Event RESULTS

INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS - We are celebrating MULTIPLE spots on the podium including THREE STATE CHAMPIONS!!  See below:

WOMEN'S TEAM

STATE CHAMPIONS - Mia Kiser, LaNesha Gause, Leslie "Jewel" Barden **These 3 young women are the FIRST EVER State Champions in New Hanover Co. AND Laney High School history!!  

Runners Up - Sydney Simmons, Yesan "Evelyn" Huang

MEN'S TEAM

Runner's Up - Vincent Valentino, Sam McQueen

3rd Place - Mac Kopelman

SMUGMUG PICTURES - Laney Alumni parent, Steve Hopper, once again showed up and supported with some AMAZING photos. I think he is still arranging into folders but the link to view is below. THANK YOU STEVE HOPPER!!!!!

State Picture Link:

https://stevenhopper.smugmug.com/Wrestling-/NCHSAA-Wrestling-2026

Absolutely INCREDIBLE accomplishments by ALL! Your hard work has paid off!! And for those returning....keep grinding. Your time is coming.... 

MEN'S REGIONAL RESULTS - Congratulations to our Men’s Varsity yesterday at Regionals. The team placed 2nd in the region and the road to the Individual State Championship has been paved for FIVE of our Men's wrestlers! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOW QUALIFIED FOR STATES!!!!

Tommy Gillespie

Sr - 190 lbs

State Qualifier

Mac Kopelman

Sr - 165 lbs

3x State Qualifier

Darrell McIntyre

Sr - 215 lbs

2x State Qualifier

Sam McQueen

Sr - 138 lbs

2x State Qualifier

Vincent Valentino

So - 144 lbs

State Qualifier

I present to you, the 2026 NCHSAA 8A WOMEN'S EAST REGIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONS!!!! Our girls TURNED IT UP yesterday and brought home the Regional Championship team trophy with a total team score of 148.5!!  

Additionally, the road to the Individual State Championship has been paved for EIGHT  of our Lady Bucs! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOW QUALIFIED FOR STATES!!!!

Leslie "Jewel" Barden 

Sr - 235 lbs

3x State Qualifier

Genesis Escobar

Jr - 152 lbs

State Qualifier

LaNesha Gause

Jr - 185 lbs

2x State Qualifier

Yesan "Evelyn" Huang

Sr - 100 lbs

State Qualifier

Mia Kiser

Sr - 126 lbs

3x State Qualifier

Marla Revilla Hernandez

So - 138 lbs

State Qualifier

Sydney Simmons

Sr - 145 lbs

State Qualifier

Faith Thomas

Fr - 107 lbs

State Qualifier

NORTH BRUNSWICK RESULTS - Congratulations to both the Women's and Men's teams on their victories over North Brunswick. The women posted a perfect team score of 72-0 and the Men's final was 66-12. Great night of wrestling for our last regular season event!

New Hanover Results & Senior Night - It was a quick night vs New Hanover due to quite a few forfeits and no women's competition but congrats to our Men's team who won the dual with a final score of 69-12!

Congratulations once again to our TEN (10) SENIOR ATHLETES! You are all amazing young men and women and we wish you all the best as you prepare for your next journey off the mats of Laney High School:

• LESLIE "JEWEL" BARDEN

• TOMMY GILLESPIE

• TREASURE GRIMES

• YESAN "EVELYN" HUANG

• MIA KISER

• MAC KOPELMAN

• DARRELL MCINTYRE

• SAM McQUEEN

• SYDNEY SIMMONS

• ELI THOMAS

**Thank you also to Laney Athletic Boosters, Alumni Robby Tann, and Ellen Maselli for their help and especially to Coach Lucas Cotto (and family) for once again spearheading this unforgettable night for our Seniors. I'm sure I can speak for all the Seniors, parents and families that we all appreciate everything that was done to make the evening special and offer our heartfelt thanks to all who helped make it a memorable evening.

Picture Link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v80vRkX5K_V7em6jBkDa7FHRwlLDBhTd

AL Brown over Laney 40-23

Laney over Olympic 53-18

Union Pines over Laney 42-27

Laney over West Carteret 56-23

Laney over New Hanover 60-23

Laney over Ayden Grifton 64-18

Laney over Pamlico 78-6

Eastern Guilford over Laney 40-30

WEST BRUNSWICK RESULTS - Congratulations to our Women's team as they defeated West Brunswick last night 60-6! Our Men's team ALSO dominated and brought home the conference win 52-18!

Great effort as well by multiple JV wrestlers who were able to compete and continue to gain valuable mat time!

Last but certainly not least…we have 2 new members of “The Century Club”!!! Congrats to Seniors Sam McQueen and Mac Kopelman who BOTH earned their 100th Career Varsity win last night. Outstanding job, gentlemen!!

ANTONY DUNBAR DUALS - On Friday, both our Varsity teams traveled back to Cary High School to compete in the "Anthony Dunbar Duals" and BOTH TEAMS CAME HOME WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY!!! Dual results are below:

Women's Varsity 

Laney over Apex - 60-12

Laney over Cary - 66-5

Laney over Millbrook - 42-30

Men's Varsity

Laney over Jordan Matthews - 84-0

Laney over Apex - 49-25

Laney over Millbrook - 45-34

CAROLINA CLASH RESULTS: Always a great time at this event. Our men’s varsity competed in a “Super Dual” tournament over 2 days and we saw some fantastic results. Day 1 consisted of 4 duals. The results are:

• Laney over Kings Mountain 55-23

• Laney over North Lincoln 49-28

• Laney over Chase 83-0

• Laney over East Rutherford 64-17

Day 2 consisted of 5 duals as the men worked their way to the championship with a THRILLING victory over Rocky Hill, SC in the semifinals and fell to Pinecrest by 1 point in the championship finals. Day 2 results are:

• Laney over East Gaston 52-30

• Laney over Crest 72-12 

• Laney over Our Lady of God Counsel (MD) 52-26

• Laney over Rock Hill (SC) 39-37

• Pinecrest over Laney 40-39

Congratulations to our Men’s Varsity…Carolina Clash Runners up!

Our women?! The Lady Bucs competed in an individual tournament and it was fantastic seeing some new competition. As a team we were also Runners up (behind Rocky Hill SC). 4 of our ladies battled their way to the finals and ALL 4 earned a place on the podium including 3 CHAMPIONS!! Results are below:

• Champions  - Mia Kiser, LaNesha Gause, Jewel Barden

• Bronze  - Sydney Simmons

SGT MARK ADAMS - Both our Men's and Women's teams traveled to Cary, NC to compete in the 2-day, "Sgt Mark Adams Memorial" tournament.  While the team scores weren't where we hoped them to be, we did have MULTIPLE placers and ONE CHAMPION WHO CAME AWAY WITH THE COVETED BELT!! CONGRATULATIONS TO YESAN "EVELYN" HUANG ON BEING THE LONE CHAMPION FOR THE BUCS!!! OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENT!

Champions - Yesan "Evelyn" Huang

Runners up - Leslie "Jewel" Barden, Mac Kopelman, Darrell McIntyre

Bronze - Mia Kiser, Genesis Escobar, Tommy Gillespie

4th - Treasure Grimes, Vincent Valentino

6th - Faith Thomas

Additionally, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to MIA KISER! With her win during the tournament, she has joined what we call "The Century Club" and secured her 100th Career Varsity win! Great accomplishment, Mia. Well done!

WOMEN - LANEY 72, HOGGARD 0

MEN - LANEY 52, HOGGARD 29

SHARK DUALS - To wrap the action up, the Men's team traveled down to SC to compete in the Shark Duals at St James High School. We definitely saw some challenging competition and improved with every win and loss. As a team, the Men went 3-2 on the day. Dual results are below:

Laney over Goose Creek, SC - 46-30

Laney over N. Myrtle, SC - 49-30

Laney over Aynor, SC - 47-33

St James, SC over Laney - 50-28

James Island, SC over Laney - 66-12

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE - On Friday, our Women's team traveled to Carrboro, NC to compete in the "Rumble in the Jungle" tournament and we absolutely smoked our competition. The ladies brought home 1st place as a team and we had FIVE (5) individual champions. Below are the top three (3) placers:

Champions - Evelyn Huang, Sydney Simmons, Treasure Grimes, LaNesha Gause, Jewel Barden 

Runners up - Faith Thomas, Marla Revilla Hernandez, Genesis Escobar, 

Bronze - Sekolya Surles

Additionally, this tournament awarded a "Most Outstanding Wrestler" (MOW) award for both the upper and lower weight classes....And we kicked butt there too as both Yesan "Evelyn" Huang and Leslie "Jewel" Barden BOTH received the honors!!! OUTSTANDING!!

The Swiss Bear Classic is in the books! Our JV put in the work Friday night and we had multiple placers including 4 champions. 

Champions - Cristiano Fernandez, Jayden Lysaght, Theo Crews, Carver Ward

Runners up - Gabe Maselli, Clark Nelson, Patrick Kazmierczak, Jeremiah Ward, Giovanni Smith, Brett Simmons, Ben Beardshaw

Bronze - Tappy Taravath, Matthew Daniel

Varsity picked things back up on Saturday with both our men’s and women’s teams hitting the mats. 

CONGRATULATIONS to our Lady Bucs who brought home the team CHAMPIONSHIP trophy for the 2nd year in a row!!! 

Individually, the ladies had 3 champions and 2 runners up:

Champions - Evelyn Huang, LaNesha Gause, Leslie Barden

Runners up - Mia Kiser, Sydney Simmons

The Men placed 3rd overall as a team despite missing several key athletes and we celebrated 5 individual podium spots:

Champion - Mac Kopelman

Runners up - Eli Thomas, Abram Stoebig, Vincent Valentino 

Bronze - Asher Goodlow

In addition to being the sole men’s Champion of the day, Senior Mac Kopelman was also awarded the prestigious Most Outstanding Wrestler Award!!  Well deserved, Mac! Congratulations!

Now back to work with a very busy week of competition…men on Wednesday (Quad), ladies Friday (Rumble in the Jungle) and men again on Saturday (Shark Duals). 

Go Bucs!

WOMEN - LANEY 42, TOPSAIL 27

MEN - LANEY 28, TOPSAIL 46

2025 VERNON WALWORTH MEMORIAL DUAL TOURNMENT CHAMPIONS!

Laney over Wakefield 60-12

Laney over Green Hope 54-17

Laney over Union Pines 53-18

Laney over Cary 48-24

Laney over Hoke County 38-30

2025 WILLIAM GREEN DUAL TOURNAMENT RUNNERS UP!

Laney over Ayden Grifton 61-17

Laney over West Craven 60-22

Laney over Pamlico 60-21

New Bern over Laney 40-32

JV RESULTS (FRIDAY)

JV Champions: 

Lexi Myers

Briana Zagazeta

Nick Tann

Matthew Daniel

Robert Gillespie

JV Runners Up:

Yeradi Ruiz

Ashley Valdez Enamorado

Sekolya Surles

Cristiano Fernandez

Clark Nelson

Patrick Kazmierczak

Tappy Taravath

Giovanni Smith

Brett Simmons

Ben Beardshaw

JV 3rd Place

Hayden Labrake

Briggs Ensign

Jacob Barbour

Theo Crews

VARSITY RESULTS (SATURDAY)

Varsity Team Scores: 

• Lady Bucs 2nd

• Varsity Men 3rd

Varsity Champions: 

Lanesha Gause

Tommy Gillespie

Varsity Runners Up:

Yesan "Evelyn" Huang

Mia Kiser

Leslie "Jewel" Barden

Sam McQueen

Abram Stoebig

Varsity Bronze:

Faith Thomas

Sydney Simmons

Treasure Grimes

Eli Thomas

WOMEN - LANEY 60, ASHLEY 6

MEN - LANEY 67, ASHLEY 12

WOMEN - LANEY 52, WHITE OAK 12

MEN - LANEY 31, WHITE OAK 42

Yesterday was a great day to be a Buc wrestler!! Congratulations to our Women's Team who took 1st place at the Catamount Duals!! The Lady Bucs team went 5-0 winning the championship at Panther Creek High School. 

Team Scores:

Laney over Franklinton 60-12 

Laney over Ragsdale 66-0

Laney over Panther Creek 42-30 

Laney over Apex 48-24

Laney over Union Pines 36-34 

The below women recorded at least one win on the day:

Evelyn Huang 5-0

Faith Thomas 4-1

Madison Tyler 4-1

Thee Moo 2-3

Yeradi Ruiz 2-3

Mia Kiser 4-0

Sydney Simmons 4-1

Hayden Labrake 2-0

Genesis Escobar 3-1

Treasure Grimes 1-0

Sekolya Surles 1-1

Lanesha Gause 5-0

Jewel Barden 5-0

Congratulations also to our Men's team who fought hard but fell just a bit short in the championship match. The Laney Buccaneers went 5-1 and were Runners up at the Catamount Duals at Panther Creek High School.

Team Scores:

Laney over Roanoke Rapids 70-11

Laney over Carrboro 60-11

Laney over Southern Alamance 66-12 

Laney over Apex 47-32 

Laney over Washington 53-27

Laney falls to Uwharrie Charter 26-51

The below wrestlers recorded at least one win on the day:

Alexis Myers 2-0

Hayes Anderson 1-3

Loukas Maselli 2-2

Ty Myers 2-0

Zach Noe 3-1 

Christiano Fernandez 1-1

Clark Nelson 3-3

Asher Goodlow 4-2 

Samuel McQueen 6-0

Eli Thomas 6-0 

Vincent Valentino 5-1 

Abram Stoebig 4-1 

Michael Messick 3-1 

Tommy Gillespie 6-0

Darrel McIntyre 5-0

Dylan Millar-Sarvis 1-3 

Blakely Weddington 4-0

JV wrestlers traveled to Broughton High School to compete at the MGBW JV Invitational and gained some valuable live mat time. Below are the JV Results:

1st Place

Ethan Olivier

Jayden Lysaght

2nd Place

Jacob Barbour

Carver Ward

3rd Place

Briggs Ensign

Patrick Kazmierczak

Jeremiah Ward

4th Place

JP Rutter

Derrin Davis

5th Place

Giovanni Smith

WOMEN - LANEY 41, S BRUNSWICK 29

MEN - LANEY 59, S BRUNSWICK 22