ST. PAULS, N.C. — Bringing home the hardware is something the Richmond Raider wrestling team has gotten used to over the past two weekends.
The Raiders traveled to St. Pauls High School Saturday to compete in the 15-team Bulldog Brawl, an individual tournament, and the team’s second such event this season. After a full day of competition, eight Raiders earned a medal for their performances.
Last Saturday, the Raiders won the Eagles Duals at East Montgomery High School. Four Raiders went undefeated in that event.
Junior Joseph Nicholson was the lone first-place winner on the varsity team Saturday, as he took home the 113-pound championship. In December, Nicholson also won the Clash at the Creek individual tournament at Mallard Creek High School.
A trio of Raiders came up one win short from championship glory, but brought home the second-place medal. They were freshman Andres Sanchez (106-pound), sophomore Bryant Coll (126-pound) and junior Austin Gallops (152-pound). Rounding out the varsity medals with fourth-place finishes were Steven Morales (132-pound) and Hewston Owens (170-pound).
Across the street from the high school in the National Guard Armory, the Bulldog Brawl junior varsity competition was also happening. Richmond brought home two more first-place medals, thanks to weight class wins by Dante Baldwin (113-pound) and Joshua Wallace (132-pound).
Richmond medal winners, front row: Austin Gallops; back row: Joshua Wallace, Joseph Nicholson, Hewston Owens, Steven Morales, Dante Baldwin and Bryant Coll. Not pictured: Andres Sanchez.
Each wrestler who made it to the championship round of their weight class competed in three matches. Nicholson started his perfect 3-0 day with a pin over St. Pauls’ Xavier Smith. In his second match, he defeated Lumberton High School’s Justin Kelly in a 15-2 major decision.
In his match against Kelly, Nicholson jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the end of the first period. He nearly pinned Kelly at the end of the second two-minute round, but the buzzer sounded and Nicholson took a 7-1 lead.
Nicholson’s closest match of the day came in the championship round, when he beat West Brunswick High School’s Christian Zickefoose via a 6-1 decision.
Sanchez received a quarterfinals bye, which set him up with a match against familiar opponent Keldon Clark of rival Scotland High School. He wasted no time, pinning Clark just 10 seconds into the second round. It was the second time this week that Sanchez pinned Clark (SAC match at Richmond on Wednesday).
Sanchez saw his day come to a close in the 106-pound title bout when New Bern High School’s Paul Denoia pinned him with 56 seconds left in the second round.
Coll’s 2-1 day started with a pin over Westover High School’s Dmitri Smith in just 1:15. In his semifinal match against Scotland’s Seth English, Coll rolled to a 14-2 major decision. He went up 5-0 at the end of the first round, and jumped ahead 11-0 after four minutes of wrestling.
In the 126-pound championship, Coll was pinned in 30 seconds by West Brunswick’s Matthew Smith.
Gallops, who didn’t wrestling earlier in the week due to missing weight, returned to action and picked up his best finish in individual tournaments this season. He opened the day with a pinfall win over Scotland’s Brendon Smith with 14 seconds left in the second period.
His semifinal opponent was Overhills High School’s John Moshman, and Gallops toughed out a 9-4 decision victory. The first period ended in a scoreless tie, but Gallops gained the advantage with a 4-0 run in the second round.
New Bern’s Connor Wrought ended Gallops’ championship bid in the finals, pinning the Raider 33 seconds into the second round.
Morales and Owens each wrestled four matches, adding an extra match once they were in the consolation tournament. Both went 2-2 on the day, with Morales earning two pinfall wins (New Bern’s Lazarus Tecca and West Brunswick’s John Boraski). Both of Owens’ wins were forfeits, as he wrestled for the first time since becoming eligible for the second semester.
No official results were available for the junior varsity tournament, but Wallace also took first place in his weight class at Mallard Creek High School last month.
Head coach Earl Nicholson explained that the Raiders took fifth place overall, with New Bern winning the overall team competition. Squeezing in between New Bern and the Raiders were Lumberton (2), Western Harnett (3) and Overhills (4).
The meet at St. Pauls wrapped up the Raiders’ regular season, as Richmond will now prepare for the Sandhills Athletic Conference championship. That meet is set for Saturday, Jan. 26.
