Winter 2023 Playoff and Championship Results
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Sports Stories Submitted
Hickory Ridge HS
Co-Ed Varsity Swim and Dive
Playoff Results
Greater Metro 4A Conference Championship Meet – The Hickory Ridge Men’s team placed 1st in the meet for their first conference title since the 2008-2009 season where the men’s team were South Piedmont 3A conference champions. In fact the championship title came down to the 400 Free Relay EXACTLY as was the case in the 2008-2009 title. The Hickory Ridge coach for the 2008-2009 title was Head Coach Debbie Benfield, who coached Head Coach Matt Krieger from 2009-2013 when he swam for Hickory Ridge, who is the current HC for Hickory Ridge.
Playoff Results
Cabarrus County Swimming Championship – The first time Cabarrus County had a County Championship since 2014. Hickory Ridge head coach Matt Krieger and Concord head coach Ray Morgan helped organize the meet to make it happen with the assistance of all the Cabarrus County Schools. The Hickory Ridge men’s team took home first place for the County Championship meet, likely the first time ever as they did not have all Cab Co Schools in the conference in 2008-2009 when they won the SPC 3A Conference championship. The Men’s team finished with 403 points comfortably topping West Cabarrus HS in the county championship meet.
Playoff Results
Alex Garmon (JR) became the first person in Hickory Ridge Swimming History to make it to to NCHSAA 4A State Championship in individual events for prelims in ADDITION TO making it to FINALS for both individual events. The Men’s 400 Free Relay also made it to FINALS (Ligi,Schmidt,Ligi,Garmon) with a finals time of 3:15.12.
Records
Mens’ team has set and beaten their own records a total of 20 times in the 2022-2023 season. Records below are latest/fastest record set this season and previous record set in a previous season/year. I can provide complete record progression from the season if wanted.
Alex Garmon (JR) – 50 Yard Freestyle – Feb 10, 2023 – 21.17, previous record – Adam Mulchi – Feb 2, 2011 – 22.18
Tyler Ligi (JR) – 200 Yard Freestyle – Jan 11, 2023 – 1:48.82, previous record – Kieran Arbury – Feb 10, 2017 – 1:50.49
Parker Murphy (FR) – 500 Yard Freestyle – Jan 6, 2023 – 5:07.12, previous record – Kieran Arbury – Dec 16, 2016 – 5:11.36
Tyler Ligi (JR) – 100 Yard Breaststroke – Jan 19, 2023 – 1:01.61, previous record – Tyler Ligi – Feb 5, 2022 – 1:03.04
Alex Garmon (JR) – 100 Yard Butterfly – Feb 10, 2023 – 51.26, previous record – Zack Lambert – Jan 22, 2011 – 53.81
Parker Murphy (FR) – 200 Yard Individual Medley – Feb 4, 2023 – 1:59.95, previous record – Quinn Montgomerie – Feb 7, 2013 – 2:00.79
Tyler Ligi (JR), Andrew Schmidt (JR), Parker Murphy (FR), Alex Garmon (JR) – 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Feb 10, 2023 – 1:29.27 – previous record – Adam Mulchi, Matt Icard, Zack Lambert, Ben Mack – Feb 12, 2010 – 1:32.00
Tyler Ligi (JR), Andrew Schmidt (JR), Parker Murphy (FR), Alex Garmon (JR) – 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Feb 10, 2023 – 3:15.12 – previous record – Cole Shimberg, Keaton Anderson, Keaton Arbury, Kieran Arbury – Feb 10, 2017 – 3:28.06
Alex Garmon (JR), Tyler Ligi (JR), Parker Murphy (FR), Andrew Schmidt (JR) – 200 Yard Medley Relay – Jan 19, 2023 – 1:40.33 – previous record – Tyler Ligi, Cooper Denning, Alex Garmon, Andrew Schmidt – Feb 5, 2022 – 1:42.39
Spotlight
Parker Murphy (FR) [Far Right] wore silver pants to one of the first regular season meets and started a trend with his peers who all swim together on the same relays. The trend even spread to Coach Matt Krieger who surprised the boys by switching into a pair during their 200 Medley Relay at the Greater Metro 4A Conference Championship so they wouldn’t know ahead of time. Pictured (left to right): Tyler Ligi (JR), Andrew Schmidt (JR), Coach Matt Krieger, Alex Garmon (JR), and Parker Murphy (FR)
Alumni Spotlight
Head Coach Matt Krieger (HRHS Class of 2013, swam for Hickory Ridge all 4 years 2009-2013, 2 years as team captain) completed his 4th season as Head Coach for Hickory Ridge, 6th year total coaching the team (first 2 years as assistant). Received title of Greater Metro 4A Conference Men’s Coach of the Year for Swimming for second year in a row. First conference title as head coach.
Cox Mill High School
Wrestling
Our wrestling program continues to improve and finished their season with a 22-6 overall record and 3rd overall in the conference. We had 13 of our wrestlers qualify for regionals and the team placed 4th overall in our region. We had 4 of our wrestlers qualified for the NCHSAA 4A State Tournament. Asher Watson, Bryce Gadson, Sam Cowher, and Cooper Davis are the individuals. Sam Cowher finished 3rd overall in the state and Cooper Davis won the 126 pound State Championship. Congrats to Cooper, Sam and the rest of the athletic department.
Swimming
Our Swim team had a very successful 2022-2023 season. As a team they won the Cabarrus County Championship at the Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center and then had a very impressive showing at the Conference meeting placing 2nd overall. We had 12 wrestlers qualify for regionals and had 5 qualifying for the NCHSAA State meet. Andril Polotov, Bhargav Vadapalli, Ben Leckinger, Connor Solvason, and Decon Arnone all competed and big congrats to Connor Solvason who placed 6th overall.
Girl's Basketball
Our girls basketball team completed another winning this season after falling in the NCHSAA 4A State Playoffs against #13 Alexander Central. Our girls earned a #20 seed and competed well leading the game at halftime. They complete their season with a 15-11 record and a 4th place finish in the conference. Senior Kay Decker earned All-Conference honors for the team.
Boy's Basketball
Our boys basketball team completed its 10th winning season in a row on Tuesday with a record of 19-9. The Chargers fell in the playoffs to Ardrey Kell on Tuesday to end their season. The Chargers won the conference tournament championship last Friday defeating AL Brown, Hickory Ridge, and Mooresville in the same week. DJ Boyce and Sean Dunn were voted All-Conference and Langston Boyd was voted as the Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
Coach Spotlight
Keimaya Hunter has been named our New Head Volleyball Coach. Coach Hunter was the assistant varsity and Head JV coach this past season on our Regular-Season Co- Conference Championship team. Hunter played at Mallard Creek High School and played in college at UNC-Chapel Hill for four years. We are excited to have Coach Hunter staying with us as she will be an EC Teacher Assistant on Campus.
Central Cabarrus High School
Cheerleading
Records
Spotlight Stories
Playoff & Championship News
Boys Basketball
3A Men's Basketball
At the 3A Men’s Basketball State Championship, Central Cabarrus pushed past Northwood 65-51 to win gold. The victory gave Central Cabarrus their second state title and first since 2000.
Central Cabarrus finished a perfect season with a record of 32-0. The Vikings were the champions of the South Piedmont 3A and won the school’s second Regional Championship.
Desmond Kent Jr. was selected as the Charlie Adams Most Valuable Player of the Championship.
Jaiden Thompson was chosen as the Most Outstanding Player for the Vikings.
A 2023 NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Award was given to Adriel Miller from Central Cabarrus.
Wrestling
4A Men's Wrestling
At the 4A Individual Wrestling State Championships, Hickory Ridge finished in 6th place with a team score of 63.5.
Two Cabarrus County Athletics wrestlers took home gold:
4A 126 lbs Championship: Cooper Davis (Cox Mill) dec. Joey Baisley (Charlotte Catholic), 4-1.
4A 195 lbs Championship: Tomas Brooker (Hickory Ridge) dec. Trystan Richardson (Laney), 15-5.
Several more won top honors including:
4A 145 lbs Fifth: Colt Campbell (Hickory Ridge).
4A 182 lbs Fifth: Kyle Perry (Hickory Ridge).
4A 220 lbs Third: Sam Cowher (Cox Mill).
3A & 2A Men's Wrestling
At the 3A Individual Wrestling State Championships, Central Cabarrus finished strong with a team score of 72.5 and a gold finish for Charleston Baglio in the 3A 126 lbs Championship: Charleston Baglio (Central Cabarrus) dec. Isaiah Morrison (Enka), 14-7.
Other Central Cabarrus wrestlers advancing to the Championship round were Jackson Baglio (132 lbs) and Tyriq Freeman (145 lbs)
Also in the 3A 145 lb division was Daniel Tierney (Concord) who placed third.
At the 2A Championships, Mount Pleasant finished third the the team rankings with a score of 96.5 and a repeat gold champion for David McEachern in the 132 lbs Championship: David McEachern (Mount Pleasant) pinned Corey Fazekas (Northeastern), 4:43.
Other notable finishes for Cabarrus wrestlers included:
113 lbs Fifth: Seth Almond (Mount Pleasant).
126 lbs Third: Josh Hammac (Mount Pleasant)
220 lbs Championship: Jose Flores (Southwestern Randolph) dec. Colt Kluttz (Mount Pleasant), 3-0.
Women's Wrestling Invitational
The NCHSAA crowned champions at its Girls Wrestling Invitational. The two-day event culminated with competitions in 12 weight classes.
Cabarrus County Athletics wrestler, Caden Collett of Northwest Cabarrus placed fourth in the 145 lb Division.
This marks the final year the NCHSAA will hold the girls wrestling invitational. Beginning with the 2023-2024 season, girls wrestling will become a sanctioned sport in North Carolina, making the sport eligible to hold state championship competitions.
Swimming/ Diving
Women's Swim/Dive
At the NCHSAA 3A Women’s Swim/Dive Championships, Central Cabarrus stunned the meet finishing in second on the women’s side, after not finishing in the top two of their regional a week ago.
The Vikings were bolstered by powerful performances in the relays, winning two of the three relay events of the night. The Vikings saw Abbey Cronin, Bellum Vine, Lyla Johns, and Audrey Wolff check in at 1:53.11 to win the 200 Medley Relay. The same foursome claimed victory in the 400 Free Relay to cap the night with a time of 3:41.90.
Cronin was the lone Viking to win an individual event, climbing to the top of the podium in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 58.28 seconds.
Bellum Vine from Central Cabarrus was a 2023 3A Women’s Swimming & Diving Sportsmanship Award winner.
Men's Swim/Dive
The 3A Men’s Swim/Dive Championships saw NW Cabarrus finish 3rd in the team rankings taking home three top finishes. The team of 1) Ranier, Harrison SR 2) Gould, Justin SO 3) Bradshaw, Lane SR 4) Rinker, Jacob SR clutching the Men 200 Yard Medley Relay.
NW Cabarrus seniors Harrison Ranier and Lane Bradshaw took gold and silver in the Men 200 Yard IM. Lane went on the win the Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke and Ranier added to NW Cabarrus points with a silver in the Men 100 Yard Butterfly.
At the 1A/2A Swim/Dive Championships, Senior TJ Spokas of JM Robinson took home gold in the 200 Yard Freestyle and 2nd place in the 500 Yard Freestyle.
Indoor Track
3A Women's Track/Field
Lily Houston, a junior from NW Cabarrus captured a top 3 finish in the 3A Women Pole Vault competition measuring 10-06.00.
