SOUTHERN PINES — Returning to the mat for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Richmond Senior High School wrestling team opened Sandhills Athletic Conference action on Wednesday.
The Raiders and head coach Andre’ Ellerbe faced host Pinecrest High School and also wrestled against Lee County High School.
Going 1-1 during the duals, Richmond defeated the Yellow Jackets and suffered a loss to the Patriots.
The Raiders opened the night with a 64-18 loss to Pinecrest and followed with a 48-18 victory over Lee County.
“Our guys learned a lot from wrestling against Pinecrest,” Ellerbe said. “They weren’t intimidated and they did a good job trying to work everything we’ve done in practice. We may not have won, but all the guys rose to the challenge and I’m proud of them.
“I’m super excited about earning our first conference win,” he added. “The guys showed up and showed out, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. We had some issues cutting weight but we’re looking forward to this weekend and the rest of our conference matches.
Raiders face tough Pinecrest roster
Facing a formidable Pinecrest team, the Raiders secured three individual wins to collect their 18 points.
Sophomore Jackson Hamilton (182-pounds) started a streak of three consecutive victories for Richmond when he was awarded a forfeit win and six points.
Freshman Jordan Hamilton (195-pounds) and sophomore K’Mauri Morgan (220-pounds) both wrestled their way to pinfall victories in their respective matches.
In his match against Davin Morris, Jordan Hamilton worked his Patriot opponent deep into the first round. He earned the pin with 17 seconds left in the round, holding Morris to the edge of the mat.
Morgan wasted little time taking care of Ramone Richardson in the next match. Taking down Richardson on his first attempt, Morgan ended the match via the pin just 11 seconds into the first round.
Pinecrest collected its 64 points on six pins (36 points), three forfeits (18 points) and two technical falls (10 points).
Richmond rebounds with win over Lee County
Evening their record, the Raiders used a combination of pinfall wins and forfeits to defeat the Yellow Jackets 48-18.
Five of Richmond’s eight victories were the result of a forfeit, collecting 30 points for the team.
Awarded a forfeit win were Davin Sweatt (106-pounds), D.J. Gainey (120-pounds), Adam Estridge (138-pounds), Luis Fernandez (145-pounds) and Morgan (220-pounds).
A trio of Raiders earned a pinfall victory to combine for the other 18 points. Jordan Hamilton registered his team-leading second pin, while sophomore Joseph Patterson (132-pounds) and senior Messiah Shaw (182-pounds) also won their bouts.
Note: Official scoring information for the Lee County match was partially incomplete at the time of publication.
The Raiders improved to 3-5 on the season and began SAC action with a 1-1 record. The Richmond Observer will publish results from Saturday’s meet at Providence High School when results are finalized.
