021 states for Montgomery Central, and Roberts both moved up one weight class since last season.

Robinson won by a first-period injury default against Eastern Randolph’s Bryce Foland in the final.

The top four finishers in each weight class qualify for states.

UCA will also send regional runners-up Brandon Jordan (126), Jack McArthur (132) and Corbin Grissom (182) along with third-place finisher Alec Millikan (152). The Eagles will have entrants in 10 of the 14 weight classes.

Other than Foland, Eastern Randolph’s qualifiers are Jamie Crabtree (third at 106), Adrian Lopez (third at 126), Ian Moore (third at 220) and Carter Self (fourth at 120).

Class 2-A

At Bunn, Spencer May of Trinity, Dominic Hittepole of Wheatmore and Jose Flores of Southwestern Randolph won titles in the Mideast Regional.

May won at 120, Hittepole at 160 and Flores at 220.

Trinity was team runner-up behind Eden Morehead. Southwestern Randolph was fourth.

Trinity’s contingent at the state tournament also will include Brayden Hall (second at 113), Gavin Hardister (second at 182), Levi Dennis (third at 126), Joey Smith (third at 220) and Baron Justice (fourth at 138).

Wheatmore is sending Hittepole, Trey Swaney (second at 132) and Randy Spencer (fourth at 195).

Aside from Flores, Southwestern Randolph’s state qualifiers are Luke White (third at 138), Mason Leonard (third at 145) and Janaksel Perez (fourth at 106).

Providence Grove’s Colton Wood (285) heads back to the states after a runner-up spot in the regional. Teammate Mitchell Freeman was fourth at 152.

Randleman’s Braxton Walker (second at 195) and Kaelob Pearce (fourth at 132) advanced to states.

Class 3-A

At Lexington, Diego Gutierrez of Asheboro won at 120 pounds in the Midwest Regional at North Davidson to lead four Blue Comets into the state tournament.

Gutierrez went 4-0 to improve to 37-1.

Xavier Santos (113), who was a state qualifier last year, Christian Diaz (160) and Eddie Soto (195) also moved on with fourth-place regional finishes.

SWR basketball Landon Williamson Dec2022

Prep Notes: Area hoops teams show big progress

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Southwestern Randolph senior center Landon Williamson battles between Chatham Central’s Jacob Gilliland, left, and Aiden Johnson during last week’s game. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

RAMSEUR – The week before Christmas was relatively light for area teams and athletes, but there were some notable achievements anyway.

There was more high-scoring basketball action involving Eastern Randolph.

This time, a chunk of that was on the girls’ side with Brecken Snotherly pouring in 35 points as the Wildcats defeated visiting Burlington Williams 58-50.

On the boys’ side, Eastern Randolph rang up another big point total with an 84-66 home triumph against Burlington Williams. That pushed the Wildcats to a 7-1 record, with four of the victories coming when they exceeded the 80-point mark.

A season ago, Eastern Randolph won eight total games.

Randleman’s boys entered this week with a 7-4 record, also one victory shy of last season’s victory total.

** Dominic Payne racked up 26 points as Trinity trounced visiting West Davidson 76-38 in boys’ basketball. The Bulldogs carried a 10-2 record in this week’s holiday tournament games.

** Wheatmore’s Riley Strickland posted 26 points in the Warriors’ 62-40 victory at East Davidson in boys’ basketball.

** Southwestern Randolph’s Maddie Small scored 20 points in a 48-42 victory at Chatham Central in girls’ basketball.

In boys’ basketball, Sean Atkins had nearly half of Southwestern Randolph’s points, but the Cougars lost a 47-46 decision at Chatham Central despite his 22 points.

Wrestling

At Ronda, Asheboro won four of five meets in the East Wilkes Foothill Duals on Dec. 17.

The Blue Comets defeated Reagan 51-18, Corvian Community School 66-12, East Wilkes 43-23 and Wilkes Central 48-36. The Blue Comets fell 39-37 to Starmount.

Xavier Santos (120, 126), Diego Gutierrez (126, 132) and Michael Brady (182) all won five matches for Asheboro. Teammates Bearik Bigelow (106) and Eddie Soto (220) were among the four-time winners.

** In last week’s Mallard Creek’s Elizabeth Barry Memorial Tournament, Trinity placed third behind Mooresville and Bandys in the team standings. Edgar Vasquez Mora had the top finish for Trinity with a second-place spot at 106. Levi Dennis was third at 126.

ER Davonte Brooks in hoops Dec2022

Prep Notes: 41-point mark hit twice by area boys; UCA, Trinity wrestlers excel

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Eastern Randolph’s Davonte Brooks goes up for a shot last week against Wheatmore. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)

 

It was a big week for top scorers around Randolph County basketball last week.

Dominic Payne of Trinity and Davonte Brooks of Eastern Randolph were in the same category at times.

Payne poured in 41 points Friday in a 65-64 victory at Uwharrie Charter Academy. On the same night, Brooks posted 41 points in a 99-47 romp at Wheatmore. Teammate Timothy Brower had 28 points.

Wheatmore’s Parker Kines had more than half of his team’s points in that game with 26.

Payne scored 29 points in a 60-48 victory at Wheatmore.

Against Trinity, UCA’s Ashton Troutman racked up 33 points for more than half of his team’s scoring.

Brooks had big effort in a non-conference victory at Burlington Williams with 26 points in the 73-52 result.

Consider those individual totals when also on Friday night the final score of Randleman’s victory at Southwestern Randolph was 34-33.

On the girls’ side, Elizabeth York of Randleman scored 22 points in a 53-40 victory at Eastern Randolph. The Wildcats received 24 points from Kenly Whitaker.

Wrestling

At Asheville, Uwharrie Charter Academy had three individual champions and won the team championship in the Great Smoky Mountain Grapple at the downtown civic center.

Champions for UCA were Ethan Hines (106 pounds), Aldo Hernandez (138) and Lorenzo Alston (145).

Hernandez was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, defeating Enka’s Noah Tocaben 12-6 in the final after a technical fall of Hoke County’s Landen Nelson in the semifinals.

Third place went to Jack McArthur (132), Carson Robinson (160) and Grayson Roberts (170). Roberts, a 2022 Class 1-A state champion, dropped a 14-7 decision to Maryville, Tenn.’s Michael Colligan, the eventual runner-up, in the semifinals.

The tournament included teams from multiple states. UCA scored 189 points to runner-up Newton-Conover’s 186.

  • At Indian Trail, Trinity rode the strength of six titlists to a third-place team finish in the Porter Ridge Invitational.

Trinity’s Brayden Hall (113), Spencer May (120), Levi Dennis (126), Charles Schaefer (138), Gavin Hardister (182) and Joey Smith (220).

Edgr Vasquez Mora (106) placed third for the Bulldogs.

Porter Ridge won the team title with 183 points, followed by South Point with 165½ and Trinity with 162½.

Xavier Santos Asheboro wrestler Feb2022

Asheboro’s Santos finds wrestling niche, wins regional

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GIBSONVILLE – Xavier Santos was relatively late to find wrestling as a preferred sport. But he’s finding it to be a good time.

The Asheboro junior secured a regional championship at 113 pounds Saturday, and he’ll lead a contingent of Blue Comets to the Class 3-A state tournament.

Santos won all three bouts in the two-day Midwest Regional at Eastern Guilford. The last of those was a pin in 1:12 of the regional final against Oak Grove’s John Courson.

The Blue Comets will send five wrestlers to states this week at the Greensboro Coliseum, with twin brothers Luke Lambeth (160 pounds) and Logan Lambeth (182) placing second in the regional and Diego Gutierrez (126) and Michael Brady (195) grabbing third-place finishes.

Santos began wrestling as an eighth-grader upon the recommendation of Gutierrez. He’s been hooked ever since.

“He said, ‘You should try it,’” Santos said. “I just decided to try it and (it worked out).”

Santos began the season in the weight class before dropping down. Yet at 5-foot-6, he said he often is taller than opponents in the division.

“I try to use it to my advantage that I’m tall and a little bit long,” he said.

Santos moved up to the No. 1 seed in the regional when the favorite didn’t make weight. He took care of business from there.

“Xavier has come on real strong,” Asheboro coach Wes Berrrier said. “He has definitely set himself up for (the state tournament).”

Santos (35-6) recorded a first-period pin in the quarterfinals, a technical fall in the semifinals before the pin in the final.

Berrier said Santos has developed several moves that he can use to his benefit.

“He’s just a well-rounded kid,” Berrier said. “It’s not just one thing.”

Santos reached the 2021 state tournament, losing his only bout. It was a restructured tournament because of the pandemic.

“Hope to at least place this time,” Santos said.

The Lambeth brothers each reached the finals before losing.

Luke Lambeth lost to Central Academy’s Aiden Curry by a 13-4 decision. Lambeth’s record is 36-5.

Logan Lambeth had a tough time against Central Academy’s Brady Ross, becoming a pin victim at 5:16. Ross was the Class 2-A state champion at 170. Lambeth (41-3) reached the final with a pair of first-period pins and a technical fall.

Gutierrez and Brady had a busy day moving through the consolation bracket for their third-place spots.

Gutierrez finished by defeating Sam Workman of Central Cabarrus 8-5 in the third-place bout, fending off a late-match move after building a lead. Brady finished the regional with a pin of Carson’s Ian Shue in 2:24 to secure third place.

“Those kids fought back, and taking third place is something you like to see,” Berrier said.

The big bummer for the Blue Comets came at heavyweight. Fourth-seeded Arhman Tyson won his opening match Friday. But Saturday morning in the quarterfinals, he suffered what Berrier referred to as a fractured ankle. So Tyson endured an injury disqualification and was eliminated from the tournament, ending his senior season with a 36-6 record.

Christian Diaz of Asheboro won three matches at 152, but failed to crack the top four.

Asheboro was fourth in the team with 128 points behind Central Academy (158.5), Eastern Guilford (145) and Parkwood (141).