Orthodontist in Stallings NC

EAST GREENSBORO – The 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular-season bowling champions, the North Carolina A&T Aggies, are back in action in the city of Greensboro for the second straight weekend. Last weekend went very well for the Aggies in the Gate City, as they wrapped up the conference regular-season title with a 7-1 showing at MEAC Meet #2 at Triad Lanes. The Aggies will participate in the fourth annual NCATSU Vernell Stallings Invitational at AMF All-Star Lanes on 910 S. Holden Road.

In addition to winning the regular-season title, there was history made. Junior Melanie Katen became the first Aggie to bowl a 300-game in program history, as she accomplished the feat in a win over Howard on Saturday. Katen won the individual title with 1,957 total pins and a 217.44 average. The Aggies had four other bowlers finish in the top-10, including two others in the top-3.

Sophomore Maya Avilez totaled 1,923 pins (213.67) to finish second, and sophomore Chloe Newberry finished third with 1,865 pins (207.22). Lauren Tomaszewski rounded out the top-10 with 1,774 pins (197.11) to finish seventh. A&T totaled 9,137 pins for the weekend.

THE WEEKEND A&T comes into the Stallings Invitational 68-24 overall and 15-1 in the MEAC. The Aggies are the sixth-ranked team in the nation in the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA). The Aggies are looking to reclaim their tournament. After winning the first two Stallings, the Aggies placed second to Vanderbilt last season.

On Sunday, the Aggies will honor Jada Bassette as a part of Senior Day. The Aggies have captured their rhythm again after a slow start to the second semester. The Aggies are 17-3 in their last two tournaments, finishing second at the James Brown Invitational and first at MEAC Meet #2. A&T will face six other ranked teams this weekend, including defending champion and second-ranked Vanderbilt.

The Stallings invite is played in honor of Vernell Stallings, who is considered the Godfather of collegiate bowling at A&T. Stallings, a 1964 A&T graduate, led his alma mater to MEAC bowling titles in 1996, 1997 and 1999 before the conference sponsored the sport. He retired as the team's first head coach after the 1999 championship.

"Coach Stallings has been instrumental in providing the foundation of the bowling program here at A&T," Aggies head bowling coach Kim Terrell-Kearney said. "Without his many years of hard work, these young ladies may not have all the opportunities we can offer them today. I am so thankful for all he has done, and we are honored to host this event in his name."

THE TEAMS Belmont Abbey, Coppin State, No. 16 Delaware State, Florida A&M, Howard, No. 21 Lincoln Memorial, No. 10 Maryland Eastern Shore, Norfolk State, No. 9 Sam Houston State, No. 22 Tulane, Tusculum, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 6 North Carolina A&T.

THE FORMAT The doors open at AMF All-Star Lanes at 8 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Each team will play five Baker-format games on Friday starting at 9:45 a.m. On Saturday, teams will play five traditional games starting at 9:25 a.m. Sunday's play begins at 8:30 a.m. with three best-of-seven bracket play Baker games to determine the champion.

LOOKING AHEAD The Aggies have one remaining regular-season tournament when they travel to Smyrna, Tenn., to participate in the Vanderbilt U Music City Classic, March 17-19. The following weekend the Aggies go after their third straight MEAC title in Virginia Beach, Va.

For weeks before taking ownership of Enzo’s Italian Market just outside of downtown Matthews in Stallings, Rania Tigani spent countless hours in the kitchen learning family recipes that were handed down through generations.

“I worked side by side with Enzo’s mom, an amazing Sicilian woman, who showed me first-hand how to create everything that she had perfected over the years,” said Tigani, who bought the specialty shop in May with her husband, Greg. “She had it all in her head and was just eyeballing ingredients, so I took meticulous notes to make sure we’re able to continue serving all of the products that customers have come to know and love.”

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Established in 2009, Enzo’s is one of the Charlotte area’s only authentic New York-style Italian markets. Original owner Enzo LoRe, who was born in Sicily, brought all his favorite traditional Italian flavors and homemade specialties to the Potter Road store and ran the business for 13 years before stepping away this spring to focus on his health.

Tigani, a self-described “people person and super foodie” with an appreciation for all things Italian, was a longtime customer of the shop. “We learned of Enzo’s intention to sell the store, and we knew we had to keep it going,” said Tigani, whose family has a background in restaurants.

The new owners have kept all the classic staples and house-made sausages that the store is known for, such as thin Italian-style pinwheel sausage, broccoli rabe sausage and porcini mushroom and sundried tomato sausage. They’ll continue to use top quality products imported directly from Italy.

They also expanded the store’s offering by adding a new dessert section, pastries, imported gelatos and specialty items like pastas and fresh bread, including daily baked Italian semolina breads. Additionally, they designed a new logo featuring a caricature of Enzo’s smiling face to honor him and his connection to the store.

“People have been very responsive in a positive way to these changes. It’s been a blessing,” Tigani said. “Enzo had the concept right, to bring an Italian market to the Charlotte area. We just took it to another level. It’s a butcher shop. It’s a bakery. It’s a supermarket. It has all kinds of things sourced directly from New York or Italy, and the majority we make ourselves — it’s home cooking without the hassle for our customers.”

About 90 percent of Enzo’s clientele are from New York or have an Italian heritage, Tigani said. “We’ve had people literally get on their knees and say, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m home,’ or ‘It’s a taste of home,’ which is so personally gratifying. We must be doing something right here.”

The sausages are the top sellers, Tigani said, but people come for a little bit of everything, from fresh chicken cutlets to take-and-bake selections to several varieties of homemade sauces, including Enzo’s very own Sunday sauce. Weekly specials run the gamut and don’t last long (a recent penne dish with ricotta cheese, spinach, Parmesan and lemon juice flew off the shelves within hours).

“You will be on a delicious foodie trip to Italy when you enter Enzo’s,” longtime customer Karen Phillips told CharlotteFive. “The younger generation running the store has brought vibrancy into the place with new specialty foods.”

Phillips, a faithful Enzo’s customer for more than a decade, said the Sunday sauce is “spectacularly delicious,” and her other favorites are the cheese ravioli and cheese manicotti. She added, “My advice is not to leave without getting some of the delicacies they have in the dessert section.”

In a Yelp review, Swaz F. of Matthews wrote, “A place like Enzo’s is very much needed here. In Boston, this place would not be very special because there are so many authentic Italian grocers, especially in the North End. I don’t know of another Italian grocer in Matthews/Mint Hill area. I grew to love all of the products in this store that you cannot get from the chain Super Market and the price is reasonable, too.”

These reactions and reviews are what drive Tigani and the staff every day.

“We’re so grateful for the people who come in here, and we make a mission to treat everyone like family,” she said. “The positive, energetic vibe is something that I’ve worked very hard on, from Day One. People get it. When they come to Enzo’s, they’re getting a full culinary experience.”

Location: 4420 Potter Rd, Stallings, NC 28104

Instagram: @enzos.italian.market

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story listed an incorrect address.

This story was originally published October 17, 2022, 6:00 AM.

With college football players looking to enter the NCAA transfer portal and soon looking for new places to play — the next window opens on Dec. 5 — N.C. State could be an attractive landing spot.

The Pack of Wolves Collective, which helps Wolfpack athletes benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), has put together a plan in which each of the Pack’s scholarship football players can earn a minimum of $25,000 in the 2023 calendar year based on their involvement in community activities and their individual NIL value.

The “Leading the Pack” plan should allow the Wolfpack football program to remain competitive with other programs offering similar opportunities, said Charlie Stallings, chairman of the board for the Pack of Wolves Collective.

“That’s the hope,“ Stallings said Tuesday. “At Texas Tech, their players are getting $25,000 through a purpose-driven collective. And that’s not to say our athletes can’ t get more. They can work their own deals to get more, and they will.

“But we’re creating a baseline. We’re creating a safety net, if you will. We’ve lost some recruits to other schools that are getting more money in the past. This allows us to be in the game.”

And not just football. Stallings said the NIL program would branch out into other Wolfpack sports and other athletes moving forward.

Stallings admits to being “old school” in some ways. He attended N.C. State in the 1970s, when athletes such as David Thompson were allowed a few bucks for “laundry money.”

But the landscape of college sports has changed, and Stallings is helping Wolfpack athletics change and adapt with it as everyone adjusts to a new era and a time when NIL has become an acronym as familiar as, well, NCAA.

“In May of last year you’d be in violation if you took an athlete out to lunch,” Stallings said. “Two months later you could not only take him out to lunch but you could buy him the restaurant. That’s how dramatic the change was. It’s pretty amazing.

“NIL is like the love child, the one that wasn’t planned on that is now in the family. You have a choice. Either kick him out to the curb or embrace him and love him. That latter is what’s going to have to happen. The more support we get from the university and the Wolfpack Club, the more successful we will be and the better athletes we will have.”

The onrush of NIL has been an ongoing challenge for many schools, Power Five conferences or otherwise, since the NCAA allowed its athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness beginning July 1, 2021.

Athletes are allowed to benefit from community appearances, autograph sessions, youth coaching and sports marketing campaigns.

“If you’re at a school like ours where we’re going to do things the right way and you’re competing against teams that may not, it’s difficult,” NCSU coach Dave Doeren said recently. “It’s a major concern.

“Not that we’re not going to be in the NIL space. Our boosters are actively trying to help us, our collectives are doing what they’re able to do in helping our players. So that part is good. But, as you know, there are other conferences where a lot more money is involved sometimes.”

Among the local charities that are a part of the Pack of Wolves initiative are the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County, Dress for Success Triangle N.C., the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and GiGi’s Playhouse of Raleigh.

The Pack’s Victory Day is held each year in conjunction with GiGi’s Playhouse, a Down Syndrome achievement center in Raleigh. The football players interact with young people from the Playhouse in what has been a fun outing.

“The joy on their faces were unbelievable,” Stallings said. “This is the kind of things we’re hoping to create.”

Belltower NIL, founded in October, is a non-profit that joined the Pack of Wolves NIL holding company. Contributions to Belltower NIL are tax deductible and the collective has a partnership with the Blueprint Sports Foundation, based in Las Vegas, that is involved with many collectives nationwide in helping athletes connect with businesses and charities.

“With Belltower we enlist athletes to perform services to promote local charities,” Stallings said. “So it’s a win/win for everybody. The charities get great exposure as many of them can’t advertise. It’s a win for the athletes. They’re engaging in the community and learning how important it is to give back, and that’s a great life lesson.”

GREENSBORO – One could easily get lost in the limelight of playing with the reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) bowler of the year and the 2022-23 preseason MEAC bowler of the year. But sophomore Chloe Newberry is stepping out of the shadows and is making a case for significant postseason honors in her own right.

The North Carolina A&T Aggies, ranked sixth in the nation by the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, wrapped up Day No. 2 of their annual NCATSU Vernell Stallings Invitational on Saturday at AMF All-Star Lanes with Newberry leading the way individually, totaling 1,063 pins for an average of 212.60 in five traditional games.

Her teammate and the reigning MEAC bowler of the year, Melanie Katen, is close behind with 1,059 total pins for a five-game average of 211.80. Senior Jada Bassette, being celebrated this weekend as the Aggies lone senior, made it three Aggies in the top-10 with 598 pins over three games for a 199.3 average.

The trio helped the Aggies finish 5-0 on Saturday in traditional play, as the Aggies had the second-highest pin total on the day at 4,835. A&T is 9-1 for the tournament and has trampled 9,548 pins over two days to average 191.0. Second-ranked Vanderbilt and the defending Stallings Invitational champions lead the tournament with 9,894 total pins for a 197.9 average. They knocked down 4,899 pins on Saturday, and the Commodores head into Sunday's action 10-0 for the tournament.

Each team will play an additional traditional game to start Sunday's play at 8:30 a.m. to determine the individual champion as the Aggies will go up against ninth-ranked Sam Houston State University (SHSU). The teams will then enter best-of-seven bracket play in Baker format to determine the champion. A&T enters bracket play as the No. 2 seed and will face the 10th-ranked University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), the No. 3 seed. Vanderbilt is the top seed and will open against fourth-seeded SHSU.

Newberry, who now has a team-leading 26 games of 200 pins or better, opened the day by coming four pins shy of setting a new career. She knocked down 266 pins in a 1,017-816 win over Tusculum. Katen contributed by knocking down 228 pins. A&T then took down No. 22 Tulane, 917-819, behind a 206 from Katen. Senior Lauren Tomaszewski, the MEAC's preseason bowler of the year, came through with a 204.

After bowling a 158 against Tulane, Newberry bounced back with a 211 in a 976-892 win over MEAC rival UMES. But Katen, the reigning MEAC bowler of the week, led the way with a 245. Junior Laura Garcia added a 196. Then, Bassette entered the lineup against Coppin State and made an immediate impact. Bassette celebrated senior festivities by bowling a career-high 226. Garcia added a 203 for her eighth 200-plus game of the season.

A&T closed the day with an exciting 968-953 win over No. 21 Lincoln Memorial. Newberry's 259 helped her move ahead of Katen for the No. 1 spot in the tournament going into Sunday's play. Katen bowled a 192, and Bassette showed up big again with a 205.

The Aggies are 77-25 on the season. A&T is 26-4 since starting the semester 11-15.

GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T, the sixth-ranked team in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll, closed out its annual NCATSU Vernelle Stallings Invitational on Sunday at AMF All-Star Lanes with a fourth-place finish. The Aggies entered the day as the No. 2 seed in the best-of-seven bracket play in Baker match format.

Before bracket play started, the Aggies played an additional traditional game against ninth-ranked Sam Houston State University (SHSU). The Bearkats defeated A&T 933-875 to drop the Aggies to 5-1 in traditional play for the tournament. It was the Aggies lowest pinfall of traditional play as junior Melanie Katen led the way with a 184. Bea Hernandez put it in a 213 to lead the Bearkats.

The Aggies then faced the Bearkats again to open bracket play as SHSU entered as the No. 3 seed. SHSU swept the Aggies 4-0 to advance to the championship round against second-ranked Vanderbilt. Next, the Aggies had to face Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rival and 10th-ranked University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) for third place. The Aggies lost 3.5-0.5 after tying the Hawks in the third game, 185-185.

Fourth place is A&T's lowest finish in the four-year history of the Stallings Invitational after they won the first two and finished second last season to Vanderbilt. The Aggies closed the tournament with a 9-4 record after going 4-3 in Baker format games. The Commodores won the tournament for the second straight season, and SHSU finished second.

Vandy's Mabel Cummings won the individual crown with a 1,252 total pinfall, an average of 208.67 over six games. Katen followed up her first-place finish from last week's MEAC Meet #2 tournament to finish second this week, knocking down 1,243 pins for a six-game average of 207.17.

Sophomore teammate Chloe Newberry had another top-5 finish, knocking down 1,227 total pins for an average of 204.5 over six games. Jada Bassette had a productive Senior Day for the Aggies. In three games, she averaged 199.33 and totaled 598 pins.

The Aggies have one more regular-season tournament, the Vanderbilt U Music City Classic in Smyrna, Tenn., March 17-19. The following week the Aggies will go after their third straight MEAC title in Virginia Beach, Va. A&T is 77-27 on the season.