WADESBORO — Competing in its biggest tournament yet this season, the Richmond Senior High School wrestling team faced five opponents Saturday.
On the mat at the Cat Fight Duals hosted by Anson High School, the Raiders wrestled against the host Bearcats, Butler, Marvin Ridge, North Rowan and Olympic high schools.
Going 2-3 on the day, Richmond defeated Butler and North Rowan, while losing its team matches to Anson, Marvin Ridge and Olympic.
Two wrestlers went a perfect 5-0 on the day — senior K’Mauri Morgan (215-pounds) and sophomore Hayden Smith (144-pounds).
Morgan recorded one pinfall, one decision, one forfeit and two technical falls. Smith’s five wins came via three pins and two forfeits.
Freshman Dylan Nunez (120-pounds) was nearly perfect, going 4-1 with three pins and a decision. Junior Jordan Hamilton (190-pounds), who split matches with junior Jason Gainey, notched three wins (two forfeits, one pin).
“We had a good weekend of wrestling,” head coach Andre’ Ellerbe said. “We saw some tough competition at Anson. We only fell short a couple of times due to an incomplete lineup.
“The guys who came and competed, they wrestled lights out,” he added. “Hayden and K’Mauri are definitely the grapplers of the week. They both had great outings and went undefeated in their weight classes.”
Middle, heavyweights help defeat Butler
A total of seven wrestlers earned points for Richmond in its 39-24 victory over the Butler Bulldogs. As a unit, the Raiders had five pins (30 points), along with one forfeit (6 points) and one decision (3 points).
Junior Eric Chavis (126-points) got the free points in the forfeit. Morgan’s closest match of the day was against Jack Moran in the 215-pound bout. The senior state qualifier earned a 9-2 decision and added three points.
Starting a slew of pinfall wins was Nunez, who pinned Daquon Howell in the 120-pound match. Freshman NaSean McBride (138-pounds) recorded one of his three victories on the day with the pinning of Wyatt Chewning.
Middleweights Smith (144-pounds) and freshman Jake Gardner (150-pounds) wrestled their way to pinfalls over Luca Gaudenci and Colton Lezette, respectively. Gainey, who had two victories Saturday, held Ashton Willoughby to the mat.
Host of Raiders get wins in win over North Rowan
Upping their points and win total against the North Rowan Cavaliers, the Raiders cruised to a 47-23 victory. Eight wrestlers scored points on six pins (36 points), a forfeit (6 points) and a tech fall (5 points).
McBride (138) was the earner of six points due to a forfeit and Morgan kept his perfect day alive with a 17-2 tech fall over Charles Coleman after three complete rounds. That added five more points.
Nunez had a pinfall over Chynue Vang (120), which was followed by pins from Smith (Cadence Dombroski, 144), Gardner (Gaige Dyson, 150), freshman Bentley Warwick (Jayden Parnell, 175), Hamilton (no opponent listed, 190) and sophomore Jeremiah Covington (Omar Vasquez Ortiz, 285).
Raiders fall to Anson, Marvin Ridge and Olympic
In a 59-24 loss to Anson, Nunez, Smith and Morgan each earned six points with a pin. They defeated Tyshawn Kendall, Aaden Dellonte and Tilandis Carr, respectively.
Hamilton added the other six points when he was awarded a forfeit victory.
Richmond fell to Olympic 53-26 and notched two pins, a forfeit, one decision and a tech fall.
McBride (138) and Gainey (190) pinned Brandon Dang and Devin Walker in their matches, while Smith got a forfeit win. Morgan ran up the score 17-2 against Jeremiah Perez for five more points and Nunez edged Ayden Kinman in a 14-12 decision.
In their closest defeat of the day, a 36-30 loss to Marvin Ridge, the Raiders registered all of their points thanks to an empty lineup.
Smith (144), freshman Trevor Smith (175), Hamilton (190), Morgan (215) and Covington (285) all had forfeit wins.
Richmond (4-5) will open Sandhills Athletic Conference action Wednesday with a tri-meet at Hoke County High School. The first matches will start at 5 p.m.
