electrician in Wingate, NC

Pirate Nation:

Can you believe only six more Saturdays remain until the first week of the 2022 college football season?

Head coach Mike Houston and his staff have assembled a group of young men that are hungry and determined to build off last year's seven-win season and bowl invitation. It's a talented group and a team that will make Pirate Nation proud. Most importantly, it's a group that loves being Pirates, representing our University and the Purple and Gold.

I have no doubt Pirate Nation will show up to create an unforgettable atmosphere as NC State ventures into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Sept. 3, but we need your help.

Football season ticket sales, Pirate Club membership, revenue and investment in our programs are all connected. As most of you are aware, the world of intercollegiate athletics is in a state of turmoil with conference realignment. We are well-positioned, but it's vital we continue to invest in our sports programs to solidify our future. We will welcome new conference members in 2023 and they are all investing from a financial standpoint to compete in the American Athletic Conference.

The sale of football season tickets along with the continued growth of the Pirate Club allows our department to fund our 18 sport programs and make the necessary investments so our coaches and student-athletes can pursue competitive excellence. Every dollar matters.

Heading into the week, we are a little over 14,000 football season tickets sold and we hope to have a jump in sales over the next month. If you are a local business, consider showing your support by buying a pair of tickets. Nothing would make a customer happier than an early holiday present of football season tickets. You can purchase a season football ticket for as low as $125.

TowneBank Tower is sold out with all Suites, Loge Boxes and Trade Club seats purchased. On the North side of the stadium, we have less than 200 Williams Clark Club seats available which is our fewest since TowneBank Tower opened in 2019. We are continuing to look for additional premium seating opportunities in the future.

At East Carolina, we want you to have an exceptional experience attending one of our many athletic events. Our staff understands the need for more convenient ways and options to purchase concessions, an enhanced fan experience and success on the field. We talk about it daily and are making great strides heading into 2022. One of the highlights will be the replacement of the scoreboard with updated graphics and ribbon boards on both sides of the stadium.

In six home games in 2021, our average attendance was 36,059 which ranked in the top 58 in the country, trailing only UCF (40,427) and Cincinnati (37,338) in the AAC. Our home attendance average was higher than 12 schools that play in Power 5 conferences and higher than 16 schools in Power 5 conferences based off percentage of stadium capacity.

Why do I write this? Because it's important for you to know we appreciate all of you who attend our games. It truly makes a difference.

An announcement will be made tomorrow on single-game football sales. Pirate Club members will have a two-week window to purchase seats before sales are opened to the general public. Any account that hasn't renewed their season tickets will need to call the Pirate Club or Athletics Ticket Office this week to ensure their seats.

Please call our ticket office at (252) 737-4500 and ask about our payment plan because we need you in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in the fall. You can also purchase tickets at ecupirates.com.

Pirates Unite Campaign Thank you to all the individuals and businesses who donated or made a commitment to the Pirates Unite Campaign. This is the most aggressive campaign in Pirate Club history and it's encouraging to see the early support from Pirate Nation.

Our long history of donor support has allowed ECU Athletics to have a solid foundation. The costs associated with meeting our commitments to our student-athletes continue to grow. As a staff, we are working tirelessly to find revenue streams that allow us to fund scholarships, build or renovate facilities and provide for our student-athletes. We are committed to giving our student-athletes the best experience possible.

The Pirates Unite Campaign will allow us to get on a level playing field with our peers as we:

We have been very transparent about the financing of all the projects in the campaign. All funding must be complete before any construction takes places. Again, we are optimistic by our conversations with supporters over the past couple of months. Your investment makes a difference on and off the field. I witness incredible accomplishments daily by our student-athletes.

The Pirate Club is beginning to recognize all donors who have participated in the campaign. Check out all the Pirate Club social media channels and information will also be emailed weekly. You can also view the full benefits of donating here.

Facility Update If you have been on campus lately, you have witnessed the construction taking place by Johnson Stadium and Clark-LeClair Stadium. Work on the new auxiliary weight room is expected to be completed by late October.

The new weight room will have approximately 7,000 square feet of training space, a nutrition bar, indoor turf training area and additional strength coaches' offices. The building will be utilized by all sport programs which will allow more training space to our student-athletes to reach their full potential. The new facility will allow for more scheduling freedom with in-season team and individual practices along with offseason workouts.

The facility is highlighted by 10 Olympic lifting platforms, rows of dumbbells as well as a cardio area with stair climbers, ellipticals and treadmills. An additional 1,000-square foot will be utilized for maintenance, rehabilitation and other workouts.

Longtime Pirate Sam Wornom III to be honored Friday at Pigskin Preview Coach Houston and I will be joined by staff and supporters on Friday afternoon at the National Football Foundation's annual Pigskin Preview in Cary. This is always a great event with all football head coaches from the state universities assembled to give a preview of the upcoming season.

The organization will also be honoring the late Sam Wornom III with the Distinguished American Award. Sam was an alum, a friend to so many and longtime supporter of the Pirate Club and ECU Athletics. The ticket office is proudly named the Sam and Sandy Wornom ECU Athletics Ticket Office for his passion of Pirate sports holding season tickets for all athletic events.

Since the day I arrived in Greenville, Sam provided guidance and leadership to me whenever called upon. One of his greatest traits is his ability to connect with people. We are looking forward to seeing his family later this week for this prestigious honor.

Dr. Coger, Welcome to Pirate Nation! We are excited to welcome Dr. Robin Coger as provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. This is a critical position at the University, and we are looking forward to working with Dr. Coger. As I have said from the beginning, athletics must be aligned with campus to be successful, and our campus leaders led by Chancellor Rogers have been great partners. Read more about Dr. Coger here.

Congrats To Men's Golfer Nic Brown Graduate student and Pirate men's golfer Nic Brown won the 108th Carolinas Amateur Championship over the weekend at Charlotte Country Club. Nic posted rounds of 69, 63, 69 and 71 to take home the title. A graduate of D.H. Conley High School in Greenville, Nic joined the Pirates for the 2021-22 season after transferring from Wingate.

The future of the Pirates is bright because of the support and commitment of our Pirate Club members.

For that, we thank you and look forward to raising the bar even higher.

Have a great summer and look forward to seeing you soon at a Pirate athletic event.

Go Pirates!

Jon

Members of the Campbell baseball team fancy themselves as “a bunch of nobodies from nowhere” because of their remote location in Buies Creek and the considerable shadow cast by their nationally recognized neighbors at UNC, NC State and East Carolina.

It’s a persona they celebrated with a poster adorned with the word “Nobodies” on the wall of their dugout this season.

Apparently, the Camels aren’t as anonymous as they might think.

On Sunday, shortstop Zach Neto became the highest Major League Baseball draft pick in program history when he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels at No. 13th overall.

Neto’s teammate Thomas Harrington also went in the first round, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 36th pick as part of the Competitive Balance phase, making Campbell the first school in the draft to have multiple players taken.

It’s a development that has Camels coach Justin Haire feeling “like a kid in a candy store.”

“Having two players go before the second round is both a testament to those young men and their work ethic, as well as to our program for the ability to identify, develop and produce high-quality individuals,” Haire said. “It’s an amazing day for those guys and our program. The future for all involved is so bright.”

The Campbell duo was joined in the first round by East Forsyth High School star Xavier Isaac, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound first baseman taken at No. 29 by the Tampa Bay Rays.

They are among the 23 players with ties to the state whose names were called during the first 10 rounds of the draft. It’s a group that also includes Campbell signee Jackson Humphries, a right-hander from Fuquay-Varina High School who was taken by the Cleveland Guardians in Round 8.

Neto, the two-time Big South Player of the Year, hit .407 with 15 homers, 50 RBIs and 19 stolen bases this season while striking out only 19 times in 256 at-bats in leading Campbell to its fourth straight conference championship.

Harrington, the Big South Pitcher of the Year, set school records for wins and strikeouts in a season while going 12-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 111 strikeouts for the Camels in 2022.

For Neto, the record-setting selection and the $4.41 million bonus slot that comes with it represent a form of personal vindication after going undrafted and ignored by Power 5 schools coming out of high school in Miami in 2019.

“It just gave me an underdog mentality,” Neto, wearing an Angels hat and jersey, said in a televised interview on MLB Network shortly after his selection. “I kept that throughout my college career and I’m going to continue that going into this year. All the teams that passed on me, it’s going to hurt them at the end of the day.”

Campbell wasn’t the only local draftee with something to prove.

ECU pitcher Carson Whisenhunt would likely have been a first-round pick as well had he been able to play for the Pirates this season.

But after being suspended for a year by the NCAA after testing positive for a banned substance he claimed was taken unknowingly in an over-the-counter supplement, he dropped to the final pick of the second round. He was taken at No. 66 overall by the San Francisco Giants.

Another Pirates star, two-way player Zach Agnos, was taken by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round.

In addition to Campbell and ECU, Duke, Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC and NC State had multiple players selected on the first two days of the scheduled 20-round draft.

Duke pitchers Henry Williams and Marcus Johnson went to the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins in the third and fourth round, respectively.

Charlotte second baseman Nate Furman was taken by the Guardians in the fourth round at No. 121, while third baseman David McCabe went to the Atlanta Braves four slots later.

UNC Greensboro had pitcher Alex Hoppe go to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round and second baseman Hogan Windish to the Seattle Mariners in Round 7.

It took until the sixth round for both UNC and NC State to have their first players taken, with Tar Heels shortstop Danny Serretti going to the Detroit Tigers at No. 177 overall and Wolfpack shortstop Josh Hood going to the Mariners at No. 186.

Pitcher Davis Palermo became the second UNC draftee when he was selected by the Rockies in the eighth round, while State closer Chris Villaman went to the Rays in the ninth round.

Other drafted players in the first 10 rounds with state ties include Davidson pitcher Nolan DeVos in the fifth round to the Houston Astros, Wake Forest pitcher Eric Adler to the Chicago White Sox in the sixth round, Elon outfielder Alex Iadisernia to the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh round, Western Carolina pitcher Zebby Matthews to the Minnesota Twins in the eighth round and Randleman High School catcher Brooks Brannon to the Red Sox in the ninth round.

Rounding out the picks in the first 10 rounds were Cubs selection Brody McCullough, who pitched Wingate to the Division II national championship in 2021, and pitcher Tanner Jacobson of Queens, taken by the Cardinals.

Stanly Community College President Dr. John Enamait has signed many articulation agreements with various universities during his tenure, which has allowed for an easier transition between the institutions, but the one he signed Tuesday morning with Wingate University President Dr. Rhett Brown was notably different.

That’s because the agreement allows SCC graduates with a two-year associate’s degree to earn a bachelor’s at Wingate for no more than $2,500 per year in tuition. So upon graduating from Wingate, a student likely would have only paid $5,000.

“There’s not really a better deal for folks in Stanly County,” Enamait said during the signing ceremony, noting the agreement takes effect immediately. “It’s really a significant opportunity for our students.”

SCC is the second community college Wingate has partnered with on this specific articulation agreement after South Piedmont Community College.

“This one is special because it really aligns so well with what is at the core of our strategic plan and our values and that is students and student success,” Enamait said.

Even students who received their two-year degree many years ago can still take advantage of the agreement, known as the Gateway Scholarship, as can high school students who have taken advantage of SCC’s Career and College Promise program.

“The college and our students and Stanly County will recognize the fruits of this signing for many years to come,” Enamait said. “Sometimes we don’t see the immediate results of our efforts, but this is an easy one to really understand the implication for our students and for workforce development.”

Brown, a first-generation college student who started at a community college, said Wingate always strives to be a “laboratory of difference-making” across the region, and this new agreement will help strengthen the relationship between the university and Stanly County.

“When we care about our community and think about cradle-to-career and all of our educational needs, we know that collaboration is key,” Brown added. “We couldn’t be more pleased to work with Stanly and tackle issues together – whether cost, transfer-ability or time-to-degree.”

A bachelor’s degree in this country, regardless of specific major or school, will typically return more than $1 million of lifetime earnings over a high school diploma, Brown said, citing statistics from the Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce.

Roughly 66 percent of jobs across the state require a post-secondary degree or high-quality credential, according to the nonprofit myFutureNC, but only 49 percent of North Carolinians ages 25 to 44 have that level of education. In Stanly County, roughly as many people have less than a high school diploma (13 percent) as have a bachelor’s degree (13 percent).

“We already serve a significant number of students from across Rocky River and look forward to opening the door for more of them to build on the success they’ve achieved at Stanly Community College,” Brown said. “Our state needs two million people with post-secondary degrees or certificates by 2030. We believe the Gateway Scholarship is part of the solution.”

In addition to the Gateway Scholarship agreement, Brown and Enamait signed additional articulation agreements aimed particularly at smoothing the pathways for students seeking bachelor’s degrees in human services, psychology and accounting.

Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.

More by Chris

More News

WINGATE — Wingate Swimming hosted its Senior Night in a pre-meet ceremony honoring the names listed below.

WOMEN

• Kate Agger

Escort name: Lily Sanocki

Academic major: Business Management

Hometown: Broomall, Pa.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: Looking back on the past four years and reminiscing about the memories, jokes, and laughs that made my time so special. I will truly cherish all the friendships I have made with my teammates and coaches. This will forever be a special time in my life.

• Sydney Beck

Escorts: Lee and Sandy Beck (parents)

Academic Major: Criminal Justice and Exercise Science (double major)

Hometown: Ararat, N.C.

My #1 WUSWIM memory is when I was a Freshman in Sprint group; we had just finished practice and I was putting my equipment into my bag when something hit me on the forehead really hard. I looked up and it turns out to be Evan (our GA at the time) who was trying to throw a frisbee to Greg across the pool because they thought that would be a fun thing to do at the time I guess and he started laughing at me. It made finishing a hard practice a little better haha

• Rachel Kriger

Escort name: Ashley Rabinovich

Academic major: Biology

Academic minor: Math

Hometown: Germantown, Tenn.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: My favorite memories are training trips spent at the beach with my teammates.

• Madison Mataxas

Escort name: Misty Johnson (mom)

Academic major: Communication Studies

Academic minor: Social Science

Hometown: Savannah, Ga.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: My #1 memory is from conference last year when I swam the mile for the 1st time and my teammates were on both sides of the pool cheering me on and were happy/excited for me when I ended up finishing 9th overall, scoring points for the team.

• Anna Miram

Escort name: Jenna Mackay

Academic major: Double major in Mathematics and Marketing

Hometown: Ludvika, Sweden

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: All relays with Maike Hoener, Anso Nissen and Sara Aringsmann.

• Madison Moffitt

Escort name: Kim Moffitt (mom)

Academic major: Exercise Science

Hometown: Gainesville, Fla.

Your #1 WU Swim memory: Going a best time in my 200 Butterfly at the Royal Open meet my sophomore year and having all my teammates cheering for me.

• Anne-Sofie Nissen

Escort name: Hana Kubalova and Ashley Rabinovich

Academic major: Exercise Science

Academic minors: Art, Sports Management and Psychology

Hometown: Vallensbaek Strand, Denmark

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: The best memory I have is every single Medley Relay I have had with Anna Miram, Maike Hoener and Sara Arringsman. We always managed to have fun and get excited no matter the meet or the situation.

MEN

• Layton Anderson

Escort Name: Caroline Howard Major: Biology Minor: Math Hometown: White Oak, Texas Your #1 WUSwim Memory: The bus ride home from the Emory meet freshman year.

• Daniel Brisuda

Escort name: Gracie Williams

Major: Biology

Hometown: Cumming, Ga.

Your #1 Favorite WUSwim memory: Coming back and winning against Carson-Newman as a team by 1 point junior year!

• Felix Grieb

Escort names: Daniel Mizera and Miguel Marcos

Academic majors: Mathematics, Finance

Hometown: Murr, Germany

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: Our comeback win by 1 point against CN after being down most of the meet junior year.

• Ethan Jones

Escort names: Jason and Allison Jones

Academic major: Exercise Science

Hometown: Camden, N.C.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: The comeback win against Carson-Newman snapping their home winning streak.

• Brandon Lu

Escort name: Hailey Freed

Academic major: Biology

Hometown: Alpharetta, Ga.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: My favorite WUSWIM memories are the training trips, as they were always bangers.

• Casey Mitchell

Escort name: Mark and Sheila Mitchell

Major: Accounting

Minor: Finance

Hometown: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Your #1 WU Swim Memory: My sophomore year, I finished fourth in the conference in the 1650 Free. This swim gave him his first All-Conference swim and qualified him for his first NCAA championship. His finish also contributed to Wingate taking half of the top 8 and half of the All-Conference list in this event.

• Taylor Montgomery

Escort name: Jennifer Montgomery (mom)

Major: Accounting

Minor: Finance

Hometown: Lexington, South Carolina

Your #1 WU swim memory: winning my 200 Individual Medley heat at the Barton meet in 2021, and seeing the team all excited and screaming.

• Ryan Rabalais

Escort Names: Gracie Williams and Daniel Mizera

Academic Major: Exercise Science

Academic Minor: Psychology

Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: Competing on the men’s 400 free relay with James Reindl, Max Sundberg and Jonas Sorensen at the Barton Meet in 2020 and almost winning!

• James Reindl

Escort: Andrew Lockhart

Major: Exercise Science

Hometown: Cedar Point, N.C.

Your #1 Favorite WUSWIM memory: Going 1, 2, 3 with Jonas and Felix in the 400 Individual Medley to help beat Carson Newman by 1 point.

• Jonas Soerensen

Escort name: Mathilde Cros

Academic major: Finance

Academic minors: Economics and Accounting

Hometown: Aarhus, Denmark

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: Beating Carson Newman by 1 point in 2020…

• Max Sundberg

Escort names: Clayton Boyles and Kevon Lockhart

Academic major: Finance

Academic minors: Economics and Accounting

Hometown: Upplands Vasby, Sweden

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: The relays at Gardner-Webb…we had to go first and second to win the meet…and we did!

• Kalle Svensson

Escort names: Slava Ohnov and Marcel Snitko

Academic major: Educational Studies

Hometown: Lysekil, Sweden

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: My sophomore year when we won against Gardner Webb…that was the day I understood what it really means to be a Wingate Bulldog.

• Vincent Walden

Escort name: Nicholas Stelmack

Academic major: Psychology

Hometown: Crownsville, Md.

Your #1 WUSWIM memory: My favorite WU swim memory is our freshman year training trip.

Ladies and gentlemen, our Wingate University Swimming Class of 2022 seniors…let’s give them another big round of applause!!

David Sherwood is the Director of Public Relations & Student-Athlete Recognition for Wingate University Athletics

To support the Anson Record call 704-994-5474 or visit https://www.ansonrecord.com/subscribe.

Match 10: Kennesaw State (6-3) at UNC Asheville (7-2) Date: Tuesday, March 8; 1 p.m. Location: Asheville Racquet Club | Asheville, N.C. Links: Roster | Schedule Social Media: Twitter | Facebook

Match 11: Kennesaw State (6-3) at Old Dominion (6-4) Date: Thursday, March 10; 1 p.m. Location: Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center | Norfolk, Va. Links: Roster | Schedule Social Media: Twitter | Facebook

Match 12: Kennesaw State (6-3) at Wingate (3-1) Date: Sunday, March 13; 1 p.m. Location: Wingate Tennis Complex | Wingate, N.C. Links: Roster | Schedule Social Media: Twitter | Facebook

Match Preview The Kennesaw State men's tennis team hits the road for a trio matches this week.

The Owls will play at UNC Asheville (Mar. 8), Old Dominion (Mar.10) and Wingate (Mar. 14).

KSU enters Tuesday's matchup winners of five of the last six matches.

Impressive Start in Singles Play KSU has opened the season with a 34-16 singles play record. Seven different players have recorded wins for the Owls this season including Matthew Terry (8-0) and Hugo Salmeron (6-1).

Scouting UNC Asheville The Bulldogs are 7-2 on the season. UNCA fell 6-1 to ETSU on Saturday.

Scouting Old Dominion The Monarchs are 6-4 this season. ODU picked up a pair of wins over Furman and Virginia Tech on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.

Scouting Wingate Wingate is 3-1 and ranked No. 24 in Division II.

The Series KSU and UNCA will meet for the second time on Tuesday. The Bulldogs lead the series 1-0.

The Owls hold a 1-0 lead in the series with ODU. KSU won 4-3 in 2021.

KSU and Wingate will meet for the first time on Sunday.

The Last Time Out The Kennesaw State men's tennis team picked up a 4-1 victory over No. 66 Furman on Saturday on the Betty Siegel Courts. In the win against Furman, KSU picked up five singles victories to clinch the victory.

Next Up KSU begins ASUN conference play as it hosts Liberty on Friday, Mar. 18. Match time is set for 6 p.m. at the Betty Siegel Courts for Trivia Night.

To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State men's tennis news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUMensTennis or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on Facebook