2025 in review: Lots of highlights to cherish for teams, athletes

There was a raucous celebration among team members when Southwestern Randolph claimed a boys’ soccer state championship in 2025. (Jann Ortiz / For Randolph Record)

There were plenty of thrills and other sports moments making news for Randolph County sports followers in 2025.

Here’s a list of some of the highlights and notables:

** New football coaches were hired at Providence Grove (Cody Moran), Randleman (David Diamont) and Trinity (alum Mark Raynor). Moran, a 2013 Randleman graduate, had been at Providence Grove as defensive coordinator and athletics director.

** There were nine individual wrestling state champions from Randolph County. Five schools were on that list.

Uwharrie Charter Academy’s Lorenzo Alston, then a junior, won a title for the third consecutive year. Other winners were UCA’s Michael Shropshire, Eastern Randolph’s David Lambright and Maddox Carson, Randleman’s Braxton Walker, Trinity’s Aiden Burkholder and Lawson Coltrane and Wheatmore’s Ayden Sumners and Dominic Hittepole.

UCA had team success earlier in February by defeating Mount Airy to secure the Class 1A dual team championship.

** Dale Inman of Level Cross goes into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. As a NASCAR crew chief, he aided driver Richard Petty’s championship pursuits in the Cup Series.

** Track and field success came again for Randleman’s Chase Farlow, who as a senior repeated as the Class 2A titlist in the high jump. He did so by matching a personal-best mark of 6 feet, 10 inches. He also placed second in the long jump.

In the winter, Farlow won an indoor track and field championship in the high jump.

In Class 1A girls, Eastern Randolph’s Mirianna Corea claimed the championship in the shot put a year after winning the discus.

** Uwharrie Charter Academy’s baseball team won its third consecutive state championship in Class 1A. The Eagles needed three games in the best-of-3 finals against Perquimans in the title series in Holly Springs.

Coach Rob Shore’s team had to advanced through the West Region final against Eastern Randolph.

During the regular season, Randleman won a conference championship for the fourth year in a row in the Piedmont Athletic Conference.

** Connor Carter, an Eastern Randolph alum, became the youngest champion in the Asheboro City Open golf tournament. He turned 20 years old a day before winning the late-spring tournament.

** Major change was enacted within the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, much of it related from expanding from four to eight classifications. At the forefront for some of these decisions was Stephen Gainey, superintendent of the Randolph County School System. He’s serving as president of the NCHSAA.

Conference realignment meant that the eight schools from the county in the NCHSAA are spread across four different leagues.

** Uwharrie Charter Academy advanced to the Class 4A state final before falling to Lake Norman Charter in a five-set championship match at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

The Eagles compiled a 24-match winning streak along the way. That included topping Randleman in the East Region final.

** Southwestern Randolph’s boys’ soccer team won it all in Class 4A, capturing the first team championship for a boys’ team in school history.

After a runner-up finish in 2024, the Cougars were determined to take the next step and they did. It took a riveting comeback in the East Region final against Clinton before Southwestern Randolph went to Guilford College and produced a 3-0 victory against Newton-Conover in the championship game under coach Jimmy Walker.

** Randleman had a notable from boys’ soccer as well, with Owen Leonard becoming the all-time leading goal scorer in program history. He also was a kicker for the football team.

** Eastern Randolph again made the deepest run of any football team in Randolph County. But the Wildcats were stopped in the fourth round by eventual Class 3A state champion Shelby in a 43-41 home loss.

No other team from the county advanced past the second round, with four teams losing home games after receiving first-round byes.

Earlier in the fall, Providence Grove joined Eastern Randolph as a football conference champion. Eastern Randolph has won 24 consecutive football conference matchups.

Also, Asheboro put together its first winning record since 2016.