Lorenzo Alston of Uwharrie Charter Academy came close to winning a national tournament. (Randolph Record)
Lorenzo Alston of Uwharrie Charter Academy finished as a runner-up in the National High School Coaches Association’s national tournament during the weekend at Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Va.
The three-time state champion had the highest finish of any North Carolina entrant in all of the boys’ high school divisions.
Alston, a North Carolina State commit, competed in the 145-pound division for juniors.
Alston mostly breezed through the bracket until falling by 6-4 to Pennsylvania’s Michael Turi in the championship bout. Turi is a Cornell commit from West Scranton.
To reach the final, Alston beat Blake Samuelson of Kansas by 16-5, pinned Louisiana’s Gage Robinson in 44 seconds, dominated Maryland’s Isisah Womack for a technical fall, overwhelmed Virginia’s Jonre Fisher for a 21-7 victory, upended Florida’s Massimiliano Pellicano 14-3, pinned Pennsylvania’s Jackson Butler in 3:29 and stopped Arizona’s Gus Cardinal in 5:26.
The only other Randolph County wrestler to place in the nationals was Southwestern Randolph’s Jose Flores. He was sixth at 220 pounds in the senior division.
Flores edged Delaware’s Mason Schulenburg 4-1, toppled Colorado’s Grayson Robinson 16-8, pinned Florida’s Myron Mendez in 2:41 and defeated South Carolina’s EJ Gaters 6-1.
Then he fell via a technical fall to South Carolina’s Cason Howle, the eventual champion, in the semifinals. Following a forfeit to Mendez (who placed third), Flores suffered an 8-3 defeat to New York’s Bryce Dadey in the fifth-place match.
Flores was a 2023 state champion who finished third in February’s second tournament in the Class 2A 285-pound division.
Several 2025 state champions from Randolph County racked up winning records in the nationals.
Wheatmore’s Dominic Hittepole went 3-2 in the 182-pound division for juniors.
Hittepole defeated Griffin McQuade of New York by 7-1 before falling by 7-4 to Campbell Frook of Virginia. Then Hittepole beat Jaxon Koenig of New York by 7-0 and defeated Aidan Buck of Georgia by 6-3, but his tournament ended with a 16-4 loss to Emerson Murphy of West Virginia.
In the sophomore division, Trinity’s Aiden Burkholder and Wheatmore’s Ayden Sumners posted 3-2 records.
Burkholder, at 106 pounds, pinned Alexavier Orellana of Massachusetts in 3:30, lost by 12-2 to New Jersey’s Thomas Blewett, stuck Sam Boltes in 2:26 in a rematch of the state final, edged New Mexico’s Eli Archibeque for a 4-2 decision and fell by 5-2 to Alabama’s Eli Sanders. Boltes wrestles in high school for Washington.
Sumners, competing at 126, stuck Braiden Bartlett of Texas in 3:52, and outscored Jeratt Robinson of Idaho by 9-7 before a 10-6 loss to Brandon Veno of Ohio. That was followed by a 1-0 decision against Pennsylvania’s Pierce Reinhart and a 3-1 setback to Rhode Island’s Robert Douangmala.
In the junior division, 120-pounder David Lambright of Eastern Randolph went 0-2 with losses to opponents from Maryland and Virginia.
Also, Joseph Trahan of Trinity went 3-2 at 285 pounds for juniors. He was fifth in the state meet in Class 2A.
Trahan pinned Christopher Hershman of Pennsylvania in 1:17 and flattened Julian Aviles of New York in 2:54. He lost by 8-0 to Christopher Funches, the eventual fourth-place finisher, of Virginia before registering a 58-second pin of Alex Miller from Georgia. Trahan was ousted by Rhode Island’s Hadrian Duncan, who posted a pin in 3:28.
