CAMERON — The Richmond Senior High School wrestling program put on a strong showing during its latest outing.
Competing in a round robin tournament hosted by Union Pines High School on Friday, the Raiders faced each opponent in their respective weight class.
Also competing were Atkins, Granville Central, Trinity and Triton high schools, along with the host Vikings.
“We had a lot of injuries and sickness this week, which led us to bring fewer wrestlers to the tournament,” head coach Andre’ Ellerbe said. “But we still had a good showing. Demonte Martin placed first in the round robin tournament after only losing one match.
“Jayden Scott, Adam Estridge and Jason Gainey all placed second. And Konner Gardener placed fourth. Our wrestler of the week is Demonte Martin.”
Martin, a sophomore who competes in the 285-pound weight class, went 4-1 on the day to earn first place.
To finish second in his respective weight class, Scott (144-pounds) recorded a 4-1 record, Estridge (150-pounds) totaled a 2-1 performance and Gainey (190-pounds) went 3-1 on the day.
Gardener (144-pounds) finished behind Scott in the same weight class in fourth place with a 2-3 mark.
Martin began his run to first place with a 21-8 major decision loss to Chayden Hardy of Union Pines. But he went on to win his next four matches, all by pinfall.
He earned pins over teammate Jeremiah Covington (2:33), Michael McPeak (Triton, 2:19), TaZion Williams (Triton, 0:46) and Oscar Medina-Carrillo (Atkins, 2:23).
Scott also opened with a loss, getting pinned by Evan Thompson of Union Pines in 1:47. But like Martin, he rolled to victories in his next four matches.
Scott’s first win was a pin over Jayden Wall (Atkins, 1:11). He followed that with decisions of 17-10 against Amare Rainey (Atkins) and 11-10 over Royce Espinoza (Triton). Scott capped his day with a pin over Gardener in 36 seconds.
Facing a smaller pool of wrestlers, Estridge cruised to two quick wins. He pinned Ezra Carter (Atkins) in 1:22 and held Ivan Dowling (Atkins) to the mat in 3:26.
Against Finnius McCaffery of Union Pines High School in the first-place match, Estridge nearly held on but was pinned in the final minute of the third round.
Gainey won each of his first three matches by pinfall, all within the first minute of the first round. He pinned Union Pines’ Denton Orr (0:32), Atkins’ Mason Bruce (0:23) and Triton’s Alexander Parrilla (0:42).
In his final match of the day, Gainey lost to Nicholas Mascolino of Union Pines by pinfall (1:10).
The Raiders will return to Sandhills Athletic Conference action with a meet at Union Pines on Jan. 10, starting at 6 p.m.
