State titles highlight top Jacksonville area sports moments of 2022

It was a year that saw one area high school football team win an elusive state championship, two other squads also win state titles, five individuals bring home gold medals and one team reach the state final.

The year 2022 brought so many positive area sports moments. Here is a list of those moments in order of when they happened:

Female wrestlers make school history, Feb. 5

Dixon’s Isabel Rodriguez and Croatan’s Angelica Steffy became their schools’ first female state champions after they took gold medals in the NCHSAA Women’s Wrestling Invitational at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse.

They became the third and fourth area wrestlers to win titles in the women’s invitational since the tournament started in 2019.

Croatan sweeps indoor track titles, Feb. 12

Senior Navaya Zales won the 1,000-meter run in 3 minutes, 5.77 seconds, won the 1,600 in 4:59.99 and was second in the 3,200 in 11:00.15 while senior won the shot put at 50-1.75 to help the Croatan girls’ and boys’ squads each come in first place in the NCHSAA 3-A indoor track and field championships in Winston-Salem.

The Croatan girls scored 72.5 points, followed by West Carteret’s 49. The Croatan boys scored 73.5 points, followed by Dudley’s 52.

Southwest wrestlers win regional titles, Feb. 12

Southwest captured its second consecutive team title in the NCHSAA 2-A East Regional individual championships, thanks to four grapplers winning gold medals.

Junior Jason Rodriguez won his second straight 170-pound individual title, junior Carter Duhon captured the 106 crown, senior Dominic Szybka won the 145 title and junior Jeremiah Jones was the 152 champion.

Rodriguez makes more history, Feb. 22

Over two weeks after winning her state title, Rodriguez became Onslow County’s first female wrestler to sign with a college when she signed with Mount Olive’s female wrestling program. She became a part of the Trojan’s inaugural team.

East Duplin has memorable baseball season, May 17

East Duplin’s magical season came to an end with a 13-7 loss in eight innings to Roanoke Rapids in the third round of the NCHSAA 2-A playoffs.

What a season it was for the Panthers, who finished 23-1. They were in the third round for the first time since 2011, set a program record for wins in a season and won the East Central Conference title for the first time since 1998.

Three track athletes win state championships, May 20-21

Seniors AJ Matas of Croatan and DaShawn Grant of Lejeune and East Duplin junior Avery Gaby were the only area athletes to bring home gold medals in the NCHSAA championship meet at North Carolina A&T University.

Grant won the state 1-A discus title Saturday with a throw of 155-7, outdistancing Mountain Heritage’s Jesse Shelton by 1-3. Gaby won the 2-A 110 hurdles in 15.02, defeating Cummings’ Christian Gore by .21 seconds. Matas won the 3-A shot put title at 50-2, defeating Parkwood’s Nathaniel Rivers by one inch, to help Croatan finish second in the team standings.

Mercenaria wins 64th Big Rock Blue Marlin, June 18

Mercenaria, a 72-foot Viking from Cherrystone, Virginia, won the Big Rock Blue Marlin after its 572.6-pound marlin caught on the first day of the tournament in Morehead City held on.

Mercenaria won $3,489,812 of the Big Rock’s record $5,858,875 purse. Those record winnings include $777,750 for winning the Fabulous Fisherman Prize that goes to the boat that brings in the first marlin of at least 500 pounds.

Richlands defeats Southwest in football, Aug. 26

Richlands snapped a 32-game football skid against Southwest with a 7-6 home victory over the Stallions.

It marked the Wildcats’ first win over Southwest since a 3-0 victory on Sept. 30, 1988.

Richlands senior Zarion Walters blocked two punts and recovered two fumbles. One of his blocked punts set up Caleb Simco’s 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that gave the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

This meeting between the Wildcats and Stallions already was special; it marked the first game in this series since Nov. 8, 2019. The last two games were canceled because of COVID-19 -- the only times these teams haven't met since Southwest opened in 1976.

Richlands, White Oak earn conference titles, Oct. 28

Richlands defeated Dixon 49-0 and White Oak topped Swansboro 14-9 to secure a three-way tie for the Coastal 3-A Conference football title with West Carteret.

It marked the first conference title since 2000 for the Vikings and first since 2001 for the Wildcats.

Jacksonville soccer advances to state final, Nov. 16

Senior Cam Askins scored the game-winner with 8:54 left as eighth-seeded Jacksonville rallied from a deficit just 12 seconds in to defeat second-seeded First Flight in the NCHSAA 3-A East Regional final.

The win sent the Cardinals to their sixth state championship game in program history and first since 2013. Three days later, Jacksonville fell 2-1 to Hickory in the state final in Greensboro.

East Duplin wins football championship, Dec. 10

Championship game Most Valuable Player Avery Gaby rushed for 190 yards on 37 carries and had a 1-yard touchdown run in East Duplin’s 24-21 win over Reidsville in the NCHSAA 2-A championship game at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.

Reidsville entered with 19 NCHSAA state titles, but the Panthers made the plays they needed to secure their first championship in program history.

Zack Brown’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Kade Kennedy with 2:16 left on fourth-and-goal gave East Duplin a 24-14 lead. Elam Moore also returned a blocked field goal 70 yards in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead.

The Panthers’ run to the title came the hard way as they had to defeat rivals James Kenan and Wallace-Rose Hill, nemesis Clinton and Whiteville in the playoffs before facing off against the state’s most successful program in the state final.

Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.

This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Top Jacksonville NC area sports moments of the year in 2022