Dozen Randolph County wrestlers reach state finals

Randleman’s Braxton Walker has his hand raised after winning a 215-pound quarterfinal bout against Holmes’ Gavin Pierce on Sunday at First Horizon Coliseum. (Bob Sutton / Randolph Record)

GREENSBORO – Randolph County wrestling teams will be well-represented in the finals of the high school state tournament.

Five Trinity wrestlers (three boys, two girls), two from Wheatmore and Randleman’s Braxton Walker are all in the Class 2A finals, while in Class 1A there are two finalists from both Uwharrie Charter Academy and Eastern Randolph.

The finals are slated to begin after the Parade of Champions at 4 p.m. Monday at First Horizon Arena. Consolation-round matches will take place throughout the day, beginning at 9 a.m.

Trinity has Aiden Burkholder (106), Jaden Allred (138) and Lawson Coltrane (165) will wrestle for titles along with Wheatmore’s Ayden Sumners (126) and Dominic Hittepole (175).

Dominance in Class 2A was displayed by Walker, Burkholder and Allred during the weekend in the rescheduled three-day tournament.

Walker registered three technical falls, yielding a total of seven points in those manhandlings. That included a match that lasted 5:21 in the semifinals against Trask’s Asher Eason.

“My goal was to run through my bracket,” Walker said.

Walker placed fourth last year and had bigger aspirations since then.

“Now I’m here and I’m very proud of myself that I made it this far,” Walker said.

Burkholder has a pin, technical fall and a 6-0 decision. Allred has won by two pins and a 14-0 decision.

Coltrane held on for a 5-3 semifinal victory against Wilkes Central’s Connor Ridgell.

“My conditioning and technique,” Coltrane said of what made the difference. “That was a big confidence booster for me.”

Coltrane has already improved on last year’s third-place spot, but he wants another victory.

“My mind is racing,” he said.

Sumners, who placed third in Class 4A for Ragsdale last year, came back from a 3-0 hole. Sumners went ahead with a takedown late in the second period and ended up pinning Rutherfordton-Spindale Central’s Sam Gosnell in 5:07.

“I put a lot of work and hours in,” Sumners said. “Hopefully, I’ll have a medal – a gold one.”

Hittepole has reached a final for the second year in a row. He needed a tiebreaking takedown with 49 seconds left on the way to an 8-6 decision against Eden Morehead’s Brock Blizzard in the semifinal.

“Not my favorite match, not my cleanest,” Hittepole said. “I still got my hand raised.”

Hittepole, who in the final will have a rematch Mt. Pleasant’s Jacob Reigel from a Midwest Regional title bout that Hittepole won Feb. 15, had smoother earlier matches with a major decision and technical fall.

The round wasn’t without disappointment. The last bout of the semifinals was being debated after all the other mats had been cleared.

That involved Southwestern Randolph senior Jose Flores (285), who was aiming for his second state title in three years.

He trailed Goldsboro’s Jaden McClary by 4-0 late in the bout with a repeated dispute about the clock unfolded. Southwestern Randolph coaches protested the issue, and officials held several conferences to try to sort it out.

When time had expired, Flores appeared to be working toward a move that might have turned McClary. The match was deemed complete.

Eighteen of the 23 qualifiers from Randolph County in Class 2A won first-round matches, and the other five claimed consolation-round bouts Saturday night.

Of those, Trinity’s Steven Cross (113), Omega Edge (120), Edgar Vasquez (126), Kayden Hess (132), Baron Justices (144), Jayden Henry (150) and Joseph Trahan (285) have all won two bouts by Sunday night and will compete Monday.

Wheatmore’s Spencer Moore (144) and Noah Browning (190) won second-round consolation bouts to stay in contention for place finishes. Teammate Johnathan Kelly (215) rallied in the final seconds to force overtime in that round before falling.

Providence Grove’s Mitchell Freeman (157) lost in the quarterfinals before responding to win his next bout.

Southwestern Randolph’s Nathan Garner (150) won by pin before suffering two losses.

Class 1A

UCA’s finalists are two-time champion Lorenzo Alston, a junior at 157, and classmate Michael Shropshire (215).

Eastern Randolph has David Lambright (126) and Maddox Carson (285) going for titles.

Alston, who’s undefeated, needed just one move in the semifinals, turning that into a 37-second pin of Starmount’s Brodie Wright. Alston began with a technical fall in 1:25 against Wesley Willey of East Stokes.

Shropshire needed overtime for a decision against Alleghany’s Dylan Phipps in the first round, using a takedown with 15 seconds to go in the extra period. Then came his 16-7 decision against Rosewood’s Nick Wade.

UCA coach Hayden Waddell said he felt good after the first round when eight wrestlers won bouts, but there were some glitches.

UCA’s Ayven Virasone Chitavong (106), Paxton Kearns (113), Andrew White (120), Rick Riccardella (138), Aiden Foster (165) and Caden Bond (175) lost in semifinals.

Lambright notched a 54-second pin and another fall in the second period against Polk County’s Amon Villarreal and South Stanly’s Ikey Holt.

Carson flattened both his opponents – Cherryville’s Ahmir Starr and Pamlico County’s Jacquin Kirkman – with second-period pins.

The Class 1A part of the tournament began Sunday with quarterfinals as there are eight wrestlers in each weight classic.

Class 3A

Asheboro 120-pounder Oscar Zelaya lost his first and third matches.

Teammate Bear Bigelow (126) went 0-2.

Girls’ tournament

Trinity’s Bliss Joyce at 132 and Briana Joyce at 235 both advanced to the finals after each winning three matches.

Bliss Joyce has recorded two pins.

Asheboro’s Alaina Scherer (235) was eliminated with losses in her two bouts.